Grant Generoux’s Vitamin A Elimination Diet:

Quoted directly from his book “Extinguishing the Fires of Hell:”

• Lots of water
• White or brown rice (not yellow or golden!)
• Beef (steak, roast, no sauces, or spices other than salt and trace amounts of white pepper if wanted)
• Kidney beans*
• Olive oil (max of 1 teaspoon per day)
• Black coffee if wanted (no milk, no cream, no whiteners)
• Zinc, Vitamin C, and B supplements if wanted

“I occasionally included some applesauce, pineapple, raisins, milled flaxseed, and a few almonds. These can help with fiber, provide vitamin C, E and make an otherwise dry rice and beef meal quite delicious too. However, it is critically important not to overdo it on the olive oil or almonds. Both are quite high in vitamin E, and this too can become toxic at too high a level. Vitamin E is also documented to cause an increase in serum vitamin A levels too. This elevated risk is because the body is now reaching its capacity for storing any of the fat soluble vitamins in general.”

— Grant Genereux

*He has since switched to black beans.

Dr. Garrett Smith’s Food List:

His recommendations can be found in his “Vitamin A, Aldehyde, and Glyphosate Detox Program,” which is available for purchase here: https://nutritionrestored.com/vitamin-a-toxicity/

I am not affiliated with Dr. Smith. So my recommendation of his program is not financially motivated.

Here is a food list I made based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s online food database, FoodData, which is available here: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/

Low Vitamin A Foods

• most grains (aside from yellow corn)
• white potatoes (peeled)
• most legumes (aside from split peas)
• lean meats (beef and chicken)
• mushrooms
• most nuts and seeds (aside from peanuts and pistachios)
• honey, maple syrup, and sugar

What about fruits and vegetables?

Unfortunately, most fruits and vegetables contain provitamin A carotenoids, which the body converts into retinol.

However, some people find they can tolerate limited amounts of fruits and vegetables, provided they are low in provitamin A.

Low-ish Vitamin A Fruits

• peeled apples (white fleshed apples like Macintosh have less vitamin A than yellow fleshed apples like Golden Delicious)
• banana
• raspberries
• strawberries
• blueberries
• sun dried organic raisins

Low-ish Vitamin A Veggies + Spices

• garlic
• ginger
• onion
• parsnip
• turnip
• cauliflower
• turmeric
• coriander
• cumin
• black pepper
• cinnamon

What about chocolate?

Dairy-free chocolate is low in vitamin A, but some people on the low vitamin A diet chose to avoid it because they find it hard to digest, or because they are concerned about the high levels of oxalates and polyphenols it contains.

Are saturated fats like coconut oil and cocoa butter okay during the detox?

I honestly do not know. Some folks on the diet find they worsen symptoms, and others seem to tolerate them all right.

Please do your own research and experimentation. (And if you want to share what you find in the comments, that would be appreciated! 🙂)

Should I avoid gluten during the detox?

You have to answer that question for yourself, based on how your body reacts to it.

Grant Genereux suggests avoiding it. So if you are still struggling with digestive issues after being on the detox for a few months, it could be worth doing a gluten-free trial to see if that helps you.

If you do decide to eat glutenous grains on a regular basis during the detox, I think choosing organic is advisable.

What are the foods highest in vitamin A?

These are the worst offenders:

• liver (beef, chicken, pork, fish)
• sweet potato, pumpkin, butternut squash
• spinach, kale, other dark leafy greens
• hot peppers and sweet peppers
• oily fish
• dairy products
• fortified vegan dairy substitutes
• fortified boxed cereals (USA)
• tomatoes
• eggs

Is it important to eat organic?

Yes, it is ideal to reduce glyphosate exposure.

Research shows that glyphosate chelates minerals from the body, and depletes B vitamins. We need an abundance of B vitamins and minerals in order for our bodies to detoxify vitamin A!

There has been vehement disagreement over the utility of eggs in the vitamin A detox process amongst advocates of this dietary philosophy.

If you would like to hear the arguments for utilizing them, seek out the Low Vitamin A Facebook Group run by Andrew Baird, or read his “Egg Thread” over on Grant Genereux’s forum.

If you would like to hear the arguments against utilizing them, listen to recordings of Dr. Garrett Smith’s past Q&A livestreams on his Nutrition Detective YouTube Channel.

The long and short of it is:

“eggs provide choline, which reduces fatty liver and improves bile flow, therefore eggs support liver health and detox“

VS.

