Vitamin A is absolutely necessary for health. Be on the lookout for the following signs of a deficiency of this important vitamin:
Mucous membrane disturbances, tonsilitis, consistent cough, bronchitis (chronic), lung disorders, sinusitis, susceptibility to colds, tuberculosis, asthma, allergies and respiratory infections. Bacterial growths, Dry skin, blackheads, whiteheads and excess wrinkles
• Deep, indented ridges in fingernails
• Sleeplessness
• Mental confusion
• Loss of balance
• Peeling nails
• Poor vision (particularly at dusk or at night), strong reaction to glare of any kind (such as sun or car headlights)
• Soft teeth and bones
• Some types of bladder and kidney conditions, including stones, cystitis and nephritis.
Disturbance of reproductive glands, Thyroid disorders, with goiter relationship, Gastritis and digestive disorders, poor appetite and diarrhea.
Some types of hearing loss; loss of sense of smell Convulsions, in some cases Frequent fatigue and loss of pep.
Vitamin A helps to protect your eyes, skin, mucous membranes, soft tissue and all linings of the digestive tract, kidneys, bladder, eyes, lungs and skin. It helps build strong bones, strong teeth and rich blood. It seems to delay senility and prolong longevity. Dr. Henry C. Sherman of Columbia University found that vitamin A added considerably to the life-span of animals and extended their youthfulness. It also helps the body to defend itself against infections.
Vitamin A contributes to good health and good teeth in growing children. It has been found to lower cholesterol. Studies show that sufficient vitamin A is a factor needed by diabetics.5
Vitamin A is needed today more than ever before in history because, among other benefits it provides, it is crucial for protection against air pollution. Cases of emphysema and chronic bronchitis are becoming epidemic the world over, resulting in many deaths. Lung tissues are being attacked by various pollutants, including ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur oxide, and all air pollutants from industrial pollution or car exhausts or radioactive fallout, as pinpointed by Dr. Ernest J. Sternglass, professor of Radiation Physics at the University of Pittsburgh, who found a direct correlation between the rise of cases of emphysema and fallout.6 Smoking, of course, compounds the problem. But vitamin A can help.
5. Editors of Prevention. "Vitamin A, Everyone's Basic Bodyguard." Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Press.
6. Ernest J. Sternglass. Low-Level Radiation. New York: Ballandne Books.
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that vitamins A and E protect lungs against air pollution. In tests at M.I.T., animals that had been deficient in vitamin A for a long time, and exhibited hard, scaly, thick lung cells, showed lung improvement within eighteen hours after the administration of vitamin A.7
Carl J. Reich, M.D., of Canada has had success in treating thousands of cases of allergy—including bronchial asthma, chronic rhinitis and dermatitis—with vitamins A and D and calcium. He was successful in relieving symptoms of 75 percent of 1,000 patients suffering from bronchial asthma with vitamins A and D.8
Dr. Eli Seifert (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) believes vitamin A activates the thymus gland which, in turn, stimulates body immunity to disease.
There are many other benefits from vitamin A. People who work in bright light and face glare (secretaries please note), watch TV a great deal, work in dim light, are exposed to the glare of sunlight, snow or many car headlights during night driving—all use up a great deal of vitamin A. Barbara Cartland, a nutrition reporter in England, believes from her experiences that fluorescent light creates a deficiency of vitamin A in the body causing vision problems and skin blemishes. Adelle Davis agreed.
7. Chemical and Engineering News
Dr. Umberto Saffioti of the National Cancer Institute found that vitamin A given by mouth to hamsters exposed to cancer-causing substances prevented cancer. He also found that vitamin A in quite large amounts protected animals from cancer of the stomach, lungs and reproductive tract. These studies were confirmed by Ronald E. Davies, of the Skin and Cancer Hospital of Temple University, Philadelphia.9 He found that animals were protected by vitamin A from skin cancer and tumors caused by a cancer-causing chemical. Those animals given vitamin A also had pinker skins and fewer wrinkles than those animals deficient in vitamin A.
9. Cancer-Research.
Adelle Davis reported that large amounts of vitamin A taken daily cleared hundreds of large warts in one woman within four months.10 Plantar warts have also responded to temporary massive doses of vitamin A.
Dr. Sherman found that vitamin A improved general health, resistance and vigor. A Cleveland clinic learned that a deficiency of vitamin A caused kidney stones and gallstones, while vitamin A (in cod-liver oil) dissolved many stones.
10. Adelle Davis. Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit. Paperback edition. New York: New American Library,
In India, a medical team, treating protein starved children, could not understand why a protein rich diet did not improve their patients. Later, another medical team, treating eye problems with Vitamin A, found their protein deficiency problem dramatically-improved. This led to the discovery that protein cannot be utilized without Vitamin A.
George K. Anderson, M.D., of the Council on Foods and Nutrition of the American Medical Association, stated a protein deficiency will contribute to every health problem and aging.
Dr. William Ellis says, "There is no disease of illness abnormality in the body that is not in some way related to protein metabolism."
Those who substitute processed carbohydrates (sugar and white-flour products) for protein are slowly committing suicide. The reason: carbohydrates build weak cells; protein builds strong, healthy cells.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Yearbook states, "If there were one secret of life, protein might be considered at the heart of it.
How Much Vitamin A Do We Need?
The recommended daily allowances of vitamin A are absurdly small: 1500 IU for babies 3000 for children and 5000 for adults. Bear in mind these RDA’s are estimated for “average” daily needs. They don’t take individual differences into account; nor special circumstances like accidents., illness or other forms of stress which immediately use up enormous amounts, leaving the liver’s supply depleted. Doctors who realize how critical this vitamin is to our defense system will give massive doses at once in cases of such emergencies. Doses as high as 400,000 IU a day have been given for brief periods, with no ill effects and excellent results.
All of us are so different. In our habits, our life-styles in our reactions to stress. Different even in our bodies9 ability to convert and utilize vitamin A; Taking such things into consideration., the best-qualified medical sources agree that most adults should be setting from 20,000 to 30,000 IU of vitamin A a day, with safe limits up to 50,000 or even 60,000. And instead of screaming about the dangers of getting too much, our government should be far more concerned about the dangers of our getting too little. As rampant disease figures indicate, and its own statistics show, a great many Americans are seriously deficient in vitamin A.
This critically important substance is destroyed by the nitrate fertilizers which now pervade every phase of the
Unfortunately, there is many a slip between the lip and body cells. Vegetables analyzed in a laboratory perhaps grew on excellent soil and received the optimum amount of rain and sunshine; possibly they contained a hundred times more vitamin A than those grown under less ideal conditions. Carrots for example, have been analyzed which contain no carotene whatsoever. Losses of the vitamin occur during shipping, storage, freezing, canning, and cooking.