Page 13 - Spring2020

Vitamin A-Mazing

By Pam Schoenfeld, MS, RD

hen I first learned about the Foundation’s infor-
mation and diet twenty years ago, I was very

Wskeptical. I had conventional university training
as a nutritionist. I couldn’t imagine the Weston A. Price

Foundation’s dietary philosophy as being right. However,
I just kept reading and eventually realized—it is right. One

thing I learned was that I needed a lot more vitamin A in

my diet. I needed other things as well, but I think vitamin
A was one of the big pieces I was missing. Why do we—

myself and the Foundation—care so much about a single
vitamin?

Vitamin A is necessary for almost every single function in the body.
According to J. Timoneda, a researcher in the field of vitamin A, it is the
most multifunctional vitamin in the human being. Commentators claim that
1
deficiencies are rare in developed nations, but this is not true. Moreover,
vitamin A is one of the most difficult nutrients to absorb and utilize. And
Americans, or so-called “modern” people, don’t eat the best food sources
anymore. Unfortunately, in my observations, most health care experts don’t
think vitamin A deficiency is a problem and would prefer their patients not
take any vitamin A nor consume any foods that are rich in it.

SPRING 2020 Wise Traditions 13