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This thread is reserved for email advice exchanges only. If you would like to discuss anything posted in this thread, feel free to make your own thread, or you can go over the Ray Peat Email Advice Depository Discussion/Comment Thread
Please help by posting email exchanges you have had, or any exchange that you run across on the web. Please give citation or hat tip when possible.
Anon said:Hello Mr. Peat,
This inquiry concerns the use of vitamin A supplement, specifically NutrisorbA. For the past year, I have found that if I take less than 100,000 iu per day I get acne, and upon increasing my dose to 100,000 iu, the acne goes away within a day or two. I have tried, on various occasions, to reduce the supplement, and simultaneously increase liver, or decrease sun exposure, etc. I avoid PUFA, drink lots of milk and orange juice, eat eggs, cheese, and a carrot salad every day. I get quite a bit of sun (1 to 2 hours per day), and sit under the IR lights every day. I take between 25-50mcg of t3 per day, and my temperatures seem to be healthy - oral temperature in the morning is around 98.5, which increases to 99.5 - 99.7 by midmorning. My resting heart rate is between 80 - 90 bpm. I have also tried taking a b6 supplement, and while it made me feel very merry, it did not decrease the acne.
My question: Is this dose of vitamin A safe, or is there some other factor that could be wasting vitamin A of which I am unaware?
Thank you for reading,
Anon
Ray Peat said:For several years, I had a similar need to take 100,000 i.u. daily to prevent acne and ingrown whiskers, so I read a lot about its effects. The toxic effects of extremely big doses, such as 500,000 to a million i.u., seem to be from either oxidative processes (rancidity) that are prevented by adequate vitamin E, or by antithyroid effects. I found that when my need for vitamin A began to decrease I tended to accumulate carotene in my calluses; that happens when the thyroid function is lower, reducing the need for vitamin A. Since you are eating foods with carotene, the calluses on your palms or soles should serve as an indicator of when your tissues are saturated with vitamin A. About 100 i.u. of vitamin E would help to keep the vitamin A from being wasted by oxidation, and possibly could reduce your requirement for it.