Vitamin A -is it poisonous?

People always ask me about the safety of vitamin A. I wish I could put to rest the myth of ‘the poisonous Vitamin A’, once and for all. The “for all” bit might be a little ambitious but maybe it can be done for you. Here is the story.

Early last century, three explorers took off for Antarctica. They had provisions, sleighs and of course sleigh dogs to pull them. As always happens in these situations, at some stage, they lost one explorer, his sleigh and all their provisions. But they still had their dogs.

I can cut the story short because you know what was bound to happen: they ate the dogs. The problem is, they did not just eat the dogs, they made sure they ate the livers, because they thought that liver is better for you. One of the explorers was a vegetarian, he ate mostly the livers because he could not bring himself to eat flesh; he found liver easier to cope with (very bizarre). Being Europeans and having no knowledge of Arctic zoology, scientific or empirical, they did not know that for the Inuit people eating the liver of carnivorous animals was absolutely taboo.

Why is it taboo? Well, simply because the liver of arctic carnivorous animals being the last of the food chain is incredibly rich in… Vitamin A! (Nowadays it is also rich in DDT, but that’s another story). So when Inuit hunters kill a polar bear, they throw the liver to their dogs! Dogs livers can cope with almost anything. Our explorers did not know that of course and as a consequence they suffered from severe Vitamin A poisoning. The vegetarian? Well, he died.

Because of this story Vitamin A has been maligned ever since. In spite of all the research that has since proven that one can take large amounts of it without dying or going mad, the myth survives. I could carry on and illustrate the point further with a very good joke about a Greek herbalist, stone masonry, boat building and a goat, but I won't because it is a little X-rated.

The best source of Vitamin A is Cod Liver Oil. Don’t worry you don’t have to drink it. Fortunately, Vitamin A oil capsules are easy and very cheap to buy. This is really the only source of Vitamin A that is worth bothering about. Synthetic vitamin A on the other hand is useless and causes problems.

So there you have it. The habit of having cod liver oil daily is a good habit but don’t drink the whole bottle and don’t eat your dog’s liver.

Aftermath of the Wind Storm

I am getting lots of emails from people who have sore eyes, sinuses and tight lungs from yesterday's wind storm.

Simple steps to follow: bathe your eyes with plain chamomile tea (wait till cool)

Gargle with sage tea

Take vitamin C and A in large quantities for a few days

Don't go jogging for goodness' sake, there is still a lot of dust floating around

The hidden followers

You guys who put yourselves in my followers list, thank you very much and sorry if sometimes you seem to appear and disappear. How very Houdinesque of you ;o)

Don't let this stop you and join in!

Wind and Liver

This is going to be a wind storm to remember. Here all the animals have run for cover and the poor little Willy wagtail have lost their nest :o(

What does the wind mean to your health? Well, apart from the fact that all persons allergic are really going to find that all that dust is really affecting their respiratory system and their eyes; in Traditional Chinese Medicine strong wind is the enemy of the liver. So expect feeling angry, tetchy, frustrated and with a general malaise.

Kids are particularly affected by it, as many teachers will tell you and so are horses, as many riders will tell you.

So stay indoors as much as possible, shut your windows, take your vitamin C and practice a quiet state of mind

Probiotics out of the fridge

My mother was having a coronary this morning because someone left the bifidus out of the fridge over night. Is it useless now?

Not at all. Here is the thing: all probiotics live in the gut, therefore they become active when they hit human body temperature and that's when they become alive. We keep them in the fridge so they hibernate, otherwise they wake up, start screwing around, make lots of babies and soon run out of space and food.

THAT's why we put them in the fridge. So the little overnight outside the fridge? not enough for bifidus foreplay

Who am I?

This patient has been bringing her sons to me for years. She really wants me to see her niece who is 18 "But, she says, she doesn't want to follow a diet, she hates taking herbs and she forgets to take her vitamins."

"Don't send her! i replied, who am I? Jesus?"

Really folks, that sums it up: i show people the way but they have to do the work. Unfortunately i can't just touch people and they get better. I wish! my lovable personality and sparkling sense of humour doesn't make me that good!"