01Modules 12 and 23
"Excess vitamins are flushed out in the urine"
Only some of them. A, D, E and K accumulate in the body and, even among those excreted in the urine, excess B6 causes sensory neuropathy: tingling in the hands and feet and unsteadiness when walking in the dark. In one of the e-book's cases, a B complex "for energy", a magnesium supplement with B6 and a hair formula add up to more than 100 mg/day of pyridoxine. The limit for long-term use of B6 is 100 mg/day according to the Food and Nutrition Board and, since 2023, 12 mg/day according to EFSA.
02Module 19
"My medication has nothing to do with vitamins"
It does. Metformin and omeprazole lower B12; oral contraceptives, B6, B12, folate and B2; diuretics, thiamine and magnesium; statins, coenzyme Q10; anticonvulsants, vitamin D, folate and biotin. The e-book provides the table of depletions by medication, with the mechanism and the course of action, and the question it proposes for every anamnesis: "which vitamin does this medication deplete?"
03Modules 14 and 15
"Folic acid fixes anemia"
It can mask the problem. At high doses, folic acid corrects the anemia caused by a lack of B12, but not the neurological damage, which keeps progressing and can become irreversible. And the nerve symptoms (tingling, loss of balance, changes in memory and mood) can appear before the anemia. That is why the e-book calls for ruling out B12 deficiency before treating a macrocytic anemia with folic acid.
04Module 4
"I take vitamin D and my level won't go up"
Magnesium is a cofactor of the enzymes that activate vitamin D. Patients whose 25(OH)D "won't go up" on an adequate dose often have a low magnesium intake, malabsorption or obesity, or take the capsule without a meal containing fat. And the way it is taken matters: sporadic megadoses, of 300,000 to 500,000 IU once a year or every three months, were associated with more falls and fractures in some studies. The e-book provides the target range, the correction regimen and what to monitor.
05Module 16
"If it's called a vitamin, it's a vitamin"
Not always. "Vitamin B15" (pangamic acid) and "vitamin B17" (amygdalin, a glycoside that releases cyanide) are not vitamins and have no demonstrated safe use. K3, synthetic menadione, causes hemolysis and should not be used in humans. And PABA, once called "vitamin Bx", is not a vitamin for humans. The e-book provides the table of current and obsolete nomenclature, from B4 to vitamin U.
06Modules 7 and 20
"Intravenous vitamin C is just a higher dose"
It is a different effect. By mouth, absorption saturates and plasma levels rarely exceed about 220 µmol/L; intravenously, the concentration can be up to 70 times higher and, in this millimolar range, ascorbate starts to generate hydrogen peroxide, a pharmacological effect different from the nutritional one. That is why a high-dose infusion requires measuring G6PD and assessing kidney function beforehand: hemolysis and oxalate nephropathy are the serious complications described.
The e-book is not a menu for self-medication. The choice of vitamin, form, dose and duration of use depends on individual assessment, lab tests and current medications, and is the responsibility of a licensed professional, within the rules of their professional board. What it delivers is the complete reasoning: not only which vitamin is low, but why it became low, because the cause defines the form, the route and the duration of treatment.
