Vitamin A Is A Powerful Anti-obesity Agent By Lowering Cortisol

[haidut]

I know some people on the forum struggle with high cortisol, as well as its accompanying side effects such as weight gain, muscle loss, etc. It looks like vitamin A may be able to help, and it can do so even in people with Cushing disease whose cortisol levels are VERY high. Here is some info on that:
viewtopic.php?f=116&t=8130

In the obesity and insulin resistance studies below, the minimum effective dose of vitamin A for obesity was a human equivalent of 1.4mg/kg of retinyl palmitate. The effects were statistically significant at the end of second month, while the full study lasted 5 months. This means that a dose of about 200,000 IU daily is needed to replicate the findings of the study. While this dose may seem high, a human study found that much publicized toxicity of natural vitamin A is greatly overblown and vitamin A in doses as high as 500,000 IU daily for months appears to be safe for humans with acne. Here is more info on that:
viewtopic.php?f=116&t=8128

Finally, Ray has cautioned that high doses of vitamin A may inhibit thyroid activity, but this study with a daily dose of 25,000 IU found exactly the opposite - i.e. vitamin A suppressed TSH and increased T3.
viewtopic.php?f=116&t=8131 [ moderator edit: correct link ]

The main mechanism of action of vitamin A was the inhibition of the enzyme 11b-HSD1, which is responsible for the synthesis of cortisol. As forum members undoubtedly know, elevated cortisol has been implicated as a cause in diabetes, heart disease, osteopenia, muscle loss, skin atrophy, mental disease, and host of other degenerative conditions. Cortisol also inhibits thyroid gland function and the conversion of T4 into T3. Finally, cortisol pormotes the synthesis of estrogen, which then drives the production of more cortisol. In summary, cortisol is something best kept at bay.
The inhibition of 11b-HSD1 by vitamin A is very similar to the activity of DHEA, which also inhibits 11b-HSD1 at doses of 5mg+. So, combining the two may be synergistic and thus require less vitamin A to limit the risk of side effects even more.

Vitamin A decreases pre-receptor amplification of glucocorticoids in obesity: study on the effect of vitamin A on 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 activity in liver and visceral fat of WNIN/Ob obese rats
Mitochondriogenesis and apoptosis: possible cause of vitamin A-mediated adipose loss in WNIN/Ob-obese rats. - PubMed - NCBI
Vitamin A as a key regulator of obesity & its associated disorders: Evidences from an obese rat model
Vitamin A supplementation induces adipose tissue loss through apoptosis in lean but not in obese rats of the WNIN/Ob strain. - PubMed - NCBI

From the first study above:
"...Vitamin A supplementation significantly decreased body weight, visceral fat mass and 11β-HSD1 activity in visceral fat of WNIN/Ob obese rats. Hepatic 11β-HSD1 activity and gene expression were significantly reduced by vitamin A supplementation in both the phenotypes. CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), the main transcription factor essential for the expression of 11β-HSD1, decreased in liver of vitamin A fed-obese rats, but not in lean rats. Liver × receptor α (LXRα), a nuclear transcription factor which is known to downregulate 11β-HSD1 gene expression was significantly increased by vitamin A supplementation in both the phenotypes."

"...This study suggests that chronic consumption of vitamin A-enriched diet decreases 11β-HSD1 activity in liver and visceral fat of WNIN/Ob obese rats. Decreased 11β-HSD1 activity by vitamin A may result in decreased levels of active glucocorticoids in adipose tissue and possibly contribute to visceral fat loss in these obese rats. Studying the role of various nutrients on the regulation of 11β-HSD1 activity and expression will help in the evolving of dietary approaches to treat obesity and insulin resistance."

"...In summary, we showed for the first time that supra-physiological dose of vitamin A through diet decreases 11β-HSD1 activity in visceral fat and liver of WNIN/Ob obese rat. The observed vitamin A-mediated reduction in 11β-HSD1 activity in the visceral fat of obese rats may contribute to the decreased visceral fat mass in this model. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms involved in the regulation of 11β-HSD1 by various nutrients in tissues like liver and visceral fat in order to develop appropriate dietary interventions to prevent the development of obesity and insulin resistance."

 

[schultz]

I've been thinking about Vitamin A recently and have noticed that I am a little cautious (sort of unconsciously I think) with how much vitamin A I am getting. You hear things and sometimes they just stick with you and you never give them another thought. I am thinking specifically about one of the podcasts where Ray says you can become a bit hypothyroid by eating two big servings of liver. Assuming the levels of vitamin A in beef liver don't vary tremendously, 2 servings is only like 40,000-80,000 IU's.

Ray said this in another podcast...

"The nutrition researcher dentist Emanuel Cheraskin did a survey where he found that health complaints and symptoms decreased in a nice linear relation to increasing vitamin A all the way to 100,000 units per day."

So to get to the point, as a 30 year old healthy male, is there anything wrong with eating 4oz of liver everyday? Are we too cautious on this forum with our Vitamin A intake?

 

[XPlus]

There was a period of a couple of weeks where I felt restless and extremely fatigued. I thought I ran into another episode of high blood pressure because of citric acid but my BP turned out normal. I was stuck trying to figure out what's wrong for two weeks until I stumbled upon an old bottle of Vitamin A acetate. The smell was refreshing and heavenly. That's when I realised it's summer again and the occasional liver and low-dose palmitate just won't do. I rubbed around 150,000 IUs on my skin and things started to settle down quickly.
Those were very stressful two weeks.

