Unlike over-the-counter medicines, dietary supplements are generally not required to carry warning labels, even if they contain toxic amounts of ingredients. If you don't know how much of a vitamin, mineral, or other ingredient you really need, it's easily possible to get too much. This is what seems to have happened to some pregnant women taking a widely-sold iodine supplement, according to a recent medical report. Just one tablet contained 57 times the daily iodine they needed and more than ten times the limit associated with increased risk of toxicity. Their children were born with congenital hypothyroidism, apparently due to getting too much iodine from their mothers.

Find out which product these women took in the updated Iodine section of the Multivitamin Supplements Review. You'll also find appropriate levels of other vitamins and minerals and see which products in the Review did or did not exceed tolerable intake levels of vitamins and minerals. More >>

A study compared the effects of low-dose and high-dose vitamin D on bone mineral density in post-menopausal women who were also supplemented with calcium. Both dosages helped prevent loss of bone mineral density, but the higher dose was less efficient in reducing bone turnover, i.e., bone loss, contrary to what the researchers expected.  For details, including dosage, see the updated Vitamin D Supplements Review>>

Taking minerals like calcium and magnesium can dramatically reduce the absorption of carotenoids like lycopene, beta carotene, and astaxanthin. Get the details in the Concerns and Cautions section of the Lycopene Supplements Review.

New draft recommendations on vitamin and mineral supplement use were published this week by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The recommendations apply only to healthy adults without nutritional deficiencies. They focus only on the use of supplements for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer at doses not exceeding tolerable upper intake levels. The recommendations are based on existing science and are generally consistent with information already presented in ConsumerLab.com's Product Reviews.  We have summarized the recommendations below, with links to more information in ConsumerLab.com's reports: