#150: Dr. Garrett Smith - The Vitamin A Toxicity Epidemic

The PricePlow Podcast

Dr. Garrett Smith, known as the Nutrition Detective, joins the PricePlow Podcast to discuss his journey into the world of vitamin A toxicity and its connection to numerous health issues. This is an impactful episode, as we’re learning how damaging this fat-soluble class of molecules is — especially when consumed in excess over time — and how difficult it is to remove from the body.

Dr. Smith is having tremendous success in supporting those who begin restricting and detoxifying vitamin A, relieving numerous health maladies from basic joint pain and skin conditions to reversing kidney, liver, and thyroid diseases. Followers of his program are also having great success in areas of fertility.

Dr. Smith also shares his views on vitamin D supplementation and its potential negative effects, which is how Mike started to follow him in the first place, having noticed that vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) supplements were contributing to his joint pain. At the end of the episode, Mike explains that he’s been restricting vitamin A and D since January 2023, with incredible success.

Vitamin A: An extremely toxic family of molecules in excess

The conversation explores the pathway of vitamin A in the body, from its sources in plants to its conversion into retinaldehyde, retinol, and retinoic acids, and the toxicity of all of these molecules. Dr. Smith also explains the liver’s role in filtering toxins and producing bile, as well as the importance of bile in detoxification.

Sadly, there’s no commercially-available lab test to determine vitamin A toxicity, since retinol is kept in a tight homeostatic range in the blood and the rest is kept in the liver, but the men discuss ways to determine that you may be having some subclinical issues without getting a dangerous liver biopsy.

Introducing Toxic Bile Theory

The concept of toxic bile theory is introduced, which is a new paradigm/framework on health and disease that explains how countless diseases are caused when toxic bile damages the liver and leaks into the bloodstream.

Low Vitamin A Diet

The low vitamin A diet includes avoiding organ meats, pork, dairy, eggs, and high vitamin A plant foods. Animal protein sources like red meat and poultry are preferred. The diet also includes white or light-colored plant foods, cooked beans, whole grains like oats and barley, and select fruits like bananas, apples, green grapes, and pears.

In the final part of the conversation, Mike and Dr. Garrett Smith discuss their personal experiences and perspectives on nutrition and supplementation. They touch on finding balance, the role of minerals in the body, and the benefits of removing toxins from the body rather than adding more supplements.

Dr. Smith also shares information about his Love Your Liver Program and the testing and consultation services he offers, and he sells an incredible mineral supplement called Keystone Minerals that Mike gives to his family, as well as a very popular topical magnesium lotion.

https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/dr-garrett-smith-vitamin-a-toxicity-150

Video: Learn about the Vitamin A Toxicity Epidemic with Dr. Garrett Smith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuKRr-ZjOsk

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