Blog

1

has anyone here ever noticed any improvements or side effects of taking vitamin A as retinol? as we know, there is conflicting information out there that says you can make all the vitamin A your body needs from enough carotenes, and others that say carotenes alone can not guarantee vitamin A sufficiency (supported by some studies). did anyone here ever "heal" any symptom or chronic health problem by taking retinol, and if yes, how much did you take? (i'm not talkig about cod liver oil, just pure vitamin A/retinol as a separate supplement). thanks!

flag
I'm also curious because those guys at WAPF just love Vit A and D. I supplemented with CLO from Green Pastures for about 1 month and i didn't notice anything. Maybe you just feel the difference if you're a wreck :P – Flavio M. Dec 13 2010 at 17:24

3 Answers

1

I know people directly who have improved vision and cured night vision problems directly.

That being said, a whole food animal based diet shouldn't be deficient or need supplementation.

If youre a veg*n or herbivorous paleo, I both feel for you and condone the supplementation with a strong recommendation to eat more tasty tasty meat.

link|flag
don't worry - i'm eating a ton of yummy meat - just no liver. i HATE liver. yuck! what other meat can bring one over 100% RDA of retinol? – qualia Dec 14 2010 at 8:09
I like egg yolk. Doesn't agree with everyone tho. Fish/grassfed cow is decent too tho. – Stephen-Aegis Dec 14 2010 at 15:24
I forgot eyeballs, hands down best source. Whole fish like sardines etc likely the only eyes you'll find for sale tho ;) – Stephen-Aegis Dec 14 2010 at 15:37
1

I would never consider supplementing with vitamin A just because my current intake is already very high from the foods I eat. It's hard for me to imagine a paleo eater not getting enough vitamin A.

link|flag
does that mean you're eating liver regularly? because afaik everything else, incl. eggs doesn't really have that much retinol.. an egg has only 6% RDA for example. – qualia Dec 14 2010 at 8:07
1 
RDA presumes that you're going thru the horribly inefficient conversion of beta carotene to retinol... They are calling BC Vitamin A, which is technically incorrect. – Stephen-Aegis Dec 14 2010 at 15:26
3

Christopher Masterjohn just published an interesting blog post on how vitamins A and D give much more benefit when taken together.

http://www.westonaprice.org/blogs/is-vitamin-d-safe-still-depends-on-vitamins-a-and-k-testimonials-and-a-human-study.html

I think with any supplement, results depends on your starting point. If you have a deficiency or at least sub-optimal levels of a nutrient, you may see a big improvement when you supplement, while the next guy, whose levels were ok in the first place - won't.

link|flag

Your Answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.