The following list contains information about the Safe Upper Limits for many of the most commonly used nutrients in the supplement industry. These nutrients are also found in EMPowerplus.

Note: The Safe Upper Limit is defined as the upper amount of any particular nutrient that a person could safely take for a life-time.

Vitamin A
A very conservative safe upper limit is 1,600 to 2000 RE (8,000 to 10,000 IU) per day. The Institute of Medicine is currently reviewing the literature on vitamin A. They are considering a revision of the RDA and establishing a new upper limit. The National Academy of Sciences (Medicine, 2001) tolerable upper limit of vitamin A for adults is 3000 mcg (10,000 IU) per day, including pregnancy and lactation. The daily amount of vitamin A in EMPowerplus is 5760 IU.*

Vitamin D
The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine considers an intake of 50 mcg (2000 IU) for adolescents, adults, pregnant, and lactating women to be a tolerable upper intake level. The daily amount of vitamin D in EMPowerplus is 1440 IU.*

Vitamin E
The Institute of Medicine has set and upper tolerable intake level for vitamin E at 1,000 mg (1500 IU). The daily amount of vitamin E in EMPowerplus is 360 IU.*

Thiamine
National Academy of Sciences (medicine, 2000) did not set a tolerable upper level for thiamine. They state there are no reports of adverse effects from thiamine in either food or supplement. The daily amount of thiamine in EMPowerplus is 18 mg.*

Niacin
The 1998 tolerable upper intake level of 35 mg/day for adults was based on flushing produced by nicotinic acid, a harmless reaction which may produce some discomfort for the user. Swendseid and Jacob, 1994 reported very high doses (1500 to 3000 mg) of this vitamin being safely used. Niacin has also been used in orthomolecular psychiatry in doses up to 6000 mg/day. The daily amount of niacin in EMPowerplus is 90 mg.*

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
The Institute of medicine established an upper tolerable limit of 100 mg/day for adults. The Merck manual reports toxicity effects at 2000 mg/day they suggest a safety level of about 200 mg/day for chronic use. The daily amount of vitamin B6 in EMPowerplus is 36 mg.*

Vitamin B9 (Folic acid)
The Institute of Medicine has established the upper limit that is safe to consume every day for a life time at 1,000 µg. The lowest amount that produced an adverse effect was 5,000 µg per day. The primary concern for taking this nutrient is that if taken alone it could mask a deficiency of vitamin B12. However, vitamin B12 is included in the supplement and so this becomes a non-issue. The daily amount of folic acid in EMPowerplus is 1440 mcg.

Vitamin B12
Deficiency of this nutrient appears to be a much greater concern than toxicity. The National Academy of Sciences is concerned about exceeding the upper limit only with individuals taking folic acid in isolation because high doses can mask B12 deficiency and reduce zinc absorption. The daily amount of B12 in EMPowerplus is 900 mcg.*

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid)
The National Academy of Sciences concluded that there was insufficient information to set a tolerable upper limit. The daily amount of B5 in EMPowerplus is 21.6 mg.*

Calcium
The recommended tolerable upper level of calcium has been set at 2500 mg/day. The daily amount of calcium in EMPowerplus is 1320 mg.*

Iron
The Institute of Medicine, 2001, set a tolerable upper intake level of 45 mg/day for adolescents age 14 to 18 and adults 19 and older. The daily amount of iron in EMPowerplus is 13.7 mg.*

Phosphorus
For children up to eight years old the RDA is 460-500 mg and the UL is 3000 mg. For youth 9 to 18 the RDA is 1250 mg. Adults 19 years and over have an RDA of 700 mg. The UL is 4000 milligrams up to the age 70, then declines to 3000 mg after 70. The daily amount of phosphorus in EMPowerplus is 840 mg.*

Iodine
The National Academy of Sciences (medicine, 2001) places the tolerable upper limit at 1.1 mg/day. The daily amount of iodine in EMPowerplus is 204 mcg.*

Magnesium
Magnesium toxicity is rare as magnesium is found within body tissue in abundance and the body excretes excess. Clinical trials using 1080mg/day have been proven to be safe and well below toxic values (Facchinetti et al., 1991) The daily amount of magnesium in EMPowerplus is 600 mg.*

Selenium
The Institute of Medicine has set a tolerable upper intake level for selenium at 400 mcg/day for adults. The daily amount of selenium in EMPowerplus is 204 mcg.*

Copper
The American Society of Nutritional Sciences recommends a tolerable upper limit that 10 mg/day (doses above five milligrams per day have less than 20 % absorption. At 7.5 mg/day only 12 % is absorbed). The World Health Organization report, 1996, concluded that the UL for adults should be set at 12 mg/day for men and 10 mg/day for women (these levels were set with the assumption that people would ingest up to 10 mg additionally from diet). The daily amount of copper in EMPowerplus is 7.2 mg.*

Manganese
The National Academy of Sciences (medicine, 2001) has recently set the UL at 11 mg/day. On the basis of a single study the academy set the no-observed-adverse-effect level at 11 mg, and the lowest-observed-adverse-effect level at 15 mg/day. Shils et al. 1994, and Nielsen, 1994b state that reported cases of human toxicity caused by oral ingestion of high amounts of manganese are essentially nonexistent (P. 276). The daily amount of manganese in EMPowerplus is 9.6 mg.*

Chromium
There is some argument as to what the safe upper limit for chromium should be. However, many weight loss programs are now advocating the use of chromium with doses at 1,500 mcg/day and above. The daily amount of chromium in EMPowerplus is 624 mcg.*

Molybdenum
The National Academy of Sciences (medicine, 2001) states that the tolerable upper limit is 2 mg/day. The daily amount of molybdenum in EMPowerplus is 144 mcg.*

Boron
The National Academy of Sciences (medicine 2001) places a tolerable upper limit of 20 mg/day for adults. It also points out that reports suggest low toxicity even at doses of 2.5 mg/kg/day. The daily amount of boron in EMPowerplus is a small fraction of the safe upper limit.

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