On October 8th, the Michigan State University (MSU) Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (DCPAH) revealed that it had identified 16 cases of confirmed
hypervitaminosis D (vitamin D toxicity) in dogs from 8 states (Michigan, Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin, California, Illinois, North Dakota and Utah).
The scientists reached the conclusion that «subjects with
hypervitaminosis D (severe deficiency) are at higher risk of insulin resistance» (study).
It is known that higher intakes of vitamin D lead to «
hypervitaminosis D,» causing lethargy, growth retardation, bone resorption and soft tissue calcification, as observed in animal studies.
Not exact matches
Some argue that high vitamin A levels in cod liver oil is a risk for
hypervitaminosis A. However, if you are an adult, you
would have to be consuming excessive amounts of cod liver oil for years to reach toxic levels.
I
have never experienced any symptoms of
hypervitaminosis A, although I recently reduced my raw liver dose to 2 pounds weekly simply out of a desire to eat other foods (such as bison heart, beef bone broth, sardines and fried eggs.)
Hypervitaminosis A is real... but I wonder how real it is when we get our vitamin A from food (beef or sheep liver)... get our vitamin
D from sunshine and get our vitamin K from kimchi, nattō and rich bone marrow... Maybe we don't need 20,000 IUs of vitamin A per day but we at least need an average of 5,000 per day to prevent disease... that means that we at least need to eat two servings of 4 to 6oz of liver per week... or take four to six capsules of desiccated liver per day.
Unfortunately, the popularity of liver treats
has led to a new problem most dog lovers are unaware of: vitamin A
hypervitaminosis, or so - called liver poisoning.
Another symptom of
hypervitaminosis A is a disturbance in absorption and function of other fat - soluble vitamins -
D, E and K.