Synthetic Vitamin A vs. Natural Vitamin A

First, one extremely important aspect must be addressed before we start this discussion:

Synthetic Vitamin A is what you are getting when you see the word “fortified” on a product label. This form is not the same as the natural form of Vitamin A contained in fruits and vegetables, or from animal sources. The synthetic form of this vitamin is likely to promote toxicity and ill side effects, especially over time.

Remember the bad press surrounding Vitamin E not too long ago that suggested that it could actually be harmful.  It turned out that the study neglected to mention that the Vitamin E used in the research was a synthetic form, rather than one from a natural source. Why is this a problem? Because fat-soluble vitamins tend to be stored in the body, and this can be harmful to the body when synthetic versions of Vitamin A (or any other fat-soluble vitamin) are used.

Natural Vitamin A, on the other hand, is not toxic even at high dosages such as 100,000 IU per day, despite what the medical mindset would have you believe.

Cod Liver Oil vs. Medical Science

In our modern world, science has decided to “improve” upon what nature has given us.

Such is the case with cod liver oil which is naturally high in Vitamin A . This highly nutritious fish oil, per the wisdom of modern medicine, has been manually stripped of its Vitamin A content, in their attempt to make what is natural… “healthier and better”.  Since, obviously, nature “got it wrong!”

Between you and me, if people were seemingly healthier due to this selective wisdom, I’d be the first in line to advocate it. Sadly, it just isn’t so.

Two randomized, double-blind controlled studies were done in northern Ghana on the effects of high dose Vitamin A and childhood mortality and morbidity. The studies involved the use of high dose Vitamin A (100,000-200,000 IU of retinol) every four months for two years.

Now, remember this is a dosage that has been proclaimed as “toxic” or even “fatal”. Yet, in this study,

“significantly lower number of children attended the mobile clinics or hospital in the Vitamin A group than in the placebo group.”

Some may argue that the study involved children and not adults, thus inferring that it is the adults who are sensitive to high amounts of Vitamin A.

Well, here’s another study that examined the relationship between high dose Vitamin A and Menorrhagia (excessive menstrual bleeding), a condition that plagues many adult women.

The result of this study was more than significant; it was astonishing:

“Treatment with megadoses of Vitamin A (100,000 IU per day) resulted in a 92 percent cure rate of menorrhagia”

These studies used only 100,000 – 200,000 IU’s. How about a study with even higher dosages…let’s say 300,000 IU?!

In fact, there was a study to see the effects of 300,000 IU’s of Vitamin A per day on tumors in stage I cancer patients. The conclusion is as follows:

“Daily oral administration of high-dose Vitamin A is effective in reducing the number of new primary tumors related to tobacco consumption and may improve the disease-free interval in patients curatively resected for stage I lung cancer.”

Now isn’t that interesting!

These are just a few examples of studies, among many, which prove that high dose Vitamin A is not as toxic as scientists and most medical doctors would have you believe.  If it were, then wouldn’t the patients who took part in these studies be extremely sick or dead from the side effects, rather than displaying significant improvements in their health conditions!

Time and time again, we are led to believe that only toxic prescription drugs with countless side-effects are the “healthy” choice for us whereas natural nutrients are worthless or worse, “toxic”.

How can this upside-down reasoning possibly make sense to anyone? How could there not be more outrage? How can there not be more questions?

Here’s a list with the approximate levels of Vitamin A (retinol) in some common foods, in IU’s per 100 grams (from Vitamin A Knavery)

• Regular cod liver oil: 100,000
• Duck liver: 40,000
• Beef liver: 35,000
• Goose liver: 31,000
• Liverwurst sausage (pork): 28,000
• Lamb liver: 25,000

And don’t forget that some decades ago, cod liver oil was the golden standard that mothers gave their children on a daily basis. One could argue that this practice was based on faulty knowledge of “less-than-modern medical science”.

Well, all I have to say is, really?

Poor health conditions in today’s children are increasing, and so far medical doctors would have you believe that drugs are the only answer.

Cod liver oil is known to have prevented infection and many ailments in children living during tough times such as World Wars I and II. There is no documentation of these children dying of hypervitaminosis A (Vitamin A toxicity). In fact the opposite occurred. Daily intake of cod liver oil actually helped increase immune system function.

Nevertheless, today cod liver oil is being attacked, stripped of the natural levels of Vitamin A and being sold with only minimal levels. 

Other Related Articles:

• VITAMIN A WARNING: Polar Bear Livers
• The safest way to get Vitamin A is from Beta-carotene
• Does Vitamin E Cause Strokes?
• The “Toxic” Vitamin That is not Toxic: Vitamin D
• Vitamin E vs. Coumadin