Is Synthetic Vitamin A in Military Rations Fueling PTSD, Pain, and Addiction?

Every veteran knows the cost of service doesn’t end when the mission is over. PTSD, chronic pain, anxiety, and addiction follow many home. While trauma and stress play major roles, overlooked factors—like the vitamin A in our food—may be quietly making things worse. It’s time to ask if synthetic vitamin A (SVA) in Meals Ready-to-Eat (MREs) and civilian foods is keeping troops on 'red alert'—and what we should do about it.

What Is Synthetic Vitamin A and Why Is It in MREs?

Military rations are designed for durability and nutrition. Synthetic vitamin A, usually in the form of vitamin A palmitate or acetate, is added for stability—it lasts long on the shelf and is easy to mix into processed foods. Most deployable troops eat only MREs; all their vitamin A comes from these synthetic forms (Army Regulation 40-25; MRE Nutrition).

Here’s What Most Don’t Realize:

Natural vitamin A (retinol) is found in foods like liver, eggs, and butter. Synthetic vitamin A (palmitate or acetate) is the kind added to rations and most “enriched” foods. Here’s where it gets tricky:

• 3,000 IU of vitamin A equals 900 mcg retinol (the Recommended Dietary Allowance for men).

• But for synthetic vitamin A palmitate, the conversion is 1 IU = 0.55 mcg of retinol—so 3,000 IU = 1,650 mcg retinol equivalent.

  
  

What does this mean? If you eat foods containing 3,000 IU of synthetic vitamin A, you’re actually getting 1,650 mcg—about 83% more than what many believe they are consuming.

The TRPV1 Connection: When the Alarm Can’t Turn Off

TRPV1 is a nerve receptor—the body's "alarm system" for pain, stress, and heat. It’s like posting a guard at every window, always scanning for threats. Research (Yin et al., 2013) shows retinoids—including synthetic vitamin A—can “overactivate” TRPV1. When this happens, your nervous system is like that guard who never gets to stand down. Every small stressor sets off the alarm. Your body can’t rest or truly recover and normal aches, noises, or worries hit as if you’re still on patrol.

Repeated, high-dose exposure to synthetic vitamin A can lock you into this high-alert mode for months on end, right when your resilience is being tested the most.

Reinforcing the Hidden Cost: Why Troops and Veterans Struggle

Most troops eat only MREs during deployments, stacking up months (or even years) of SVA at the exact time they face the greatest psychological and physical stress. Over time, a troubling, consistent pattern emerges:

• Chronic joint aches, nerve pain, and burning sensations

• Heightened “wired” anxiety and stress levels

• Trouble sleeping, disrupted mood cycles, and a racing mind

• Increased need for self-medication, dependency, and addiction as troops seek a way to quiet an overloaded system

These are not isolated complaints—they are chronic, repeatable patterns that mirror what scientists see in animal studies where TRPV1 is constantly triggered. Veterans report these same sensations, from the field to home, often without knowing why.

Not Just a Deployment Problem: Synthetic Vitamin A Is Everywhere

A bigger problem awaits on the homefront: synthetic vitamin A isn’t just in MREs. Nearly all fortified breakfast cereals, nutrition bars, shelf-stable dairy, and multivitamins in the US food supply use SVA (vitamin A palmitate). This means service members come back home, expecting rest, but their food keeps fueling the “alarm.” The body is never given a chance to fully power down.

Military Analogy:

Think of it as running continuous rounds of watch. Even when you rotate off the line, the warning sirens never shut off. In the chow hall, the grocery aisle, even the snack machines—every meal keeps your body’s alarm system humming, day and night. Instead of a true stand-down, you’re still “in the wire,” always prepared for trouble. Over years, this burns out even the toughest troops.

Food for Thought: Is This Acceptable?

• Why do pain, mental health, and stress symptoms haunt so many veterans long after service?

• Could the “safe” label on vitamin A be misleading, especially when most is synthetic and comes from multiple daily sources?

• Is our civilian and military food supply quietly programming our nervous system to stay stuck in high-alert mode?

• How many cases of pain, anxiety, or addiction could be linked to the unseen effect of synthetic vitamin A on already high-strung nervous systems?

• If your unit’s alarms never powered off, morale would crumble and performance would plummet, no matter how good your tactics. That’s what chronic exposure to SVA might be doing at a deep, cellular level.

What Needs to Change?

This issue is too important for silence. Science is still emerging, but here’s what we need:

• Food labels should clearly state the type and conversion of vitamin A—especially in rations and supplements.

• Adjust military menus to use only safe, evidence-based amounts and consider reducing fortified SVA, especially during periods of high stress.

• Fund more research on the TRPV1 link and the long-term effects of chronic synthetic vitamin A intake on stress, pain, and recovery.

• Support a move toward more real, unprocessed foods for the military and veteran populations whenever possible.

Final Word

Veterans, families, and advocates: keep asking questions. This is not settled science, but it is a matter worthy of your concern, your voice, and strong research. We owe it to our troops and their families to dig deeper. The answers could be hiding in plain sight, right in the “healthy” foods they consume.

References

• Yin, S. et al. (2013). "Retinoids activate the irritant receptor TRPV1 and produce sensory hypersensitivity." Journal of Clinical Investigation.

• Leschik, J. et al. (2021). "Stress-Related Dysfunction of Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis and PTSD."

• Army Regulation 40-25, Table 2 Vitamin A row

• MRE nutrition, DLA Troop Support

• Dietary Reference Intakes: Vitamin A