Most people don’t consider vitamin A when considering their immune systems. I strongly suspect that many people live their lives with subclinical infections as evidenced by continuous coughing and/or excess mucus. Really, vitamins A, C and D should be called vitamin ACD as all are vital in the fight against infection.
Most people, maybe as high as 80 percent, are short in vitamin A alone. The prevalence of night blindness and the common cold gives convincing evidence of this deficiency. And studies have shown that the older we are the less store of vitamin A we have in our livers, which is where about 90 percent of our vitamin A stores are found.
A study in the Proceedings of the Nutritional Society showed that vitamin A and related retinoids play a major role in immunity, including expression of mucins and keratins, lymphopoiesis, apoptosis, cytokine expression, production of antibody and the function of neutrophils, natural killer cells, monocytes or macrophages, T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes.
Clinical trials suggest that vitamin A supplementation reduces morbidity and mortality in different infectious diseases.
One study even found that women in particular are vulnerable to vitamin A deficiency. The study, led by Dr. Georg Lietz, showed that 47 percent of women tested had a genetic variation that reduced their ability to produce an adequate amount of vitamin A from beta-carotene. “Vitamin A is incredibly important,” explained Lietz. “Particularly at this time of year when we are all trying to fight off the winter colds and flu.”
The study authors also discovered that those who were suffering from the genetic issue were not eating enough vitamin A rich foods, such as dairy products, to compensate and reach the optimum level of the vitamin that their body needs to function properly.
But vitamin A is not very stable. Therefore it’s difficult to get enough under the best of conditions, especially since it is easily destroyed by heat and we cook almost everything. We may consume a generous amount of vitamin A and still have low body levels no matter our genetic predispositions.
Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin and requires normal fat assimilation. However, since the mainstream has advocated a disastrous “low fat” diet for over 30 years, you can imagine the vulnerability we have, and the current situation is evidence. Millions of seniors line up each year for “flu shots.” I have never quite understood how a jab could substitute for nutritional deficiency. The government is very interested in us getting our shots, and most do.
Many people living off low-fat diets are purposefully avoiding the very foods that provide the bioavailable forms of vitamin A found in animal foods like liver and eggs, and avoiding the essential medium (fat) that delivers nutrients to the body.
A low-fat diet is doubly dangerous in this regard where infection is concerned.
Carotene (pro-vitamin A), as found in raw carrots, is much more efficient in raising the body’s level of vitamin A than fish liver oils. Carotene from carrots can be stored in the liver in quantity, while only a small quantity of true vitamin A can be stored.
Any liver function impairment defeats the body’s ability to secure an adequate intake, so in that case you will especially nned to know these major sources of bioavailable vitamin A (retinoids):
- Pasture-raised beef or duck liver
- Organic eggs
- Raw whole milk, heavy cream, organic butter and cheese from grass-fed or free-range cows
- Shrimp
- Wild-caught salmon and tuna.
Sources of pro-vitamin A carotenoids include:
- Sweet potato
- Carrots
- Dark leafy greens (kale, spinach, collards, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, Swiss chard, lettuce)
- Squash (especially butternut)
- Dried apricots
- Cantaloupe
- Sweet peppers
- Tropical fruits (mango and papaya).
I follow Dr. Max Gerson’s advice to drink fresh raw carrot juice, the alkalizing and sickness-defeating secret he used to save many “terminal” cancer patients. What did he know? That carrot juice has great value because it supplies vitamin A so necessary for health and vitality
