Vitamins are either water-soluble or fat-soluble. Water-soluble vitamins like B and C are excreted through the urinary tract, while fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K are stored in fat cells or the liver and excreted through the lymphatic system. Overdosing on fat-soluble vitamins can be toxic, as they are stored in the liver.
The human body treats most vitamins like a well-stocked medicine cabinet; each “bottle” remains safely stored until needed as a catalyst or vehicle for other essential chemicals. Only a very small amount of vitamins are really necessary to maintain a healthy body, so any excess must be excreted from the body over time. Some vitamins, such as B and C complex, are considered water soluble, meaning they dissolve in the bloodstream and will eventually be excreted through the urinary tract. Others, such as A, D, E, and K, are considered fat-soluble, meaning they will be stored in fat cells or the liver and eventually excreted through the lymphatic system.
There are several reasons why vitamins are water or fat soluble, mainly due to the roles they play in the body and the nature of their chemical compositions. Water soluble vitamins like B and C complex are needed for short term projects like stimulating the nervous system or providing antioxidants for cell repair. Once the body has obtained enough water-soluble vitamins to perform the tasks at hand, there is no need to store the remaining supply. Excessive amounts of vitamin C and B complex are filtered from the bloodstream by the kidneys and excreted in the urine. That’s why it’s sometimes more difficult, though certainly not impossible, to overdose on water-soluble vitamins than it is to do it on fat-soluble vitamins.
Fat-soluble vitamins, on the other hand, are processed differently. Vitamins such as A, D, E, and K generally survive the initial digestive process and enter the small intestine, where they are absorbed and dissolved by fat cells called lipids. Some of these vitamin-storing lipids eventually find their way to the liver or other fat stores for long-term storage. Fat-soluble vitamins help other chemicals and nutrients to perform tasks like calcium absorption or collagen replacement. The body only needs a small amount of fat-soluble vitamins, but the excretion process takes much longer. Fat cells literally have to melt to get rid of excess fat-soluble vitamins, and the released vitamins slowly pass through the lymphatic system.
It is possible to consume a toxic level of fat-soluble vitamins through overdosing of supplements or an unbalanced diet over the long term. Consuming too many water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C can also cause serious medical problems, but these vitamins can be quickly eliminated through the urinary tract. Fat-soluble vitamins must be stored in the liver until they can be safely metabolized, so it’s important to avoid taking extreme doses of vitamins A, D, E, or K for their purported health benefits. Only small amounts of fat-soluble vitamins are needed by the body at any one time, so overdoses can quickly become toxic.
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