2 Foods The NHS Warns You Should Only Eat Once A Week

The NHS recommends older adults steer clear of potassium supplements unless prescribed by a doctor. 

That’s because overdoing the mineral can cause kidney damage, which is especially likely as we age.

But too much of a whole range of vitamins can cause adverse effects. An excess of calcium, for instance, can lead to stomach pain and diarrhoea.

And while getting enough vitamin A is key to a healthy immune system as well as better eyesight and healthier skin, consuming too much of it over a long period of time has been linked to an increased risk of fracture among older people.

That’s why the NHS recommends not eating two vitamin A-rich foods more than once a week, or taking vitamin A supplements (like fish liver oil and some multivitamins) if you eat them even once weekly. 

Avoid liver or pâté more than once a week

The health service advised: “Do not eat liver or liver products, such as pâté, more than once a week”. That’s because these are especially high in vitamin A.

And getting too much of the stuff can be bad for your bones in the long term. 

In fact, on TikTok, NHS GP Dr Ahmed said that taking multivitamins can often be dangerous, “in particular [with] things like vitamin A”. 

These mixed vitamins regularly contain more of some minerals and vitamins than you really need, the doctor claimed, which he thinks is particularly dangerous with this vitamin.

In fact a a 2024 study published in JAMA Network Open found that those who took multivitamin tablets had a 4% higher risk of mortality than people who didn’t.

Is the risk the same for everyone?

Those at particularly high risk of bone issues, like women who’ve been through the menopause or older men, should be particularly careful not to consume more than 1.5mg of vitamin A a day.

Pregnant people should avoid liver and pâté altogether, the NHS added. 

But most of us shouldn’t stress too much about the vitamin A content of foods like cheese and eggs (which do contain the vitamin). 

As the NHS says, “Having an average of 1.5mg a day or less of vitamin A from diet and supplements combined is unlikely to cause any harm” – one egg, for instance, contains 8% of your daily vitamin A.