Vitamin A -- Several links/articles of great benefit to me

[Guest guest]

Hello Group,

I'm rushing to get ready to leave town for two weeks, and won't be

posting again until about Feb. 1, but wanted to post this here as it

may be helpful to others like it was to me.

In my own health problems, I've found inability to convert beta

carotene into Vitamin A and/or a deficiency of TRUE vitamin A (from

non-conversion or not including sources of retinol in foods)a factor

in my decline in health, especially once I developed chronic illness.

My eyesight was one of the biggest " red flags, " which improved

greatly once I learned this and took the recommended steps I first

learned from Dr. Wm Crook (God rest his soul, he was a gem!). Be

sure if you use pure Vitamin A to pay attention to the benefits of

the " Mulsion " type, also to use of Zinc while taking it, and

cautions about the amount to use. (It was amazing to see the

relationship also to bone health, bone fractures, and much, much

more.)

bg

See links below.

Link #1:

http://www.vitaforum.net/old/newsletters/0103/articles/doc0033.html

Functionality

Vitamin A is associated with the following functions -

vision, cell division, cell differentiation[define] in embryo,

surface layer of cells covering skin, mucous surfaces in organs and

tissues, lining of blood vessels, sperm production, immune response,

formation of bone, taste, hearing and appetite.

Nielsen's book also mentions that the vitamin counteracts allergic

reactions, that it activates the immune system (thymus activation

and stimulation of lymphocytes)(1) and increases the concentration

of oxygen in cells.

Finally, carotenoids are anti-oxidants (possibly with the exception

of beta-carotene (4)).

Usage

That vitamin A is an important supplement can be seen from

information provided by UNICEF (10, 11). The organisation estimates

that vitamin A deficiency (VAD) affects more than 100 million

children and is responsible for as many as one out of every four

child deaths the problem exists. The organisation also stresses that

VAD causes not just blindness (the main complication associated with

A) but that it also improves children's resistance to disease, and

is key to improving their survival, growth and development.

Also, Retinol palmitate is one of 6 vitamins featuring in the 1997

edition of the WHO's essential drug list (6).

vitamin deficiency (1,3)

Symptoms of deficiency include - increased susceptibility to

infections e.g. viral and respiratory infections; scaly skin;

inflammation of the skin; scaly and itchy scalp; weak nails; poor

hair quality, poor sight, sensitivity to light, burning and itching

eyes, pain in the eyeballs, dry eyes, eye ulceration

Illnesses associated with vitamin A deficiency - night blindness,

xerophthalmia, kidney stones, skin complaints, inflamed mucous

membranes.

Link #2:

http://www.thesho.com/Health/A.htm

Vitamin A -- Betacarotene

Elson M. Haas M.D.

(Excerpted from Staying Healthy with Nutrition:

The Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine)

[i intended to post some interesting excerpts from the longer

article, but decided everything in the article was too important for

us not to read all of it.]

Link #3:

http://www.newstarget.com/z001123.html

[below is an excerpt from the full article.]

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Vitamin A produces astonishing leukemia cure rate, even without

chemotherapy

New research conducted at the University of Texas M. D.

Cancer Center shows that vitamin A cures as many as 33% of patients

with a rare form of leukemia -- without using chemotherapy. In the

study, the vitamin A was being delivered inside " bubbles of fat " to

enhance bioavailability. Out of 34 patients participating in the

trial, an astonishing 10 remained cancer-free after five years,

despite receiving no chemotherapy.

So what's the real story here? Researchers are calling this form of

vitamin A a " drug, " which seems odd, since it's just vitamin A.

Perhaps they don't want to admit that a vitamin is better than

chemotherapy for curing cancer. And this is definitely a cure --

that term is even being used by the researchers here. To take a

group of cancer patients and watch them remain cancer-free for five

years is nothing short of astonishing, especially since they were

only taking one vitamin. Imagine how well they'd do if they also

consumed chlorella (a strong anti-cancer superfood), spirulina

(another superfood containing phytochemicals known to destroy breast

cancer tumors), graviola (an Amazonian herb known for its powerful

ability to destroy cancer cells), licorice root (a more popular anti-

cancer herb) and other health-promoting foods and supplements. With

the help of this collection of health-promoting substances, the cure

rate could have easily risen to 75% or more.

