Vitamin A and Aging

You would almost have to live under a rock to not have seen vitamin A (aka retinol or retinyl palmitate) in anti-aging products for skin creams and potions. I admit, they are appealing to me as I have reached my forties as well. What’s more, they seem to work. But, if it works so well topically, then why wouldn’t it work BETTER from the diet? Then, you can saturate all cells from the inside out. Carrots are very famous for their levels of vitamin A. The truth is they are not rich in vitamin A, they are rich in carotenoids, vitamin A precursors, but more on this later.

I eat a ton of carrots. I should look 18 again, right? After listening to my favorite pod-caster, Rhonda Patrick, PhD, talk about huge gene variation from person-to-person in the ability to convert dietary sources of carotenoids into active vitamin A, the wheels began turning. What if a huge percentage of the population can’t really convert our carrots (or carotenoids) into the anti-aging type of vitamin A, known as retinol, inside the body? Maybe this is aging people faster.

Vitamin A Absorption And Conversion

This research work still needs to be done. But consider this fact: about 70-90% of ingested retinol, or active vitamin A, is absorbed, but even under optimal circumstances, only 3% or less of carotenoids are absorbed. This is an average. Remember, most people are not average. More importantly, could people save themselves hundreds of dollars on topical creams and dollops of potions simply by tweaking their diet? Or do both for double the effect?

Read more...