What Happens If You Eat Too Many Gummy Vitamins?

You've probably been tempted to overdose on those sweet, squishy nutritional candies. A doctor tells BuzzFeed what'll *really* happen if you wolf more than you should.

FACT: Gummy vitamins are delicious.

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THE PROBLEM: You're only, in most cases, supposed to take two per day.

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So what happens if instead of two, you eat three or SIX OR 40???

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Eating too many gummy vites can cause permanent health damage, according to Dr. Ken Spaeth, director of occupational and environmental medicine at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.

"On the whole, it would be a very bad idea and potentially dangerous to take excessive amounts of multivitamins, even tasty ones such as the gummy variety," Spaeth said. "While the recommended amounts pose virtually no risk, consuming an entire bottle of vitamins can cause permanent and serious harm."

Wait, PERMANENT harm?

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"The risk comes, most notoriously, from the 'fat-soluble' vitamin such as vitamin A, D, E, etc. that are contained with the multi-bear, multi-worm or other gummy multivitamin species," Spaeth said. "The body is not able to clear excessive amounts of this type quickly, and the subsequent build up of high levels can inflict an array of injury to various organ systems including the brain."

If you ate the entire bottle, you could maybe die!

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"Consuming a full bottle of vitamins in any form, gummy or other, would likely ensure that levels of both the water- and fat-soluble vitamins would reach toxic levels. It is worth noting that minerals, such as zinc, magnesium, manganese, etc. are also commonly included in multivitamins and would likely be at toxic levels as a result of consuming an entire bottle."

Also, vitamin overdose is a special risk for children.

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"In general, children are more susceptible to harm from toxic effects," Spaeth said. "Vitamins for adults are generally dosed with higher amounts since adults are larger, have a greater body mass, and a fully developed organ systems whereas kid's vitamins are dosed lower and, often, intended to meet the needs of a developing body. Regardless of age, though, eating a bottle of gummy vitamins should be avoided because of the very real danger. The poison control hotline or an Emergency Department should be consulted if someone you know disregards this advice."

*Spaeth notes that every multivitamin brand has a proprietary list of vitamins, so it is hard to speak to all possible brands as the types and amounts of what’s in there vary.

So you should probably stop eating more than the recommended dosage of your gummy vites.

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Sorry.