What the Hell Are International Units?

No, that is not code for James Bond in a Speedo, although that would be nice. In looking over some information on vitamins and minerals to put up here, it seems that a few terms may need to be explained before we just assume all those friendly little vitamin and mineral bits are the same thing.

Living in the United States, we all might as well admit that we are too arrogant as a society to accept the superiority of metric measurements in life. But if you are in a medical profession like nutrition or dietetics, metric is just plain more convenient to deal with on a daily basis.

How does this benefit the average consumer of supplements? Well, it would if you were to know a few key points.

The following units weigh vitamin and mineral materials in the physical sense…I know, heavy, huh?

“g” stands for gram ~ About 29 grams make one ounce

“mg” stands for milligram ~ One thousandth of a gram. 1,000 mg = 1 g

“mcg” stands for microgram ~ One thousandth of a milligram. 1,000 mcg = 1 mg

Now International Units (“IU”) are a different type of measure, although it still deals with supplements, so you should know what it is when perusing supplements. It is not indicative of the weight of the substance, but more accurately, the activity of the substance. Vitamins A, D, and E are all measured this way. Knowing the Recommended Daily Allowance of each of these vitamins is recommended.

Honestly, vitamins and minerals are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration at this point, although in the opinion of many, they are just as strong as many drugs on the market. This having been said, knowing safe dosages can start with being aware of the dosage meanings on their labels and each supplement is different.

And now, as incentive to use what we’ve learned, a nice photo….

*This post is dedicated to my minxy girls stuck out on Long Island this morning. Saturday's a Rugby Day! ~beth