> From: info@... <info@...>
> Subject: UPDATE ON COD LIVER OIL DECEMBER 2008
> To: hysenthlaydew@...
> Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008, 5:01 AM
> Dear Members,
>
> We are obliged to issue another official statement on cod
> liver oil after the November bulletin of the Vitamin D
> Council, which contains "an unprecedented warning about
> the ingestion of cod liver oil and resultant vitamin A
> toxicity."
>
> The warning accompanies a report on a review article
> co-authored by Dr. John Cannell, head of the Vitamin D
> Council, and fifteen other researchers, entitled "Cod
> Liver Oil, Vitamin A Toxicity, Frequent Respiratory
> Infections, and the Vitamin D Deficiency Epidemic" in
> the November issue of Annals of Otology, Rhinology and
> Laryngology.
>
> NO PROOF THAT VITAMIN A IS TOXIC
> Most of this paper is a review of studies showing the
> benefits of vitamin D in protecting against various
> illnesses, including respiratory infection. THIS PAPER DOES
> NOT PRESENT ANY INFORMATION WHATSOEVER INDICATING THAT COD
> LIVER OIL IS TOXIC, and, in fact, admits that vitamin A can
> significantly reduce the incidence of acute lower
> respiratory tract infections in Third World children.
>
> A portion of the review article is an attempt to explain
> why a 2004 study providing 600 to 700 IU of vitamin D and
> 3,500 IU of vitamin A in the form of cod liver oil and a
> multivitamin failed to meaningfully reduce upper respiratory
> tract infections when studies from the 1930s found that cod
> liver oil could reduce the incidence of these infections by
> 30 to 50 percent. The authors of the recent commentary
> suggested that the older studies were more effective because
> cod liver oil in the 1930s contained much more vitamin D.
> They suggested that modern cod liver oil is low in vitamin D
> because the deodorization process removes the vitamin while
> manufacturers fortify the oil with only a fraction of the
> original amount. As an example, they cited cod liver oil
> made by Nordic Naturals, advertised as containing only
> "naturally occurring vitamins A and D," which has
> only 3 to 60 IU of vitamin D per tablespoon but between 150
> and 12,000 times as much vitamin A.
>
> This conclusion is essentially the same as the conclusion
> reached by the Weston A. Price Foundation and the research
> of Chris Masterjohn; we have continually pointed out that
> vitamins A and D work together and that without vitamin D,
> vitamin A can be ineffective or even toxic. We do not
> recommend Nordic Naturals regular cod liver oil or any brand
> of cod liver oil that is low in vitamin D. But it is
> completely inappropriate to conclude from this 2004 study
> that cod liver oil is toxic because of its vitamin A
> content. Similar reviews could be put together showing the
> benefits of vitamin A and cod liver oil in numerous studies,
> including the studies from the 1930s. Obviously the
> solution is to use the type of cod liver oil that people
> took in the 1930s, which did not have most of the vitamin D
> removed by modern processing techniques.
>
> Our recommendations for cod liver oil brands can be found
> at
> westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/cod-liver-oil-menu.html
>
>
> VITAMIN A DOES NOT ANTAGONIZE VITAMIN D
> The Vitamin D Council report claims that the vitamin A in
> cod liver oil is excessive and antagonizes vitamin D by
> inhibiting the binding of its active form to DNA and thus
> preventing its ability to regulate the expression of vitamin
> D-responsive genes.
>
> Vitamins A and D are both precursors to active hormones
> that regulate the expression of genes. The body possesses
> certain enzymes that convert each of these in a two-step
> process to their active forms: vitamin A is converted to
> retinal and then to active retinoic acid while vitamin D is
> converted to calcidiol and then to active calcitriol. While
> directly consuming either retinoic acid or calcitriol would
> be unnatural, consuming vitamins A and D, together, as in
> cod liver oil, is perfectly natural. The enzymes involved
> in these conversions are responsible for producing
> incredibly powerful hormones and are therefore highly
> regulated.
>
> In order for vitamin D to activate the expression of its
> target genes, it must bind to the vitamin D receptor (VDR)
> and then combine with the retinoid X receptor (RXR), which
> is activated by a particular form of vitamin A called 9-cis
> retinoic acid. RESEARCHERS FROM SPAIN RECENTLY SHOWED THAT
> VITAMIN D CAN ONLY EFFECTIVELY ACTIVATE TARGET GENES WHEN
> ITS PARTNER RECEPTOR IS ACTIVATED BY VITAMIN A.
>
> In the ABSENCE OF VITAMIN A, molecules called
> "corepressors" bind to the VDR/RXR complex and
> PREVENT vitamin D from functioning.
>
> The molecular biology of 9-cis¬ retinoic acid, however, is
> extremely complex, and this has led to some confusion. The
> RXR and its activator 9-cis retinoic acid partner up not
> only with the vitamin D receptor, but also with the
> receptors for steroid hormones, thyroid hormone, and most
> other nuclear receptors. In fact, if enough 9-cis retinoic
> acid is present, RXRs will even partner up with themselves.
> Ordinarily, this versatile form of vitamin A is gradually
> derived in small amounts from the larger pool of all-trans
> retinoic acid as needed. When scientists add large amounts
> of 9-cis retinoic acid to isolated cells, then, it may cause
> effects that smaller amounts naturally produced in the cell
> would not cause.
