Quote from Dr. Garrett Smith on November 6, 2018, 12:53 pm

Many women feel terrible after their pregnancy is over, including Post-Partum Depression (PPD), and often gain weight that they forever have difficulty losing.  Could this be associated with Chronic Insidious Vitamin A Toxicity?  Does this toxicity get passed on through nursing/breastfeeding?  Read on...

Longitudinal vitamin and homocysteine levels in normal pregnancy

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chris_Thomas13/publication/232014439_Longitudinal_vitamin_and_homocysteine_levels_in_normal_pregnancy/links/553001cb0cf2f2a588ab05b5/Longitudinal-vitamin-and-homocysteine-levels-in-normal-pregnancy.pdf
"Retinol (Fig. 1(a)) concentrations during pregnancy showed only a minor decrease. Post-partum concentrations were markedly elevated compared with preconceptional values.

[...]

Serum folate (Fig. 2(a)) concentrations showed a slight decrease during pregnancy and remain decreased up to 6 weeks after delivery. Folate concentrations in erythrocytes (Fig. 2(b)) increased slightly during pregnancy. In the postpartum period erythrocyte folate concentrations were lower than those in the third trimester, but similar to preconceptional concentrations. Fig. 2(c) shows the 24 h secretion of folate in urine which does not seem to change throughout pregnancy. Also no differences were observed regarding folate excretions in the puerperium. Vitamin B12 (Fig. 1(e)) concentrations showed a progressive decline during pregnancy reaching marginal or even deficient levels. At 6 weeks after delivery vitamin B12 reached preconceptional values."

 

Retinol aka Poison/"Vitamin A" levels in the blood go up significantly after delivery. I will have a post about how Poison/"Vitamin A" decreases levels of both B12 and folate, so the above association between increased Poison/"Vitamin A" at the same time as decreased B12 and folate all fits the picture.  Many mothers feel drastically worse after delivery, sometimes for the rest of their life.  What might cause a mother to "get over" PPD, while their child is developing eczema/allergies/asthma?  More on that below.

After seeing that study above, I thought about post-partum depression...could there be a connection?  It would be easy to find if it was out there.  Before you look at the next study, you must realize that some researchers choose to measure Retinol Binding Protein (RBP) as a surrogate for retinol (aka Poison/"Vitamin A") in the blood, as the two go up and down together in the body (as well as the liver can maintain that relationship).  So, high RBP levels generally directly correlate with higher retinol levels in the blood.  RBP is something your liver makes to PROTECT you from Poison/"Vitamin A", so when you read about researchers trying to "blame" RBP for health problems, you should be aware that they are completely incorrect, they should actually be pointing the finger at the retinol instead.

Retinoids, anxiety and peripartum depressive symptoms among Chinese women: a prospective cohort study

https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-017-1405-0
"In the third trimester, significant predictors of depressive symptoms include serum retinol-binding protein (RBP) concentrations and estradiol levels. At one week after delivery, serum concentrations of RBP at T2 were still significant predictors of depressive symptoms,  and serum estradiol concentrations at T1 were a significant predictor. The most stable predictor of depressive symptoms at T3 was anxiety symptoms, especially at T3 time point. Serum RBP concentrations at T1 and T2 were still significant predictors of depressive symptoms at T3.

Conclusion

A high prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms tended to persist in Chinese women during the peripartum period. This study, which found the potential contribution of RBP to the occurrence of PPD, requires that large sample studies be conducted in future with a longer-term follow-up period, in order to confirm its results."

Important point from the above quote:

• More RBP = more retinol = more PPD.  Pretty straightforward.
• Poison/"Vitamin A" increases aromatase activity, which means it increases estrogen (estradiol being one of the three forms of estrogen in humans), so seeing RBP levels and estradiol levels coincide is not any surprise.  I will have another thread on this.

We now have patterns of increased Poison/"Vitamin A" and decreased B12 & folate levels.  This seems to peak in the third trimester and the first six weeks post-partum, which then seems to improve.  Where did the Poison/"Vitamin A" end up going that things got better after six weeks post-partum?  Sadly, it is likely going into the nursing baby.

Breastfeeding, retinoids, and postpartum depression: a new theory.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23816449
"Postpartum depression (PPD) is an international public health problem affecting at least 1 in 8 mothers. Known risk factors include: giving birth to a preterm or low birth weight infant, babies with greater symptoms of illness at age 4-6 weeks, formula feeding, younger maternal age, smoking, and fatigue. Prolonged breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of PPD but the mechanisms are not well understood. Interventions for PPD focusing on psychosocial risk factors have been largely unsuccessful, suggesting that the condition has a mainly biological basis. The hypothesis proposed for consideration is that breastfeeding protects against PPD by maintaining endogenous retinoids (vitamin A-related compounds) below a threshold concentration. In fact, breast milk is rich in retinoids; pregnant women accumulate retinoids in liver and breast in preparation for lactation; there is increasing evidence that retinoids in higher concentration are associated with cognitive disturbances and mood disorders, including depression and suicide; and prolonged lactation reduces maternal stores of retinoids. Consistent with this hypothesis, it is estimated that an amount of vitamin A is transferred from mother to infant during the first six months of exclusive breastfeeding equivalent to 76% of a dose known to cause acute vitamin A poisoning in an adult. Breastfeeding may thus have evolutionary-adaptive functions for both mother and infant, transferring vital nutrients to an infant unable to feed itself, yet at the same time providing a natural means of reducing potentially toxic concentrations of retinoids in the mother."

Translation:  The mother is DETOXING her Poison/"Vitamin A" into the baby through the breastmilk!  This starts to explain the epidemic of childhood diseases today.  How could it not cause health problems in a BABY, when (from the above quote):  "it is estimated that an amount of vitamin A is transferred from mother to infant during the first six months of exclusive breastfeeding equivalent to 76% of a dose known to cause acute vitamin A poisoning in an adult."

Once one has been on this site long enough and learns about ALL of the sources of Poison/"Vitamin A" that we all take, and then about how breastfeeding transfers an absolutely TOXIC level of this poison to a newborn, we start to realize the problems that are beginning in utero and continuing after birth.

So, if you had issues with post-partum depression and/or weight gain after pregnancy, one could consider these potential markers of Chronic Insidious Vitamin A Toxicity.  If your child has health issues, this is likely a part of it too.  I deal with this as part of my Nutritional Restoration programs.

 

Retinoids, anxiety and peripartum depressive symptoms among Chinese women: a prospective cohort study

https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-017-1405-0
"In the third trimester, significant predictors of depressive symptoms include serum retinol-binding protein (RBP) concentrations and estradiol levels. At one week after delivery, serum concentrations of RBP at T2 were still significant predictors of depressive symptoms,  and serum estradiol concentrations at T1 were a significant predictor. The most stable predictor of depressive symptoms at T3 was anxiety symptoms, especially at T3 time point. Serum RBP concentrations at T1 and T2 were still significant predictors of depressive symptoms at T3.