Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesis of... 
purplepixie
11 y
8,657
† Cross †
hey guys n gals :-)
I wanted to post this up here in case anyone has forgotten about the importance of vitamin A for thyroid and adrenal health.
I've been recently researching this some more as i personally suffer with vitamin A deficiency, recently discovering at a gene level i don't convert carotene to retinol, which being a vegetarian most of my life, has resulted in this deficiency.
I'll post up more links and update this thread when i have more time but the studies done on deficiency of Vit A and the measured lower levels of Thyroid hormones (T3 and T4) coupled with lower cortisol production from the adrenals are really interesting.
I don't read often how Vitamin A should be important for an adrenal protocol - it's all about Vit C and B5 and glandulars.
Interestingly, studies on rats revealed a vit A deficient state - even just a mild state of deficiency resulted in a much lower level of cortisone production.
They found that the conversion from Pregnenolone to cortisol was impaired with Vit A deficiency. Intriguingly, conversion of cortisol from Progesterone did NOT affect cortisol levels, despite Vit A deficiency.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1264968/
Zinc is also important to include with Vit A for thyroid hormone production:
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/34/8/1489.abstract
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- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... Sherpa
11 y
7,425
This is a reply to # 2,105,126Thanks for the reminder. I never took it until recently, when I added a good dose of A in a thyroid formula. I feel better on it.
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... tireness
11 y
7,336
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... purplepixie
11 y
7,532
MoreThis is a reply to # 2,105,167It depends on the type of Vitamin A taken aswell as assessment of a person's individual deficiency status.
The Upper Intake Level is 10,000IU for male and female adults.
This page is excellent source for dosage and types of vit A:
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminA-HealthProfessional/
It's important to not think that it's best to buy the highest IU you can find as in retinol form (fat soluble) gets stored in the liver and toxicity can result...as the link above talks about.
Hency why knowing your Vit A nutritional status will better help determine the dosage.
Symptoms of deficiency affecting body function are hypothyroidism, keratin 'spots' (white small hard lumps on the skin), night blindness, acne..aswell as other symptoms.
It was 3 years ago that i developed night blindness, after years of having acne, keratin spots.
Co-factors of Vit E and zinc are needed for Vit A utilisation in the body.
I don't think it's wise to take the Vit A and E together at the same time though as research a while back on them suggests they both compete for the same receptors so taking them together is a waste of the supplement.
I stopped all supplements for a good 10 weeks to do some tests, and the keratin spots and hypothyroid symptoms have returned so i think it's a really valuable vitamin to consider in hormone health, and is mostly over-looked.
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- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... purplepixie
11 y
7,986
This is a reply to # 2,105,287The white keratin spots i talk about are a good early indicator of deficiency.
Vitamin A helps protein synthesis, as 'Milia' or 'keratin' spots are a build-up of keratin, a protein, it could be a sign of a Vit A deficiency.
It amazes me how many 'cosmetic' sites online talk about these keratin bumps and very rarely mention it could be a sign of a vitamin A deficiency. Instead they sell creams and offer surgery!
This is what they look like:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?gs_rn=26&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=5&gs_id=5m&xhr=t&q=m...
I remember going to my doctor when 16 about these white spots around my eyes...of which he said, don't worry, they come and go. Of course they never went until this past year (35yrs old!) of taking Vit A.
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... purplepixie
11 y
7,986
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... purplepixie
11 y
7,532
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... purplepixie
11 y
7,447
This is a reply to # 2,105,162Good to hear Sherpa :-) Hope you're continuing to feel much better...it's great to hear success stories on here and yours is a valiant one!
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... tireness
11 y
7,336
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... truthorconsequences
11 y
7,295
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... ring5100
11 y
7,324
This is a reply to # 2,105,126Wonder which is better, beta carotene or in form of Cod-liver oil which is good in A. ?
Paulette- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... Melissaz23
11 y
7,408
This is a reply to # 2,105,522I'm new to adrenal fatigue, but have a retinal disease that has meant years on vitamin a. The best form is retinyl palmitate if your body has difficulties with conversion and uptake. It is more readily bio-available. On the other hand, it is also the supplement associated with toxicity levels over 10000 iu daily.
Ive been told to take much more than the highest recommended doses because my body cannot absorb it properly. However, for most people. I would stick to 5000 iu palminate and get additional vit A from carotene or dietary sources. Completely unprofessional advice though. BTW. Retinyl palminate is found in liver, eggs, whole milk, fortified cereals, and butter to name a few- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... purplepixie
11 y
7,441
This is a reply to # 2,105,614I did wonder if people have gut absorption issues could they rub the oil on their skin for transdermal absorption?
I've not tested this theory but i've been considering this route.
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... purplepixie
11 y
7,441
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... purplepixie
11 y
7,500
This is a reply to # 2,105,522Hiya Paulette :-)
Carotene requires conversion to Retinoic acid and the other forms of retinol esters - some may not do this conversion well, as i found out from a gene test. Had no idea - i was munching carrots like they were going out of fashion!
BTW - raw carrot consumption contains MUCH less carotene than cooked carrots. Something like 10KG of raw carrot = 0.5kg cooked carrot carotene levels.
Liver consumption (as liver in all mammals stores vit A so it's good to eat it if you like it) can help with mild deficiency and to keep levels good.
I personally take liver oil, retinol to bypass the inadequate gene enzyme conversion of carotene to retinol.
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... ring5100
11 y
7,430
This is a reply to # 2,105,619Thank you. Always nice to hear from you.
I have both carotene and cod liver oil in my cabinet.
But, with cod liver oil, you get the EPH and DHA plus some D and lot A.
So what gene test did you have, 23andme?
How did it turn out? Was this for methylation?
Paulette- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... t316
8 y
4,619
This is a reply to # 2,105,653The gene polymorphism you're looking for is BCMO1.
I am homozygous (++) and found this out after my spectracell showed a significant vitamin A deficiency and tried to reverse engineer why it was happening. This was around the time when I started to get blurred vision and night blindness.
In all honesty I am still working on whether there are additional reasons. One could very well be adrenal fatigue which I have had for years because of PTSD. I also recently found out that vitamin A is a cofactor in converting cholesterol to pregnenolone, the mother hormone, which also produces cortisol. So, theoretically, a low conversion from BetaCarotine (in vegies) to retinol (true Vit a) could cause a lack of ability to deal with stress. So, stressed and wired people could indeed have this as a potential genetic reason...
Run your raw 23andme data through "sterling" service and go to the "Eye Health" section and see the results for the following three genes:
BCMO1 rs4889294
BCMO1 R267S rs12934922
BCMO1 A379V
Read more about it by looking at the article from selfhacked from google search results on keywords "importance-real-vitamin-retinol" (with the quotes). It's currently the first search result... I am not allowed to post a link here...
I hope this helps someone...
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... t316
8 y
4,619
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... ring5100
11 y
7,430
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... Melissaz23
11 y
7,408
- Re: Vitamin A IMPORTANT for synthesi... Sherpa
11 y
7,425
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