Concerns about vegan diet

[escapee]

Vitamin A plays an important part in your pregnancy– it plays an important role in the development of the following:

embryonic development
eyes
limbs
healthy skin
mucous membranes
infection resistance
bone growth
fat metabolism.

Not only is it important for your baby’s development, but also for you. Vitamin A helps with postpartum tissue repair, helps maintain normal vision and assist in fighting off infections.

How much vitamin A

Vitamin A : Pregnancy

It may sound like a lot, but it is actually pretty easy since Vitmain A is found in such a wide variety of different foods, such as:

Meat
Dairy
Fish
Eggs
Fortified cereals
Fruits and vegetables (beta-carotene form) : Note : Vegetarian with certain conditions would not be able to convert to A
Preformed Vitamin A is found in supplements, animal sources (meat, diary, etc) and fortified food sources, and it is recommended that you limit your intake of these kinds of Vitamin A to 3,000mcg. Why, well because it has been found that high doses of preformed Vitamin A may lead to birth defects and liver toxicity.

I would say avoid all synthetic form and stick with real food instead

[joey m]

I am trying to take your posts seriously Escapee, but you are making it more and more difficult for me to do so.

Obviously Vitamin A is a critical nutrient -- at what point did I say otherwise? I am simply saying getting preformed Vitamin A is almost never good. It is far better to get your vitamin A from the carotenoid precursors found in vegetation. Are you actually trying to say that because there is a certain, very small portion of the population that may have difficulty converting carotenoids to Vitamin A that we should all take the preformed vitamin A? That makes no sense, particularly in light of the multitude of studies showing the potential harm in taking in preformed Vitamin A.

Please review the FDA's stance:

VITAMIN A AND BIRTH DEFECTS

While I will say congratulations to your grandmother, it is funny that you think this is in any way a convincing argument. You should contact NEJM or JAMA so they can publicize your grandmother's bone density while taking vitamin A

If you wish to continue this discussion, please stop using random internet gurus to support your positions (and for that matter, your grandmother's bone density). Institutions and people like Weston Price and Mercola are not good sources of info in the first place, but even if they were, if I am going to hear their arguments, I would prefer to debate them directly so I could at least get the sources behind their reasoning. Please, find studies that support your position, and share them. Otherwise all you are doing is being a second-hand source of information that is not good information anyway.

Best,
Joey