Vitamin A - The Grass Vitamin
Vitamin A - The "Grass vitamin" -
This important vitamin is
disappearing from today's mainstream diet
What are our food sources of vitamin
A?
We can obtain vitamin
A
from the fat
of animals, birds and fish
But. . . only in significant amounts if their diet includes
vitamin A
or carotenes
-
as found in diets of livestock/birds/fish consuming green pasture, insects, fish meal and plankton .
Retinol (converted by the body to retinal, retinoic acid,
+ others) is the most usable form of vitamin A and is found in the following sources of animal,
bird or fish fat:
Oily fish Liver
and other organ meat
(e.g. kidney)Whole
milk and products (e.g. butterfat, cream, cheese)
from grass-fed
animals -
Low fat milk has synthetic vitamin A added (because it doesn't contain much
fat).Egg yolks and chicken from pastured hens, i.e. grass-fed, insect-eating hensShellfish (not recommended because of their possible toxicity).
And. . . current mass farming
methods mostly eliminate vitamin A from the livestock
diet
The current farming practice of keeping
livestock in confinement results in an absence of vitamin A in their fat. If present however,
the fat-soluble vitamins A ,
D , E and K are relatively stable and essentially will
survive the pasteurization process
USDA 2018 data reveals that ~ 85% of the
33 million grain-fed beef cattle slaughtered annually in the U.S.
for consumption as meat cuts are in the
hands of four huge corporations (U.S Cargill and Tyson
Foods Inc, and Brazil-based / controlled JBS SA, and National
packing company)
RRef
Most beef cattle spend the last few months of their lives at feedlots,
crowded into dusty, manure-laden holding pens, breathing in air rife
with bacteria.
Feedlot cattle are routinely implanted with growth-promoting hormones,
given antibiotics, and fed unnaturally rich (typically
herbicide/pesticide-containing corn and soybean) diets to make them
gain weight faster.
The unnatural existence of a CAFO dairy cow, milked 10 months out of
12, lasts an average of 3½years, compared to 12-15 years for a
pastured cow.
Cattle, with their multi-chambered
stomachs, are designed to "chew the cud", and eat a grass-based,
high fiber diet
Compared
with grass-fed cattle beef and milk products, CAFO raised animal
products have:
More total fat, saturated
fat, cholesterol and calories
Less beta-carotene, vitamins A, E, C, and Omega-3 fatty acids
(Fresh forage has 10-12 times more Omega-3 ALA than cereal grains)
Less conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) -
French researchers compared CLA levels in the breast tissues of 360
women to find that the women with the most CLA had a
74% lower risk of breast cancer than the women with the least CLA
Bougnoux et al, Inform 10:S43, 1999
Beef from grass-fed cattle contains about
twice the amount of beta-carotene as grain-fed
beef.
Pasture-raised cows produce only a third of the
milk of CAFO animals. Consequently, their
milk is more nutrient dense because it has not been "watered down" by greater production quantities (The cow has eaten only so many
nutrients to transfer to her milk). The butter made using milk from
a cow fed on 100% pasture will be bright yellow and taste delicious!
The creamiest milk comes from pastured Jersey or Guernsey cows.
Hope for the future. In the last few years, the number of U.S. farms raising pure
pasture-fed beef has increased from 50 to >1,000 and climbing, but
still represents only about 1% of the nation's supply.
And anyway. . . processors
prefer to utilize vegetable oils
(containingß-carotene),
instead of animal fats
We can obtain vitamin A by converting
dietary carotenes
But. . . optimal conversion NEEDS FAT and is influenced by other factors. We are taught that we may obtain vitamin A by eating and converting provitamin A
carotenes (such as ß-carotene) in brightly colored fruits and vegetables. The
problem is that this conversion only takes place when fat is present, and then
inefficiently without optimal conversion conditions. (An estimate of the
absorption rate for carotene is 20%-50% of that of retinol, which itself is
estimated at 70%-90%
Olson JA,
1993, Molecular actions of carotenoids Carotenes are converted
in the upper intestines by the action of bile, which reaches this area only when
its production is stimulated by fat in the meal.
Here lies the wisdom of putting butter on your vegetables and adding
cream to the soup!
Other concurrent dietary factors
influencing carotenoid bioavailability and absorption. Include the amount of dietary
carotenes , interactions with other carotenes , presence of dietary fiber,
nutritional deficiencies of zinc and/or protein, and disease states. Erdman
J. The physiologic chemistry of carotenes in man.
Absorption
efficiency of β-Carotene is estimated to be between 9-22%. The absorption and
conversion of carotenoids may depend on the form that the β-Carotene is in
(e.g. cooked vs. raw vegetables, or in a supplement), the intake of fats and
oils at the same time, and the current stores of vitamin A and β-Carotene in the
body. WIkipedia
Carotenes are found in:
Thoughts on the Edenic diet. Before the Great Flood, people had a vegetarian diet, however, there were
certainly shepherds at this time, since Abel, son of Adam and Eve was one. In
addition to sacrificing meat, we assume that people used the other sheep
products, such as wool, milk and skins (we know God clothed Adam and Eve in
animal skins in the garden of Eden). We surmise that man also availed himself of other animal products, such as cows'and goats'milk, butter, cream, cheese. These animal fats would therefore have
provided the needed fat catalyst to effect carotene conversion.