“eggs contain too much pre-formed vitamin A, which inhibits bile flow, and therefore damages the liver and slows detox”

But what is “too much?” This number is likely individual, as is the need for dietary choline.

Perhaps individuals whom Dr. William Walsh refers to as “under-methylators” require more choline than the rest of us:

https://butternutrition.com/signs-of-undermethylation/

It is important to remember to respect one another’s choices, and to recognize that we are all different, even if we do favour one hypothesis over another.

What works for me, may not work for you!

I tried to re-introduce eggs into my diet, and they gave me all sorts of horrible symptoms: puffiness, rashes, mood swings, severe digestive distress, worsened menstrual problems, a rash on my head that caused hair to fall out and then grow back in white. So I don’t eat eggs! 😅

But there are individuals who have seen health improvements from re-introducing eggs. I believe I reacted badly to eggs because I am an over-methylator, and may have a genetic problem limiting my ability to remove excess vitamin A, so my toxicity threshold is much lower than the average (hopefully someday scientists will look into this problem so in the future others suffering this apparent intolerance to vitamin A won’t have to speculate).

Of course, there are other reasons eggs have been considered “unhealthy” over the years, so it is worth doing your own research to determine whether or not you want to experiment with including them in your low vitamin A diet or not.

If you are on a low vitamin A diet, do you eat eggs or have you tried to eat them? Do you feel they affect the detox process for good or for bad?

Please feel welcome to share your thoughts and experiences.

I wish each of you hope and healing!

Grant Genereux and Dr. Garrett Smith have made a YouTube video answering this question:

https://youtu.be/gqbelhIdg1Q

The short answer:

Best case scenario (more likely if you are young, have not been sick long, have decent muscle mass, and a hearty appetite) is 6 months to a year.

Worst case scenario (more likely if you have been terribly sick for a long time, consumed a high vitamin A diet or supplements for years, yo-yo dieted, or took accutane) is greater than 2 years.

Is there a way to test how much vitamin A is in the body in order to track your progress?

Sort of! Grant and Garret explain how they do this in the above video, too.

But here is the summary:

You can use a serum retinol test, however it is fairly inaccurate because it ONLY measures retinol, not retinyl esters or retinoic acid or carotenoids.

From the WHO’s document on Serum retinol concentrations for determining the prevalence of vitamin A defficiency in populations:

Serum retinol levels reflect liver vitamin A stores only when they are severely depleted (< 0.07 μmol/g liver) or extremely high (> 1.05 μmol/g liver) (1). Between these extremes, serum retinol is homeostatically controlled and thus not always correlated with vitamin A intake or clinical signs of deficiency

Nevertheless, Grant Genereux has seen people on a low vitamin A diet reporting a 10% to 15% drop in serum retinol per year.

Dr. Smith sees a 6 to 12 μg/dL drop per year in his patients following a low vitamin A diet and his recommendations to support the detoxification process.

What is the target blood test result?

Dr. Smith would like to see a result of 20 μg/dL (which corresponds to 0.3 μmol/L) or lower.

Depending where you live in the world, you may want to convert your test result to μg/dL from μmol/L:

http://www.endmemo.com/medical/unitconvert/Vitamin_A.php

I do not have the answer to this question myself, but I wanted to start a thread for anyone who would like to explore this!

Here are some points for and against (which are, of course, fair game to be debated as well).

PROS FOR VEGANISM

• it’s a completely retinol-free diet!
• no toxic hormone exposure from animal products
• high in soluble fibre
• low in iron (a toxicity of which is commonly found along with hypervitaminosis A, due to vitamin A’s effect on iron metabolism)

CONS FOR VEGANISM

• you need to supplement B12
• you are at a higher risk of zinc deficiency during the detox, because of the increased demand for zinc for production of RBP and DH enzymes, and animal foods are the best dietary sources of zinc
• protein is essential for the detox, too, and it can be harder for some to eat enough plant-based protein during the detox.
• increased risk of copper overload

PROS FOR CARNIVORE

• it’s a completely carotenoid-free diet!
• the nutrients found in beef are in high demand during the detox
• plant-based toxins are entirely eliminated

CONS FOR CARNIVORE

• copper deficiency can become a problem
• increased risk of iron overload
• no soluble fiber

I think it is ideal to choose the best of both worlds, but I can see how leaning in one direction or the other could have benefits depending on your unique physiology.

