Herbal Health

Beta carotene/vitamin A is also great for your health in general. Vitamin A has long been known for its ability to protect the skin and linings (mucous membranes) of the respiratory, digestive and urinary tracts. The first line of defense against invading organisms and environmental poisons, these are very important parts of your “doctor within.”

Without sufficient vitamin A, your immune system suffers. Some important parts of your immune system (thymus and lymphoid tissue) shrink, and the total number of vital, immune-system soldiers (T-cells and B-cells) decreases, further crippling your ability to fight off disease. Because surgery normally depresses a person’s immune system, I advise my patients facing surgery to boost their immune system by eating lots of beta-carotene-rich foods well before their operation.

Various studies have shown that vitamin A is especially helpful in protecting the lungs and airways. For example, the lining of the respiratory tract is destroyed in laboratory animals exposed to noxious gases. But if the animals are pretreated with vitamin A, the lining grows back.

Notice the large amounts of beta carotene in carrots, spinach and sweet potatoes. You also get healthy doses of potassium and vitamin C in raw spinach.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 at 5:24 am and is filed under General health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.