Vitamin Eh?

[Usarka]

I've been hearing conflicting stories about how much vitamin A one can take before their liver implodes, hair falls out (supposedly :eek5:), skin turns yellow and cat runs away.

so what better way than to ask a bunch of hairy bikers.....

been told to take supplements, incl cod liver oil (yummy!)

how A much is too much? anyone knowledgeable in this area?

Eh?

Please help or i just dont think i'll be able to sleep at night.

[LardEmbargo]

ok, so I think Vitamin A is also known as retinoic Acid or retinol. It's particularly important in early (as in embryo) development, also once you're more growner-upper it's a precursor or something for one of the pigments used in light-receptors in your eyes, Rhodopsin. Hence the story about carrots (being rich in Vitamin A) helping you see in the dark. If you're all malnourished and puny and Vitamin A deficient then you lose your night vision, anyway.

You *can* have too much Vitamin A, i.e. more is not necessarily better. I suspect it will get metabolized into something ugly and fark your liver. I read somewhere about polar bears liver containing very high levels of vitamin A (they must be more tolerant of it) to the point of being toxic to eat. Just in case you were planning on having some, with onions and so on.

anyway, it looks like wikipedia has some stuff here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinol). Brief scan indicates it also talks about polar bear liver, and has a bit about toxicity too. We're saved. And it's on The Inter Web so it must be true.

[Usarka]

mmmmmm polar bear.

the mean numbers that ive read:
5,000 iu = rda
25,000 = hair falls out
100,000 = cat runs away

and that a polar bear liver = 9,000,000 iu.

crikey.

[Hitcher]

Read all about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_a

[MsKABC]

It's particularly important in early (as in embryo) development,

Actually, pregnant women are advised to stay away from vitamin A and food sources rich in it (such as pate, liver etc) as it is harmful to developing foetuses. Not really pertinent to the original poster as I doubt pregnancy will ever be an issue for him ;)

[Big Dave]

Vitamins!

:oi-grr: a dose of HTFU.
If Bourbon won't cure it - cut it off.

[tri boy]

Vitamins!

:oi-grr: a dose of HTFU.
If Bourbon won't cure it - cut it off.

And Vodka makes me strong and cleverer.:drinkup:

[Hitcher]

Vitamins!

a dose of HTFU.
If Bourbon won't cure it - cut it off.

Big Dave is so cool he doesn't need ice in his bourbon.

[Blue Velvet]

Once upon a time, when I thought that being healthy was a good idea, I drank lots of carrot juice and my feet and hands turned orange. Enough so that people commented... So I stopped. Now I just eat crap cos it's safer. And I'm not orange anymore.

[Usarka]

Vitamins!

:oi-grr: a dose of HTFU.
If Bourbon won't cure it - cut it off.

Tell me about it. most "healthy" people probably stress so much about this sort of shit that it's less good for them than a big cheeseburger and a beer.....

[cowpoos]

Big Dave is so cool he doesn't need ice in his bourbon.
Hitcher is so dry, he needs to add lemonade!!!

[Ixion]

You *can* have too much Vitamin A, i.e. more is not necessarily better. I suspect it will get metabolized into something ugly and fark your liver. I read somewhere about polar bears liver containing very high levels of vitamin A (they must be more tolerant of it) to the point of being toxic to eat. Just in case you were planning on having some, with onions and so on.

.
Bugger. Damn .Oh Dear . I do wish you'd told me that last week.