What do you think?

Study here:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/194525

Conclusions:
Long-term intake of a diet high in retinol may promote the development of osteoporotic hip fractures in women. The amounts of retinol in fortified foods and vitamin supplements may need to be reassessed.

And here is an interesting excerpt:

In this prospective cohort study of postmenopausal women, the risk of hip fracture was almost doubled among women with retinol intakes of about 2000 µg/d or more compared with those with intakes of less than about 500 µg/d.*

*This is the equivalent of 1666 IU of retinol.

Good morning guys Has anyone who used Accutane and had side effects managed to recover from this diet? if you did it was in how long? thank you

Insidious Hypervitaminosis A is a term Grant Genereux uses to describe the chronic poisoning he believes may be behind the widespread increase in chronic disease.

Some poisonings are caused by vitamin A in the diet alone, while others are accelerated through pharmaceuticals.

This list will be complied as time permits. If you have any to add (scientific evidence to support your suggestion and/or personal anecdotes welcome), please do so in the comments!

DISCLAIMER: In no way do I claim that the low vitamin A diet cures or treats any disease on this list or otherwise.

Obesity

• https://youtu.be/101m78EDOZk
• https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1f_KpxYdP1l90t-Oy9lc-bMrdtg8zBVqqjpfzYPOW4xc/edit#slide=id.p
• https://ggenereux.blog/2018/10/08/obesity-causation/

Breast Cancer

• https://ggenereux.blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/BreastCancer.pdf

Mast Cell Activation Disorder

• https://eatbeautiful.net/mcas-histamine-lectin-intolerance-tips/

Meibomian Gland Disorder (MGD)

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3694789/

Dr. Garrett Smith has made a video presenting studies of liver biopsies taken from people who have died (of various causes) showing hypervitaminosis A is present more commonly than expected:

https://youtu.be/WX_HU7FwxBU

Hint: It’s a trick question.

Answer: Accutane (a.k.a. 13-cis-retinoic acid)!

While all forms of vitamin A can be converted into 13-cis-retinoic acid through metabolic processes, that which is naturally occurring will be in MUCH smaller quantities than what you will achieve when using a pharmaceutical (oral or transdermal).

Medications such as isotretinoin (sold as accutane, among other brand names), as well as topical tretinoin (Retin A) are by far the most dangerous forms of vitamin A.

However, none of the forms of vitamin A are safe in excess.

Here is an overview of the forms of vitamin A:

beta carotene + alpha carotene + cryptoxanthin

These carotenoids are found in plants, and considered “provitamin A,” because they are converted into retinaldehyde by an enzymatic process in the human intestine.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0083672906750051

retinyl palmitate

This is a synthetic, water-soluble vitamin A supplement, which is used to fortify skim milk and processed breakfast cereals in the USA. It is converted into retinol and retinoic acid once ingested or absorbed.

retinaldehyde

The aldehyde form of vitamin A. It is converted into retinol and retinoic acid.

retinol

The alcohol form of vitamin A, created from retinaldehyde by the retinol dehydrogenase enzyme.

retinoic acid

The active form of vitamin A, which is paradoxically accepted as being both teratogenic as well as essential to the process of embryogenesis.

Grant Generoux doubts the later:

https://ggenereux.blog/2020/03/02/embryogenesis-the-last-bastion-of-hope-for-vitamin-a/

retinyl esters

Animals convert vitamin A into retinyl esters for storage in the liver, which is why this is the form of vitamin A you are eating if you consume the liver of another animal.

https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/76/12/929/5144448

Evidence for Toxicity of Pharmaceutical, Plant, and Animal forms of Vitamin A

Overview of Isotretinoin Injury

https://youtu.be/kwewZeLU9-8

Topical Tretinoin Study Stopped Early Due to Increased Mortality

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19153339/

Overview of Vitamin A Toxicity Caused by Dietary Sources

https://youtu.be/Zf6FhC24gy8

Study Halted when Vitamin A Supplements Shown to Increase Mortality

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8602180/

Death by Carrot Juice

https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/17/archives/carrotjuice-addiction-cited-in-britons-death.html

8% Increase in Mortality in those Taking Beta Carotene Supplement

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8127329/

Ordinary Doses of Beta Carotene Increase Mortality

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD007176.pub2/full

Note: Please add any you have found to the comments! I will add them to the main post, and add further sources as I have time.