QuoteReplyTopic: VITAMIN A Posted: July 26 2006 at 2:04am
I work in a hospital and read about how too much Vitamin A (the orange foods and dark leafy greens) will actually cause hair loss and stunt hair growth but all the hair vitamin supplements have about 500% vitamin A, does anyone know how this works? I'm also noticing that most diet pills hurt hair growth along with birth control but my hubby doesn't see me getting off that one anytime soon
VITAMIN A
Vitamin A toxicity can occur with long-term consumption of 20 mg of retinol
or more per day. The symptoms of vitamin A overdosing include accumulation of
water in the brain (hydrocephalus), vomiting, tiredness, constipation,
bone pain, and severe headaches. The skin may acquire a rough and dry
appearance, with hair loss and brittle nails. Vitamin A toxicity is a special
issue during pregnancy. Expectant mothers who take 10 mg vitamin A or
more on a daily basis may have an infant with birth defects. These birth defects
include abnormalities of the face, nervous system, heart, and thymus gland. It
is possible to take in toxic levels of vitamin A by eating large quantities of
certain foods. For example, about 30 grams of beef liver, 500 grams of eggs, or
2,500 grams of mackerel would supply 10 mg of retinol. The livers of polar bears
and other arctic animals may contain especially high levels of vitamin A
Edited by cjgjle - July 26 2006 at 2:07am
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Most forms of vitamin A in the diet (or in vitamin supplements) are precursors like beta carotene, and converted to vitamin A only if the body needs it (discarded otherwise). The levels of vit A that lead to problems are extremely high.
I think she meant where cjgjle said that birth control hurts hair
growth, I was curious about that too, but never noticed any effect back
when I was on that stuff.
Making metal barettes/concord clips hair safe, long hair style how to: http://alonghair.wordpress.com
yeah I'm not too sure and I bet the vitamin A thing would have to be a lot. I just work in a hospital and was reading through what makes hair fall out. Pregnancy seemed to be the worse because the hair would quit qrowing for the 3 months after the pregnancy because of the dramatic stress giving birth has on the body.
Vitamin A does have some bad side effects if you take too much. There's one study that says 9900 IU a day starts to weaken the bones, and if you get 34,000 a day (from carrots) your skin will start to turn orange. It is stored in the liver, and we get a lot in our average diet (enough that you could go a year without taking any or getting any more in your food before you had a deficiency) so there's probably no need to get it in a vitamin, our food is full of plenty.
Like you say though, you can't usually avoid it if you want to take a multi. When you get a multivitamin always choose one that has as little as possible, just to be sure. I believe I have seen some that have only 1000 IU. With the one I take now I get 1250 IU or 2500, depending on whether I take one every day or every other day. (It says on the bottle it has 5000 IU, but that is for two pills, so you have to check the amount of pills). This amount should be fine I would think, even if you eat some A too.
Edited by Susan W - August 05 2006 at 3:16pm
Making metal barettes/concord clips hair safe, long hair style how to: http://alonghair.wordpress.com
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