too many carrots?

DD is 7 months and I'm still breastfeeding her so who knows when I'll get
pregnant anyway, but we would like to have another one close in age to her
so we're hoping to be pleasantly surprised sometime when it happens.
Even though I haven't had a period I'm just wanting to be safe - just in
case I do get pregnant without realising and this is probably a dumb
question but.... how many carrots are too many? I know that carrots have
vitamin A in them, which causes birth defects if you have too much when you
are pregnant, and I'm in the habit of snacking on carrot sticks - which can
mean 4 or 5 large carrots a day. Could this be too much if I did happen to
get pregnant, or is it not even close to being a lot really? Sometimes my
skin does go a little yellowish in colour which I know is a common
occurrence when you eat a lot of carrots.
Thanks

Linda wrote:
DD is 7 months and I'm still breastfeeding her so who knows when I'll get
pregnant anyway, but we would like to have another one close in age to her
so we're hoping to be pleasantly surprised sometime when it happens.
Even though I haven't had a period I'm just wanting to be safe - just in
case I do get pregnant without realising and this is probably a dumb
question but.... how many carrots are too many? I know that carrots have
vitamin A in them, which causes birth defects if you have too much when you
are pregnant, and I'm in the habit of snacking on carrot sticks - which can
mean 4 or 5 large carrots a day. Could this be too much if I did happen to
get pregnant, or is it not even close to being a lot really? Sometimes my
skin does go a little yellowish in colour which I know is a common
occurrence when you eat a lot of carrots.
Thanks

I had no idea that carrots were something to be careful of while
pregnant. I don't eat THAT many, but still ate 'em while pregnant.

KD & G

Definately the first time I heard of this one as well...

I would say you are eating too many if your skin turns yellowish but
certainly there's nothing wrong with 1-2 carrots a day is there????

KR

KD wrote:
Linda wrote:
DD is 7 months and I'm still breastfeeding her so who knows when I'll get
pregnant anyway, but we would like to have another one close in age to her
so we're hoping to be pleasantly surprised sometime when it happens.
Even though I haven't had a period I'm just wanting to be safe - just in
case I do get pregnant without realising and this is probably a dumb
question but.... how many carrots are too many? I know that carrots have
vitamin A in them, which causes birth defects if you have too much when you
are pregnant, and I'm in the habit of snacking on carrot sticks - which can
mean 4 or 5 large carrots a day. Could this be too much if I did happen to
get pregnant, or is it not even close to being a lot really? Sometimes my
skin does go a little yellowish in colour which I know is a common
occurrence when you eat a lot of carrots.
Thanks

I had no idea that carrots were something to be careful of while
pregnant. I don't eat THAT many, but still ate 'em while pregnant.

KD & G

apparently 1 medium carrot contains 270% of the RDA of vitamin A

liver, which is what it is usually recommended to avoid due to the risk of
vitamin A apparently (from the same website) has 443% of RDA in a 3oz
portion

so carrots are not as overloaded as liver, I also suspect that stat is for a
fresh raw carrot, vitamins are reduced both over time and during cooking

I couldn't find a clear thing about the format of the vitamin A in carrots,
but I think it is beta carotene that is then converted to vit A in the body,
I then found something about it being ok in the form of beta carotene,
http://www.thenutritionreporter.com/A-vitamins.html

honestly I wouldn't worry about it, though I would make sure you keep it to
a level where your skin doesn't go yellow

Anne

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
apparently 1 medium carrot contains 270% of the RDA of vitamin A

liver, which is what it is usually recommended to avoid due to the risk of
vitamin A apparently (from the same website) has 443% of RDA in a 3oz
portion

so carrots are not as overloaded as liver, I also suspect that stat is for
a fresh raw carrot, vitamins are reduced both over time and during cooking

I couldn't find a clear thing about the format of the vitamin A in
carrots, but I think it is beta carotene that is then converted to vit A
in the body, I then found something about it being ok in the form of beta
carotene, http://www.thenutritionreporter.com/A-vitamins.html

honestly I wouldn't worry about it, though I would make sure you keep it
to a level where your skin doesn't go yellow


Yep, the stuff in carrots is beta-carotene which then turns into Vit A in
the body. The trick is not to eat too much of the pre-formed Vit A but
beta-carotene is safer.

