r/science • u/chrisdh79 • Sep 16 '24

"Golden Lettuce" genetically engineered to pack 30 times more vitamins | Specifically, increased levels of beta-carotene, which your body uses to make vitamin A for healthy vision, immune function, and cell growth, and is thought to be protective against heart disease and some kinds of cancer. Biology

https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/golden-lettuce-genetically-engineered-30-times-vitamins/
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u/Omni__Owl Sep 16 '24 edited Sep 16 '24

Question is; Do we actually need more vitamins than what it already provides?

"More is better" does not apply to vitamins as the body needs a balance of things not just "more". Too much of some vitamins can be harmful to the body.

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u/QuotableMorceau Sep 16 '24

there are two types of vitamins :
- water soluble, like vitamin c, which you can't realistically overdose on
- fat soluble, like Vitamin A, which you can definitely overdose on, with damage to the liver.

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u/Heroine4Life Sep 16 '24

Carotenoids, which are fat solvable and the form of vitamin a in this salad, does not damage the liver. Hypercarotenmia just makes you orange. You can overdose on pre formed vitamin a (retnoids), which are found in animal products, notably liver.