Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Vitamin A



Vitamin A makes my eyes shiny (I think) and my skin heal. It is in spinach, carrots, egg yolks, mozzarella, apricots, milks, mango, cantaloupe, sweet potato, liver and lamb.
Supplement: Cod Liver Oil.
How much? 15,000 IU
Too much? 200,000 IU for 6 months
Too much is toxic, esp. during pregnancy (can cause birth defects during early pregnancy). Too much beta carotene will turn skin orange. Vit A in plants (yams, mango, carrots, etc) is beta carotene and the body only absorbs about 30%. If most vit A is ingested through animal sources (retinal/retinol), body absorbs 90% and that would be a path to toxicity.

Conclusion: Eat as much vit A as possible, balance plant/animal ratio @ 2:1 and don't worry about it. Reexamine before getting knocked up or if you are looking rather orange today w/o sunless tanning.

1 comment:

  1. LOL. those are some good tips! and good info. thanks! u should do a series.

    ReplyDelete