Still, that's just a guess. Organized medicine isn't really

interested in studying things that don't generate profits, and herbs

and superfoods certainly fall into that category. But it is exciting

to see vitamin A having such a dramatic, positive impact on patients

with leukemia who might otherwise be subjected to chemotherapy. And

perhaps someday these researchers will have the courage to admit

that it's a vitamin, not a drug, that's working the healing magic

here.

Link #4:

http://www.naturalsolutionsradio.com/articles/article.html?

id=6762 & filter=

Vitamin A Saga

The discovery of vitamin A and the history of its application in the

field of human nutrition is a story of bravery and brilliance, one

that represents a marriage of the best of scientific inquiry with

worldwide cultural traditions; and the suborning of that knowledge

to the dictates of the food industry provides a sad lesson in the

use of power and influence to obfuscate the truth.

August 16, 2003

Number of Times Visited: 455

Category: Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs

By Sally Fallon and G. Enig, PhD

[Excerpt below from the above, longer article/link]

Under optimal conditions, humans can indeed convert carotenes to

vitamin A. This occurs in the upper intestinal tract by the action

of bile salts and fat-splitting enzymes. Of the entire family of

carotenes, beta-carotene is most easily converted to vitamin A.

Early studies indicated an equivalency of 4:1 of beta-carotene to

retinol. In other words, four units of beta-carotene were needed to

produce one unit of vitamin A. This ratio was later revised to 6:1

and recent research suggests an even higher ratio.5 This means that

you have to eat an awful lot of vegetables and fruits to obtain even

the daily minimal requirements of vitamin A, assuming optimal

conversion.

But the transformation of carotene to retinol is rarely optimal.

Diabetics and those with poor thyroid function, a group that could

well include at least half the adult US population, cannot make the

conversion. Children make the conversion very poorly and infants not

at all — they must obtain their precious stores of vitamin A from

animal fats6— yet the low-fat diet is often recommended for

children. Strenuous physical exercise, excessive consumption of

alcohol, excessive consumption of iron (especially from

" fortified "

white flour and breakfast cereal), use of a number of popular drugs,

excessive consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids, zinc

deficiency and even cold weather can hinder the conversion of

carotenes to vitamin A,7 as does the lowfat diet.

Carotenes are converted by the action of bile salts, and very little

bile reaches the intestine when a meal is low in fat. The epicure

who puts butter on his vegetables and adds cream to his vegetable

soup is wiser than he knows. Butterfat stimulates the secretion of

bile needed to convert carotenes from vegetables into vitamin A, and

at the same time supplies very easily absorbed true vitamin A.

Polyunsaturated oils also stimulate the secretion of bile salts but

can cause rapid destruction of carotene unless antioxidants are

present.

It is very unwise, therefore, to depend on plant sources for vitamin

A. This vital nutrient is needed for the growth and repair of body

tissues; it helps protect mucous membranes of the mouth, nose,

throat and lungs; it prompts the secretion of gastric juices

necessary for proper digestion of protein; it helps to build strong

bones and teeth and rich blood; it is essential for good eyesight;

it aids in the production of RNA; and contributes to the health of

the immune system. Vitamin-A deficiency in pregnant mothers results

in offspring with eye defects, displaced kidneys, harelip, cleft

palate and abnormalities of the heart and larger blood vessels.

Vitamin A stores are rapidly depleted during exercise, fever and

periods of stress. Even people who can efficiently convert carotenes

to vitamin A cannot quickly and adequately replenish vitamin A

stores from plant foods.

Foods high in vitamin A are especially important for diabetics and

those suffering from thyroid conditions. In fact, the thyroid gland

requires more vitamin A than the other glands, and cannot function

without it.8 And a diet rich in vitamin A will help protect the

diabetic from the degenerative conditions associated with the

disease, such as problems with the retina and with healing.

Weston Price considered the fat-soluble vitamins, especially vitamin

A, to be the catalysts on which all other biological processes

depend.9 Efficient mineral uptake and utilization of water-soluble

vitamins require sufficient vitamin A in the diet. His research

demonstrated that generous amounts of vitamin A insure healthy

reproduction and offspring with attractive wide faces, straight

teeth and strong sturdy bodies. He discovered that healthy

primitives especially value vitamin-A-rich foods for growing

children and pregnant mothers. The tenfold disparity that Price

discovered between primitive diets and the American diet in the

1940s is almost certainly greater today as Americans have forsworn

butter and cod liver oil for empty, processed polyunsaturates.