Are You Taking Vitamin A? Pills from Isolates Can be Toxic and Dangerous

by Vic Shayne, PhD

What’s the difference between a pill and a spinach leaf? The pill can contain vitamin A, but only the food can contain natural vitamin A. Why? Because in the food the vitamin A is still in its natural surroundings, but in the pill it’s just a lonely chemical that misses its family of other nutrients.

In the last several years there have been scientific reports saying that vitamin A can be toxic and dangerous. Before we go any further, then, let’s make an important distinction. There’s a difference between the vitamin A that is found in foods and made in the liver versus the vitamin A you find in a supplement bottle from your nearest vitamin store. The first kind is not only natural, but also exists within a COMPLEX. This means it is not alone, floating around as an isolated chemical. An important distinction because vitamin A palmitate, commonly called vitamin A and sold as a supplement, is not contained in its original food. To make an obvious comparison, consider that vitamin A from eating fish is not the same thing as a vitamin A pill. The latter can indeed be toxic.

One scientific journals reports, “The acute and chronic effects of vitamin A toxicity are well documented in the literature. Emerging evidence suggests that subtoxicity without clinical signs of toxicity may be a growing concern, because intake from preformed sources of vitamin A often exceeds the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) for adults, especially in developed countries. Osteoporosis and hip fracture are associated with preformed vitamin A intakes that are only twice the current RDA. “1

“The cleavage of provitamin A carotenoids to retinal is a highly regulated step, and vitamin A toxicity from provitamin A sources is largely impossible. In contrast, absorption and hepatic storage of preformed vitamin A occur very efficiently until a pathologic condition develops.”1

Reading this carefully, we recognize that the vitamin A under question is not the kind you find in foods, but the kind that is made FROM foods. In other words, the FRACTION, or ISOLATED version that stands alone, is in a vitamin pill (or fortified food) and is no longer part of the original food complex. The difference is great.

The worry among scientists is that vitamin A, as an isolated chemical, can cause problems with kidneys, eyes, joints, bones, lungs and the liver, among other things. This is just another reason why the Nutrition Research Center uses NutriPlex whole food supplements and avoids chemical vitamins such as vitamin A palmitate and other forms.

Sources

1. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 83, No. 2, 191-201, February 2006
2. Too much of a good thing? Toxic effects of vitamin and mineral supplements, JAMC • 8 JUILL. 2003; 169 (1)