Multivitamins Containing No Vitamin A or E
Vitamins are nutrients that are involved in many essential functions in your body. The National Institutes of Health MedlinePlus reports you need 13 vitamins to grow and develop normally. Taking a daily multivitamin supplement is a way to ensure you are getting the recommended amount of each vitamin. However, overconsuming some vitamins, including vitamin A and vitamin E, may cause toxicity. Consult your health-care provider about multivitamin supplements and whether you need to consume multivitamins without vitamin A or vitamin E.
Hand holding multivitamins dumped from a pill bottle (Image: ChiLLChiLLz/iStock/Getty Images)Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a term used to describe several molecules including retinol, retinoic acid and retinal. Your body can make vitamin A from beta-carotene and other carotenoids. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that has an important role in vision, gene expression, immunity and red blood cell production. Adult women should get 700 mcg and adult men 900 mcg of vitamin A per day. Vitamin A is found in eggs, milk, sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, squash, cantaloupe, fortified cereals and cod liver oil.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin and an antioxidant. The form of vitamin E that has the greatest nutritional significance to humans is called alpha-tocopherol. Vitamin E helps protect your cells and fatty acids from damage and has a role in immunity, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. In addition, vitamin E inhibits platelet aggregation and thus plays a role in inhibiting blood clotting. Vitamin E is found in foods such as vegetable oils, margarine, fish and nuts. The daily recommended dietary allowance of vitamin E is 15 mg for adults.
Multivitamins Without Vitamin A
The tolerable upper intake level for vitamin A is 3,000 mcg. Consuming too much of vitamin A can lead to toxicity characterized by nausea, fatigue, cerebral edema, itchy skin, bone and joint pain and liver damage. You can develop vitamin A toxicity if you are consuming lots of foods that contain vitamin A and taking a multivitamin supplement. Although hard to find, you can buy a multivitamin without vitamin A. The ebA™ by Saratoga Therapeutics, LLC and multivitamins™ by Amarna, LLC are vitamin A-free multivitamin supplements.
Multivitamins Without Vitamin E
Consuming too much of vitamin E can also cause toxicity. The most severe symptoms of vitamin E toxicity are impaired blood clotting and the possibility of hemorrhage. According to the Linus Pauling Institute, some doctors recommend discontinuing vitamin E supplementation a month before a surgery to decrease the risk of hemorrhage. The tolerable upper intake level for vitamin E is 3,000 mg. You can develop vitamin E toxicity if you consume foods high in vitamin E and take a multivitamin supplement. To avoid overconsumption, you can buy a multivitamin without vitamin E. The Clinical Support Morning Formula and Evening Formula by VitaMedica, Inc. is a vitamin E-free multivitamin.
