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From: avinash@ubvax.UUCP (Avinash Marathe)
Newsgroups: net.med,net.cooks
Subject: Re: Re: How much Vitamin A is too much? [That's A, not C this time]
Message-ID: <403@ubvax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 16-Jan-86 17:10:48 EST
Article-I.D.: ubvax.403
Posted: Thu Jan 16 17:10:48 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 18-Jan-86 03:26:08 EST
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Reply-To: avinash@ubvax.UUCP (Avinash Marathe)
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In article <3131@sun.UUCP> Alan Marcum writes:
>> Regarding the fat soluable vitamins (eg. A, D, E), there is, again, a
>> great difference between a natural and a synthetic vitamin (even excluding
>> the left- vs. right-handed differences).  It is possible to get an over-
>> dose of a synthetic fat-soluable vitamin.  Indeed, the FDA, for a long
>> time, limited the amount of Vitamin A in a single tablet.  Yet, there is
>> only one known case of Vitamin A toxicity with natural Vitamin A: someone
>> was stranded in Alaska, resorted to a diet of polar bear liver for a few
>> weeks, and had a slight case.
>> 
>> Alan M. Marcum

To which Craig Werner responds:
>
>	Actually, there are several cases of Vitamin A toxicity from Bear
>Livers. Hunters actually dying after a post-kill feast.  Its not epidemic
>or anything, but it exists in a far more mundane manner than Alan's scenario.
>-- 
>				Craig Werner


There is no way one can get Vitamin A toxicity from eating Vitamin A from
vegetable sources.  Actually, vegetable sources do not contain Vitamin A
but the precursor to Vitamin A called beta-carotene.  The liver converts
as much beta-carotene as it needs into Vitamin A and the rest is excreted.
Also beta-carotene is water soluble unlike Vitamin A.  Beta-carotene is 
what gives carrots, melons, and squashes their orange/yellow color.

One can definitely get vitamin A toxicity from animal or synthetic sources,
because Vitamin A exists as Vitamin A in these sources.

Avinash Marathe
{ihnp4,decwrl,allegra}!amd!ubvax!avinash