Vitamin A

Cream, butter, whole milk, eggs, and liver supply vitamin A but are often avoided because of calories or cholesterol. Carotene, a substance in yellow and green vegetables and fruits that changes into vitamin A, is not well absorbed unless textures are unusually soft. Thus many individuals obtain too little vitamin A unless their diets are supplemented.

Excessive vitamin A can be toxic and cause such symptoms as thinning hair, sore lips, bruising, nosebleeds, headaches, blurred vision, flaky itching skin, painful joints, and tenderness and swelling over the long bones. These symptoms disappear in a few days after the vitamin is withdrawn or can be completely prevented by generous amounts of vitamin C. Adults who have developed vitamin- A toxicity have usually taken 100,000 to 500,000 units daily for 15 months or longer before any symptoms became noticeable, though they have appeared in two weeks when a volunteer took 1 million units daily.

Since such toxicity is unexpected, it has been difficult for physicians to diagnose. Because of a skin condition one woman took 500,000 units of vitamin A daily for almost eight years. Before the resulting toxicity was pinpointed, she consulted innumerable doctors, was hospitalized eight times and given tentative diagnoses of brain tumor, meningitis, arthritis, and encephalitis; she was put in a cast because of back pains and underwent brain surgery in an attempt to relieve head pressure. After the vitamin A was stopped, all pain disappeared in two months.

The American Medical Association recommends that no more than 50,000 units of vitamin A be taken daily. Individual physicians, however, still give 100,000 units daily for periods of six months with excellent results and no signs of toxicity. During illness the need is increased, absorption faulty, and storage impaired; hence 100,000 units daily may sometimes be desirable, especially for persons suffering from measles, acne, toxic thyroid, and kidney or sinus infections. Far more vitamin A is required when the diet is low in protein than when protein is adequate. If lecithin is taken with vitamin A, absorption is so enhanced that 50,000 units daily is probably enough for most ill persons, and 25,000 units daily sufficient during convalescence. Infants should perhaps be given no more than 10,000 units, and small children, 20,000 units, even during illnesses, except possibly measles.

The B Vitamins

The only good sources of the B vitamins are liver, yeast, and wheat germ, though meats, seeds, nuts, a few vegetables, and whole-grain breads and cereals supply small amounts. Some foods are rich in individual B vitamins. The bacteria obtained from yogurt or acidophilus milk synthesize these vitamins in the intestine, but the quantities are not easily measured. The need for these vitamins, particularly pantothenic acid (sold as calcium pantothenate), increases tremendously during illness; hence it is usually impossible to rebuild health rapidly unless both natural sources and supplements are taken daily.

The B vitamins are so readily lost in the urine that almost no toxicity has been reported. If one or more B vitamins is given during a multiple deficiency, however, symptoms of other B deficiencies become more severe. In fact, because the sale of folic acid is restricted, no B-vitamin preparation on the market at the present time is safe to use for a prolonged period. If supplements of B vitamins are taken daily without a good source of folic acid, such as liver or a cooked green leafy vegetable, a sore mouth, perhaps falling hair, anemia, and other symptoms of a folic-acid deficiency can easily occur. As a safeguard, natural sources furnishing the entire B complex should always be taken with supplements, which can then be used temporarily to great advantage.

During illnesses the need for certain B vitamins increases far more than for others. The therapeutic amounts suggested by the National Research Council have been criticized as supplying far too little.28 Its recommendations, like most B-vitamin preparations on the market, completely lack cholin, inositol, PABA, and biotin, and are extremely low in folic acid, vitamins B6 and B12, and pantothenic acid. To meet the increased demands of stress, I have obtained the best results by having ill persons take daily, when able to do so, the anti-stress formula at each meal and between each meal, or a tablet containing 500 and 100 milligrams respectively of vitamin C and pantothenic acid and smaller amounts of other B vitamins; a serving of fresh liver at one meal and a tablespoon of desiccated liver, or 15 tablets, at the other meals; 1/4 to 1;2 cup of yeast fortified with calcium; wheat germ as a cereal or used in cooking; 1 cup or more of yogurt or acidophilus milk or several tablespoons of culture; and 1 to 3 tablespoons of lecithin as a source of cholin and inositol as well as an aid to digestion.

When the patient is markedly improved, the anti-stress formula may be decreased to 1 tablet with each meal and finally to 1 daily; and, when health is attained, it should be discontinued. A tablet containing half the original quantities may be taken six times daily throughout convalescence. Recovery is more rapid when small quantities are obtained frequently rather than a larger amount at one time.

Unless a yeast or a B-complex supplement contains all of these vitamins in roughly the above proportion, I feel it should not be used. Some yeasts are "enriched" with so much vitamin Bl that other B-vitamin deficiencies occasionally appear when much such yeast is taken. All varieties are high in protein and contain B vitamins; and torula yeast is extremely rich in trace minerals. In my opinion, torula yeast has much the better flavor, but brewers' yeast is sometimes better tolerated. Instant and flaked yeasts are so bulky and tablets such a nuisance that few people eat enough of them to do much good; 24 tablets, for instance, are required to equal a level tablespoon of yeast.

For those who do not wish to eat yogurt or drink acidophilus milk, fresh, dated acidophil us culture is available which contains the valuable bacteria in concentrated form. Because these bacteria grow only on milk sugar, the culture should be taken with milk. If milk is not tolerated, it can be added to juice with 1 teaspoon of milk sugar to each tablespoon of culture.

About The Author
David Crawford is the CEO and owner of a Natural Male Enhancement company known as Male Enhancement Group which is dedicated to researching and comparing male enhancement products in order to determine which male enhancement product is safer and more effective than other products on the market. Copyright 2010 David Crawford of Natural Male Enhancement This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.