Tag Archives: provitamin

Why the allergy epidemic did not already start 1935 in Germany

moblog – I have now spent another day at the Berlin Document Center browsing through hundreds of RKI pages – manuscripts, correspondence, bills and personal files. My goal was to find out why the allergy epidemic did not already start off 1935 in Germany when vitamin D synthesis was already possible on a large scale.
Indeed, I found evidence that at least 3 companies radiated at that time yeast derived ergosterin by UV quartz lamps – I.G. Farben, Nordmark-Werke and Deutsche Vitamin Gesellschaft. The number of companies in this field Continue reading Why the allergy epidemic did not already start 1935 in Germany

Vitamin A and allergy

No, I am not confusing here vitamin A and vitamin D as done in the early days of vitamin research. This post is really about vitamin A (but with similar nomenclature problem as with vitamin D). Retinol is ingested in a precursor form; animal sources like liver (–>cod liver oil) contain retinyl esters, whereas plants like carrots contain carotenoids. Continue reading Vitamin A and allergy