>
> Researchers have shown, for example, that 9-cis retinoic
> acid interferes with the ability of vitamin D to stimulate
> the production of osteocalcin, a vitamin K-dependent protein
> involved in organizing the mineralized matrix of bone. This
> may have been because the excessive amount of 9-cis retinoic
> acid caused RXRs to pair up with themselves and thereby made
> these receptors unavailable to vitamin D. When scientists
> incubate cells with activated vitamin D and all-trans
> retinoic acid, ordinarily the source of 9¬-cis retinoic
> acid in the cell, the two hormones stimulate the production
> of osteocalcin with remarkable synergy.
>
> More information on the interactions between vitamins A and
> D can be found in these articles:
>
> http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-k2.html
> http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamina-osteo.html
> http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamin-d-safety.html
>
> The Spanish research demonstrating the necessity of 9-cis¬
> retinoic acid for the functioning of the vitamin D receptor
> can be found here:
>
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16936639?
> http://mcb.asm.org/cgi/content/full/28/11/3817?
>
>
> PLANT FOODS ARE NOT A GOOD SOURCE OF VITAMIN A
> In the December Vitamin D Council newsletter, Dr. Cannell
> further claims that consuming preformed vitamin A is
> "unnatural" and that the body highly regulates the
> conversion of carotenoids found in vegetables to vitamin A
> as needed. However, the enzymes that convert carotenoids to
> vitamin A are less critically maintained because they are
> unneeded when preformed vitamin A is provided in the diet-as
> it usually is. They are therefore, like the enzymes that
> convert essential fatty acids in plant oils to their
> elongated and desaturated forms, subject to variations in
> genetics, circumstantial health, and dietary and
> environmental influences.
>
> Many factors can interfere with the conversion of
> carotenoids into vitamin A including thyroid problems, liver
> problems, diabetes and genetics. Babies and children convert
> carotenes very poorly if at all.
>
> The statement that preformed vitamin A is unnatural is
> ludicrous in the light of what we know about traditional
> diets. The chief source of calories in the traditional Inuit
> diet, for example, is seal oil, which Weston Price found to
> be higher in vitamin A than cod liver oil. Fish heads,
> extremely rich in vitamin A, are a staple in the Japanese
> diet. Many cultures consume liver, often in high amounts-yet
> the authors of the review paper imply that liver is toxic.
> Tell that to the Frenchman enjoying his foie gras, the
> Englishman consuming liver and onions, or the South Sea
> Islander who submits to great danger to obtain shark liver
> for men and women, in order to ensure healthy children. The
> truth is that pre-formed vitamin A is more plentiful in
> traditional foods than vitamin D, yet politically correct
> nutrition insists that we must obtain vitamin A through the
> laborious process of converting carotenes.
>
> More information on the conversion of carotenoids to
> vitamin A can be found in these articles:
> http://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitaminasaga.html
> (see the section "Vitamin A Vagary").
>
http://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitamina-osteo.html#carotenesnotad
>
>
> COD LIVER OIL IN PREGNANCY
> The Annals paper does not cite any studies showing toxic
> effects from cod liver oil, but Dr. Cannell cites one study
> in his December newsletter associating intake of cod liver
> oil with hypertensive disorders during pregnancy. Users of
> cod liver oil in this study had about twice the intake of
> vitamins A and D as non-users and eight times the intake of
> long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. The study found the most
> robust association with long-chain omega-3 fatty acids,
> which were associated with lower risk between 0.1 and 0.9
> grams per day and higher risk above 0.9 grams per day. The
> authors suggested that the association with high blood
> pressure might be related to oxidative stress caused by a
> high intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
>
> The abstract of the study can be found here:
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16487202?
>
> The new Annals article offers nothing new to incriminate
> cod liver oil. It provides a well-written argument that
> vitamin D intakes need to be higher and incriminates only
> highly processed modern cod liver oils that have inadequate
> amounts of this critical nutrient. We recommend only
> high-vitamin cod liver oils that provide abundant vitamins A
> and D without an excess of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
>
>
> THE COD LIVER OIL PUBLIC HEALTH INITIATIVE
> As we pointed out in our last update on cod liver oil,
> during the first half of the century, cod liver oil was the
> focus of a worldwide health initiative. Parents were urged
> to give cod liver oil to their children by doctors, by
> government officials, by teachers and principals in schools,
> and even by their ministers in churches. A large portion of
> adults in America born before the Second World War received
> cod liver oil as children and this practice contributed to a
> high level of health, intelligence and physical development
> in those lucky enough to receive it. In many European
> countries, children received a daily ration of cod liver
> oil, especially during the war years. In the UK, for
> example, the government issued cod liver oil to all growing
> children until the early 1950s.
>
> What has led to the demise of this obviously beneficial
> practice? Cod liver oil is a food; it can't be
> patented, it can't be created in a laboratory; it
> can't create millions for the drug companies. So
> interest in this wonderful superfood has naturally waned.
> But if you are basing your dietary habits on the principles
> of healthy nutritional diets, don't hesitate to include
> cod liver oil-our recommended brands of cod liver oil--as a
> healthy and natural food source of critical vitamins so
> lacking in modern diets.
>
> Sally Fallon, President
> The Weston A. Price Foundation
>
> ----------------------------------------
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