By
Madeleine Innocent
Fortunately, there are numerous, healthy, natural sources of vitamin A. Although vitamin A is well known to be essential to a healthy immune system as well as strong bones one of its impressive qualities is largely overlooked. Namely, that in the correct ratios with vitamin D and K2 dental cavities are not only prevented, but can be reversed.
Yes, you heard correctly! I know this is not a well publicized fact, but there is irrefutable evidence that this powerful combination of vitamins can enable our bodies to literally heal cavities. The thing is though, it is crucial to obtain sufficient amounts of each of these 3 vitamins and the ratio of A to D plays a major role.
Vitamin A is stored in the liver, which is capable of storing up to two years of supply to be called on as our bodies need it. It is relatively stable when heated so is not destroyed when cooked, although enzyme destruction probably makes it less bioavailable.
Unfortunately, many people have been misinformed by "popular nutrition" as to exactly what vitamin A is. The scientific term for vitamin A is retinol as its greatest concentrations are in the retinas of the eye. The currently popular theory that retinol can be obtained from fruits and vegetables is a largely misunderstood partial truth.
Retinol has been demonstrated, by the groundbreaking research of Dr. Weston Price a famous pioneer of nutrition, to only be available in animal fat. True, our bodies are able under ideal conditions to convert the carotenes, which are pro vitamin A found in plant matter, into retinol. But not all bodies are able to make the conversion depending on a host of health conditions.
Besides that the conversion has been shown to be perhaps 4 to 1 carotene to retinol at best and perhaps as low as 6 to 1. Hence, it would not only take immense amounts of vegetables to obtain sufficient levels of vitamin A, there is no assurance that conditions are optimal to convert the carotene.
The logical conclusion is that there are a lot of people depending on vegetables for vitamin A that are deficient. I believe the evidence of this is borne out by the exceedingly high levels of degenerative diseases in our times. Weston Price figured the fat soluble vitamins and A in particular to be essential to all biological processes as they act as catalysts. Definitely not something you want to be deficient of!
The highest concentration of retinol, other than retinas, are found in animal organs and there are lesser amounts in egg yolks, butter and shellfish as can be seen in the following list of foods high in vitamin A.
Butter 1 stick 2,113 IU
Egg yolk 147 IU
Beef liver 3 oz 21,134 IU
Shrimp 3 oz 130 IU
Clam 3 oz 300 IU
The Weston Price Foundation, which has done extensive research and teaching in this area recommend 10,000 IU per day. Hence, if you don't like liver it is going to be a struggle to consume enough of the other sources to insure sufficient uptake.
Although I do not generally take nor recommend supplements if you don't want to eat liver, cod liver oil (CLO) is a safe and trustworthy alternative. The best source is real CLO that is made through a process of fermentation as it was traditionally.
Nowadays it is almost exclusively processed by means that pretty well eliminate the vitamin C and D and then synthetic vitamins are put in to replace them. The only source of traditional CLO that I am aware of is at greenpasture.org. They also produce another excellent source in High Vitamin Butter Oil. They are a tad pricey as the processes involved are complex and well monitored to produce a quality product.
The next best thing is commercially produced CLO. Beware though, if you opt for this route, to be careful to insure you are getting what you pay for. There is a very large range of the amount of vitamin A and D in products available. As vitamin A and D work synergistically it is very important to maintain the approximately 10 to 1 ratio of A to D.
Fortunately, there are numerous, healthy, natural sources of vitamin A. Although vitamin A is well known to be essential to a healthy immune system as well as strong bones one of its impressive qualities is largely overlooked. Namely, that in the correct ratios with vitamin D and K2 dental cavities are not only prevented, but can be reversed.
Yes, you heard correctly! I know this is not a well publicized fact, but there is irrefutable evidence that this powerful combination of vitamins can enable our bodies to literally heal cavities. The thing is though, it is crucial to obtain sufficient amounts of each of these 3 vitamins and the ratio of A to D plays a major role.
Vitamin A is stored in the liver, which is capable of storing up to two years of supply to be called on as our bodies need it. It is relatively stable when heated so is not destroyed when cooked, although enzyme destruction probably makes it less bioavailable.
Unfortunately, many people have been misinformed by "popular nutrition" as to exactly what vitamin A is. The scientific term for vitamin A is retinol as its greatest concentrations are in the retinas of the eye. The currently popular theory that retinol can be obtained from fruits and vegetables is a largely misunderstood partial truth.
Retinol has been demonstrated, by the groundbreaking research of Dr. Weston Price a famous pioneer of nutrition, to only be available in animal fat. True, our bodies are able under ideal conditions to convert the carotenes, which are pro vitamin A found in plant matter, into retinol. But not all bodies are able to make the conversion depending on a host of health conditions.
Besides that the conversion has been shown to be perhaps 4 to 1 carotene to retinol at best and perhaps as low as 6 to 1. Hence, it would not only take immense amounts of vegetables to obtain sufficient levels of vitamin A, there is no assurance that conditions are optimal to convert the carotene.
The logical conclusion is that there are a lot of people depending on vegetables for vitamin A that are deficient. I believe the evidence of this is borne out by the exceedingly high levels of degenerative diseases in our times. Weston Price figured the fat soluble vitamins and A in particular to be essential to all biological processes as they act as catalysts. Definitely not something you want to be deficient of!
The highest concentration of retinol, other than retinas, are found in animal organs and there are lesser amounts in egg yolks, butter and shellfish as can be seen in the following list of foods high in vitamin A.
Butter 1 stick 2,113 IU
Egg yolk 147 IU
Beef liver 3 oz 21,134 IU
Shrimp 3 oz 130 IU
Clam 3 oz 300 IU
The Weston Price Foundation, which has done extensive research and teaching in this area recommend 10,000 IU per day. Hence, if you don't like liver it is going to be a struggle to consume enough of the other sources to insure sufficient uptake.
Although I do not generally take nor recommend supplements if you don't want to eat liver, cod liver oil (CLO) is a safe and trustworthy alternative. The best source is real CLO that is made through a process of fermentation as it was traditionally.
Nowadays it is almost exclusively processed by means that pretty well eliminate the vitamin C and D and then synthetic vitamins are put in to replace them. The only source of traditional CLO that I am aware of is at greenpasture.org. They also produce another excellent source in High Vitamin Butter Oil. They are a tad pricey as the processes involved are complex and well monitored to produce a quality product.
The next best thing is commercially produced CLO. Beware though, if you opt for this route, to be careful to insure you are getting what you pay for. There is a very large range of the amount of vitamin A and D in products available. As vitamin A and D work synergistically it is very important to maintain the approximately 10 to 1 ratio of A to D.