Vitamin A

ITHURTZ

ITHURTZ

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Great article:
http://www.westonaprice.org/men/vita...ybuilding.html
I'm pasting the relevant parts:
By Chris Masterjohn

The dense forest of bodybuilding nutrition contains a paradox: the
quantity of information available is abundant, but the wisdom of
traditional diets to satisfy the primary concerns of bodybuilders is
sparse and hard to find. Typical recommendations include very low-fat
diets rich in protein foods like salmon and chicken.

You will search in vain through mainstream men's health magazines to
find so much as a mention of the importance of vitamin A to
bodybuilding. Yet this nutrient is essential to muscle-building and
may be the bodybuilder's most potent weapon. Vitamin A is necessary
for the utilization of protein and the production of testosterone and
other growth factors. In fact, one human study, discussed below,
found the administration of vitamin A and iron to have results
equivalent to the administration of testosterone itself. Rather than
advocating the consumption of vitamin-A rich foods such as liver and
natural food-based supplements such as cod liver oil, mainstream
men's health writers are advocating diets very high in protein, which
deplete vitamin A reserves, leaving one to wonder whether the
athletes who resort to over-the-counter steroid supplements might be
able to achieve similar results by consuming a traditional diet, rich
in vitamin A.
Vitamin A and Testosterone

Abundant animal research indicates the importance of vitamin A to the
production of testosterone. Vitamin A crosses the blood-testis
barrier in its alcohol form as retinol, where it is stored in the
Sertoli cells and converted as needed to its more biologically active
form, retinoic acid. Experiments with rats show that greater
concentrations of vitamin A in the testes increase basal testosterone
secretion, as well as transferrin, which is responsible for the
transport of iron; and a variety of growth factors including
IGF-binding protein 4 (which transports IGF), androgen-binding
protein (which transports androgens), transforming growth factor-beta
(which causes cell growth but suppresses cancer) and steroidogenic
acute regulatory protein (which is responsible for the transport of
cholesterol into the mitochondria for its conversion to steroids).
Vitamin A also decreases estrogen production in the male testes. Rats
that are deficient in vitamin A experience decreased testosterone
until the accessory sex organs atrophy, indicating that vitamin A not
only aids in, but is essential to, testosterone production.1

One experiment using guinea pigs, which corroborates the many
experiments done with rats, found a decrease in plasma testosterone
associated with a deficiency in vitamin A.2 A human study comparing
the dietary intakes of 155 pairs of male twins found a correlation
between testosterone levels and vitamin A intake.3

The most compelling study is one that assigned 102 teenage boys with
short stature and delayed puberty into four groups: a control, a
testosterone-supplemented group, a vitamin A- and iron-supplemented
group, and a group that received both testosterone and the
nutritional supplementation. All treatments were effective in
inducing growth and puberty, whereas the control group did not gain
weight or begin puberty in the same period of time. What is most
amazing is that the degree of growth acceleration was similar in the
testosterone-treated group and the vitamin A-treated group. Pubertal
onset occurred in 9-12 months in the testosterone group, and by 12
months in the vitamin-A group.4

This study suggests two things. The first is that the growth problems
these boys experienced could have been avoided if their parents only
had known the importance of serving a meal with liver on a weekly
basis, as liver is very rich in both vitamin A and iron. The second
is that, with equivalent hard work and dedication, athletes and body
builders may be able to achieve similar results from their training
by taking high-vitamin cod liver oil and eating foods rich in vitamin
A on a regular basis as others receive from the common practice of
supplementing with testosterone precursors.

Vitamin A and Protein Utilization

The utilization of protein requires vitamin A. Several animal studies
have shown that liver reserves of vitamin A are depleted by a high
dietary intake of protein, while vitamin A increases in non-liver
tissues. One explanation for this is that adequate protein is
necessary for vitamin A transport. In one study researchers fed
radioactively-labeled vitamin A to rats on low-protein and
high-protein diets, using the amount of radioactivity present in
exhaled gases, urine and feces as a measure of the metabolism of
vitamin A, and found that vitamin A is indeed used at a higher rate
on a high-protein diet.6

Vitamin A is not only depleted by a high intake of protein, but it is
also necessary for the synthesis of new protein, which is the goal of
the bodybuilder. Rats fed diets deficient in vitamin A synthesize
protein at a lower rate than rats fed adequate vitamin A.7 Cultured
skeletal muscle cells increase the amount of protein per cell when
exposed to vitamin A and D, but not when exposed to vitamin D alone.8
Eat Your Liver

Bodybuilders and other athletes interested in gaining muscle have an
interest in boosting their levels of testosterone and other growth
factors and maximizing their utilization of protein and its
incorporation into muscle cells. Typical recommendations usually
include very high amounts of protein, but exclude foods like liver
that are high in vitamin A, and low-fat recommendations all but
banish vitamin A entirely from the diet by excluding foods such as
full-fat milk. The combination of a high-protein diet that depletes
vitamin A and a low-fat diet that fails to provide vitamin A is a
clear recipe for deficiency of this vital nutrient. Exercises that
elicit a high demand for testosterone, such as squats and deadlifts,
are often recommended for muscle growth, but without vitamin A the
body cannot meet that demand for testosterone. It's high time for
athletes to forget the modern mantras and remember the dietary wisdom
of the past, achieving a lean, muscular physique through traditional
foods such as liver, egg yolks, full-fat milk, butter from grass-fed
cows and cod liver oil.
 

Hyde12

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I bet a lot of bodybuilders are deficient in Vitamin A because many don't consume enough leafy greens.
 
bioman

bioman

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Vitamin A and apple cider vinegar got rid of my chronic cystic acne.
 
ITHURTZ

ITHURTZ

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ya I can say I am way low on my vitamin A. I plan to change that soon
 

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