> Are you sure, Todd? I know that grassfed beef contains ten times the
> beta carotene as grain fed. Since the body can readily convert beta
> carotene to vitamin A, I'd think you'd be able to get more than
> sufficient amounts. But I'd need to do the math.
Well, I'm never really sure of anything, but I accept the premise that
grassfed beef has a lot more beta carotene. But the conversion to vitamin
A is lossy, and gets moreso as we age. That may, of course, be due to
non-paleo diet and lifestyle, but I'm inclined to believe that getting
some dietary pre-formed vitamin A (and vitamin D) is important. Although
we commonly think of vitamin A in terms of eye function, it is also very
important for immune system function and, interestingly, supports
testosterone production. This is actually how I came to research it, a
couple of years ago. Despite a pretty good paleo diet, at the time, a
routine checkup showed pretty low testosterone levels. I was getting a
good amount of exercise too, so this seemed odd. Since I was 53 and the
reading was at the low end of, but still within, the "normal" range (which
is quite wide), the doctor just shrugged.
I was unaware that sleep apnea also causes testosterone reduction, and
also unaware that I had severe sleep apnea, so looked around to see what I
could find out. As you'd expect, the bodybuilding web sites have a lot of
info about testosterone boosting, and that's where I found the first
suggestion that vitamin A (not beta carotene) supplementation could help.
I started using cod liver oil *and* pure vitamin A supplements, which are
dirt cheap anyway. I was taking about 30,000 units a day. About four
months later I had my levels checked again and they had tripled. And
between then and now I haven't had a cold, a cough, a sniffle--nothing.
Of course, the other variable is the sleep apnea, which I found out about
a bit later, and have apparently had for a long, long time. But that's
off-topic for this list. My main point is that I think it's important to
get pre-formed vitamin A. Weston Price thought so too, as I recall.
Todd Moody
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