Vitamin A plays many vital roles in keeping your body healthy. You may associate it with eyesight, but it has several functions. It is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means you body stores it and as such, you only need to consume small amounts. Too much vitamin A can be harmful. It is important to balance your diet with the proper intake.
Defining Vitamin A
Vitamin A is made up of a family of compounds that play a role in your eyesight, bone development, reproduction, cell division and determining what cells become what part of your body. Vitamin A also helps make white blood cells that help fight off infection. In addition, vitamin A promotes healthy surface linings of your eyes and your respiratory, urinary and intestinal tracts.
Foods that Provide Vitamin A
Vitamin A is divided into two categories depending on the dietary source from which it comes. Vitamin A from animal sources is absorbed in the form of retinol, one of the most active forms of the vitamin. Foods that contain this form to include in your diet are liver, milk, cheese and eggs. Carotenoids are found in plant sources of vitamin A. Your body can convert them into retinol. Try adding carrots, spinach, cantaloupe, apricots, papaya, mango and peaches to your diet to consume carotenoids.
Adequate Intake
The Institute of Medicine sets the recommended daily intake for men at 900 micrograms and women at 700 micrograms of retinol per day. The tolerable upper intake level (UL) for adults is 3,000 micrograms of retinol per day. A vitamin A deficiency is common in children in developing countries, but is rare in healthy adults. If you have a condition, such as celiac disease or Crohn's disease, that causes the malabsorption of fat, then you may need to consider a vitamin A supplement.
Vitamin A Toxicity
Vitamin A is stored in your liver. The Office of Dietary Supplements states high storage levels of vitamin A can lead to adverse effects such as birth defects, liver abnormalities, osteoporosis and central nervous system disorders. Signs of toxicity include blurred vision, nausea and vomiting, headache, dizziness and uncontrolled muscle movement. Most toxicities result from taking high-dose supplements of the vitamin. Toxicity usually does not occur from carotenoids, as the body does not convert them to retinol when stores are full. However, carotenoids can turn the skin yellow, but this is not considered harmful.
Member Comments