Other carotene tidbits
Both vitamin A and carotene content are reduced by cooking
Carotenes do not convert to retinol when the body already contains sufficiently
high levels
FDA regulations currently allow product labels to list carotenes as
vitamin A
Approximately one third of the retinol in the American diet is derived from
provitamin A carotenes
We can obtain vitamin
A
from fortified
foods
Dietary vitamin A
intake in the U.S. is an estimated 25% ß-carotene and 75% vitamin
A
(mainly from dairy products and synthetically fortified foods)
A synthetic vitamin A is usually added to low-fat/skim milk but not usually to whole milk - since
vitamin A
is naturally
present in milk fat, more so from pastured cows, and survives pasteurization
Functions of vitamin A (retinol) in the body
Sufficient vitamin A
needed for mineral uptake / utilization of water-soluble vitamins ;Antioxidant . Controls free radicals in body fats, and its presence in
cod liver oil
protects against lipid peroxide damage;Essential for good
eyesight (retinal
component). Vitamin A is called "retinol" because of its presence
in the retina;Builds muscle Utilizes protein. Initiates gastric juice secretion; (High-protein diet depletes
vitamin A. E .g.
heavy meat-eating);"Beauty" Vitamin. Keeps the skin smooth and softImproves growth in
nutrient-deprived children Powerful inhibitor of
prostate cancer Growth/repair of body
tissues - used in cell division;Helps build strong
bones/teeth, rich blood Protects mucous
membranes of mouth / nose / throat / lungs / entire digestive tract / bladder /
kidneys Immune system builder Vitamin A
protects against possible dioxins and pesticides. A useful ingredient in cod liver oil;
Reproduction. Necessary for sperm production.
Used in cell division and differentiation (i.e. cell decides what it will be),
and prenatal development (Aids RNA production); Prevents spontaneous abortion;
A and D work
together and must be present in BALANCED amounts
Vitamins
A and D work hand-in-hand. Both protecting and supporting one another. Human studies not taking this into
account produce skewed results, and animal studies show that evenmoderate amounts of vitamin D (from
any source) increases the body's need for vitamin A.
Signs of vitamin A (Retinol) deficiency
Vitamin
A stores are rapidly DEPLETED by EXERCISE, FEVER and STRESS
Tell-tale signs of vitamin A
deficiency
Goose bumps on skin
(mostly at back of upper arm);Night blindness ;
Consequences of vitamin A
deficiency
Keratomalacia (severe nutritional deficiency,
corneal ulceration, extreme eye dryness); Increased rate of
infection Increase in mortality Advanced deficiency
affects mucous membranes of respiratory /gastro-intestinal /genito-urinary tracts Deficiency in pregnancy causes malformations in baby - eye-defects, displaced kidneys, harelip, cleft palate, heart
abnormalities, larger blood vessels.
How much vitamin A to take each day?
Children 3 months - 12 years -5000 IU
Children over 12 years and adults -10,000 IU
Pregnant/Nursing Women - 20,000 IU
Under stress or treating disease condition -Up to 90,000 IU
for several weeks
3oz. Cooked beef liver - 30,325 IU
3oz. Cooked chicken liver -13,920 IU
1 tsp. Green Pastures®Cod Liver Oil -11,500 IU
1 tsp. Radiant Life®Cod Liver Oil -10,000 IU
3oz. Cooked kidneys (veal 569 IU, Beef = 0 IU)
2 Tbsp. Heavy Cream -440 IU
1 Tbsp. Butter -355 IU
1 Cup Whole milk (3.25% fat) -249 IU
1 oz. Cheddar cheese -300 IU
1 large, fried egg -~335 IU
2 oz. cottage cheese -184 IU
1 Tbsp. low fat cream cheese -56 IU
4 oz. low fat yogurt -58 IU
(as recommended by Weston A. Price Foundation)
Vitamin
A
toxicity reports have been
distorted
Various studies seem to support the idea that dietary vitamin A contributes
to an increased risk of bone fracture and birth defects , even at low
doses.
These alarming study results did not:
Take into account the need for concurrent balanced vitamin D intake. The evidence suggests that the negative effects of excess vitamin A are
actually the consequence of a vitamin D deficiency. When a basic level of
vitamin D is provided to balance adequate vitamin A intake (as found in
high-vitamin cod liver oil), as well as other nutrients, we exhibit optimum
skeletal health, including improved bone mineral density.
Differentiate between using natural or synthesized
vitamin A. To promote healthy development of her baby, it used to be that a pregnant
mother was generally advised to eat a portion of cooked beef liver once a week,
which contains ~35,000 IU vitamin A.And yet, a moderate dose of 10,000 IU or more of a
synthetic version,
such as
water-soluble, solidified, emulsified retinyl palmitate, seems to negatively affect
embryonic development.It should be
emphasized that research shows that an appropriate, smaller dose of even synthetic
vitamin A supplementation prevents birth defects, blindness and protein deficiency
disease (since the body can not utilize dietary protein without vitamin A ).
Dr. Weston Price discovered that
butterfat from grass-eating animals
protects against vitamin A toxicity.
For more information on
vitamin A studies, please read article by Chris Masterjohn of Weston A. Price
Foundation at:
Link