 

[EIRE24]

There was a period of a couple of weeks where I felt restless and extremely fatigued. I thought I ran into another episode of high blood pressure because of citric acid but my BP turned out normal. I was stuck trying to figure out what's wrong for two weeks until I stumbled upon an old bottle of Vitamin A acetate. The smell was refreshing and heavenly. That's when I realised it's summer again and the occasional liver and low-dose palmitate just won't do. I rubbed around 150,000 IUs on my skin and things started to settle down quickly.
Those were very stressful two weeks.

You are saying the vitamin A helped or no?

 

[XPlus]

You are saying the vitamin A helped or no?

Yeah. It helped. I needed the larger dose because I get exposed to the sun more often during summer.
Mind that only around 10-20%, a little more or less, is absorbed through skin. So the effective dose needed could be somewhere in between 15,000-30,000 IUs.

 

[m_arch]

100,000 ui vitamin a and low dose progesterone are the two most powerful positive supplements I've taken. I also think egg shell calcium is curing my sensitive teeth!

 

[EIRE24]

100,000 ui vitamin a and low dose progesterone are the two most powerful positive supplements I've taken. I also think egg shell calcium is curing my sensitive teeth!

I need to get on the higher dose of vitamin A and see if it helps. Would you say liver or supplementation is better? I never did egg shell calcium. How do you make it and also, do you take this because you don't do dairy?

 

[m_arch]

I need to get on the higher dose of vitamin A and see if it helps. Would you say liver or supplementation is better? I never did egg shell calcium. How do you make it and also, do you take this because you don't do dairy?

I think both. I'd take vitamin A too just so its measured - unless you can eat huge amounts of liver.

I take eggs with my vit a in the morning to make steroids, save the shells (2 a day), rinse them in water, put them in the freezer in a lunch box, let the build up in quantity, then bake them for 10 minutes or so. Then you can put them in a coffee grinder or grind them with a mortar and pestle (what I do) until its really fine. I have a few tries through out the day to get it fine.

I have a teaspoon a day, put it in my mouth from the teaspoon, then put some OJ in my mouth, swish it around, then swallow it down. Its pretty difficult to have any other way I've found.

 

[Ideonaut]

Since stress hormones are highest in the early morning hrs according to Peat, it would make sense to take vitamin A at night, no?

 

[keith]

Since stress hormones are highest in the early morning hrs according to Peat, it would make sense to take vitamin A at night, no?

That's a good question...I've just started taking much larger doses, as I have quite a bit of weight to lose, and also some acne, so figured I would experiment. I've been taking it in the AM, though. I figured it is fat soluble, sso would be stored, but not sure whether timing could still have an impact. I'll try switching it up, and see if I notice any difference. If anyone has any more objective ideas on this, I would love to hear too.

 

[whodathunkit]

100,000 ui vitamin a and low dose progesterone are the two most powerful positive supplements I've taken.

march, do you mind saying what your symptoms were that you started this high dose vitamin A? That is, what made you think you needed that much and what symptoms did it alleviate? Thanks. :)

 

[Derek]

So to get to the point, as a 30 year old healthy male, is there anything wrong with eating 4oz of liver everyday? Are we too cautious on this forum with our Vitamin A intake?

It's not the vitamin A that should concern you with eating 4oz of beef liver everyday, it's the copper. That is like 16-18mg of copper. That will surely suppress your metabolism.

 

[ecstatichamster]

It's not the vitamin A that should concern you with eating 4oz of beef liver everyday, it's the copper. That is like 16-18mg of copper. That will surely suppress your metabolism.

Perhaps not. Zinc consumption probably more than offsets this amount of copper. It is difficult to get enough copper given decent zinc consumption.

 

[Derek]

Perhaps not. Zinc consumption probably more than offsets this amount of copper. It is difficult to get enough copper given decent zinc consumption.

To offset that amount of copper you would need about 150mg zinc, doesn't seem possible. Ratio zinc:copper should be 8:1 at the very least.

 

[ecstatichamster]

To offset that amount of copper you would need about 150mg zinc, doesn't seem possible. Ratio zinc:copper should be 8:1 at the very least.

Yeah but people only eat liver once a week or so.

 

[Mufasa]

I do feel great if I ear liver daily, but I have never done it long term. Like eating liver daily for a week.

 

[Derek]

Yeah but people only eat liver once a week or so.

Schultz asked what is wrong with eating liver everyday, hence my reply.

 

[tankasnowgod]

BUMP. Just came across some of the same studies.

In the obesity and insulin resistance studies below, the minimum effective dose of vitamin A for obesity was a human equivalent of 1.4mg/kg of retinyl palmitate. The effects were statistically significant at the end of second month, while the full study lasted 5 months. This means that a dose of about 200,000 IU daily is needed to replicate the findings of the study. While this dose may seem high, a human study found that much publicized toxicity of natural vitamin A is greatly overblown and vitamin A in doses as high as 500,000 IU daily for months appears to be safe for humans with acne.

Is this in reference to the first study listed? I thought the dose was mg/kg of food, not bodyweight.

 

[tankasnowgod]

A couple other studies I think should be added to this thread-

Obesity Leads to Tissue, but not Serum Vitamin A Deficiency
Circulating Retinoic Acid Levels and the Development of Metabolic Syndrome
Vitamin A Metabolism and Adipose Tissue Biology

 

[Kartoffel]

A couple other studies I think should be added to this thread-

Obesity Leads to Tissue, but not Serum Vitamin A Deficiency
Circulating Retinoic Acid Levels and the Development of Metabolic Syndrome
Vitamin A Metabolism and Adipose Tissue Biology

#GoodGuyGarrettSmith