Check this out:
http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/pre...ition/675.html

The site lists foods rich in Vit A and contains the recommended daily
intake, which foods to avoid, etc.

I'd read somewhere that a medium carrot is 145% of the RDI not 445% so I
guess the stats you'll get quoted vary from site to site. Basically, I think
eating carrots to the point where your skin goes orange sounds like a bit
much, but 1 or 2 carrots a day are probably not at the dangerous level.

Kasia

--
Matthew 21 June 2005
DD EDD 06 Oct 2006

"Engram" wrote in message
u...
I'd read somewhere that a medium carrot is 145% of the RDI not 445% so I
Ooops! Meant to say 270%! Sorry Anne - didn't mean to misquote you!

Kasia
--
Matthew 21 June 2005
DD EDD 06 Oct 2006

"Linda" wrote in message

I know that carrots have
vitamin A in them, which causes birth defects if you have too much when
you are pregnant, and I'm in the habit of snacking on carrot sticks -
which can mean 4 or 5 large carrots a day. Could this be too much if I
did happen to get pregnant, or is it not even close to being a lot really?

Wow, I didn't know that. I ate really a lot of carrots when I was pg. I
ate a huge bag of those baby carrots every day at work :-0.


--
Nikki, mama to
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Brock 4/06
Ben 4/06

"Linda" wrote in message
...
DD is 7 months and I'm still breastfeeding her so who knows when I'll get
pregnant anyway, but we would like to have another one close in age to her
so we're hoping to be pleasantly surprised sometime when it happens.
Even though I haven't had a period I'm just wanting to be safe - just in
case I do get pregnant without realising and this is probably a dumb
question but.... how many carrots are too many? I know that carrots have
vitamin A in them, which causes birth defects if you have too much when
you are pregnant, and I'm in the habit of snacking on carrot sticks -
which can mean 4 or 5 large carrots a day. Could this be too much if I
did happen to get pregnant, or is it not even close to being a lot really?
Sometimes my skin does go a little yellowish in colour which I know is a
common occurrence when you eat a lot of carrots.
Thanks


Carrots contain beta carotene which converts to Vitamin A as needed and
passed out of the body otherwise. It is quite different from the non beta
carotene form of Vitamin A (sorry can't remember the name of it). You
should be just fine with it if you are only getting it from food sources.
It is the supplemental forms of Vitamin A you need to be cautious about.

Carrots contain beta carotene which converts to Vitamin A as needed and
passed out of the body otherwise. It is quite different from the non beta
carotene form of Vitamin A (sorry can't remember the name of it). You
should be just fine with it if you are only getting it from food sources.
It is the supplemental forms of Vitamin A you need to be cautious about.

Do you have a link for further info on this?

Thanks everyone for your help.

"Linda" wrote in message
...
DD is 7 months and I'm still breastfeeding her so who knows when I'll get
pregnant anyway, but we would like to have another one close in age to her
so we're hoping to be pleasantly surprised sometime when it happens.
Even though I haven't had a period I'm just wanting to be safe - just in
case I do get pregnant without realising and this is probably a dumb
question but.... how many carrots are too many? I know that carrots have
vitamin A in them, which causes birth defects if you have too much when
you
are pregnant, and I'm in the habit of snacking on carrot sticks - which
can
mean 4 or 5 large carrots a day. Could this be too much if I did happen
to
get pregnant, or is it not even close to being a lot really? Sometimes my
skin does go a little yellowish in colour which I know is a common
occurrence when you eat a lot of carrots.
Thanks



http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T045500.asp

"Beta-carotene is a precursor to vitamin A, meaning the body converts them
to vitamin A according to its need. The intestines extract from foods the
amount of B-carotene the body needs to make the vitamin A it needs; no more,
no less. So the intestines protect the body from excess vitamin A in case
you habitually eat too much food rich in pre-formed vitamin A."