Benefit s of Vitamin A

Vitamin A, or retinol, is primarily known for creating good eyesight, especially at night.  It helps to maintain several parts of the eye particularly the cornea.  But it has many other important functions in the body:

  • It is important for healing many tissues in the body following injury or surgery
  • It supports the formation of new bone and new skin cells
  • It supports the production of tissues that line the various organs of the body. 
  • As an antioxidant it lowers cancer risk.

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin so it is stored in body fat and may accumulate over time if the daily intake is too high.  On the other hand, since deficiency causes many problems, it is important that the daily intake be in the healthy range.

Natural Sources of Vitamin A

Eat your fruits and veggies!  One of the reason that people say that is vitamin A.  Fruits and vegetables with rich colors tend to have good quantities of this important vitamin—orange or dark green veggies like carrots, pumpkin, red cabbage, spinach, kale or broccoli among many others, bright yellow and orange fruits such as apricots, mangos, melons, papaya and cherries.  Vitamin A is also found in liver and fish oils, eggs and dairy.

Vitamin A Daily Requirements

For adult males, the official recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for preformed vitamin A is 3,300 IU.  Women need 80 percent of these amounts unless they are pregnant or nursing when they need the same amount as males.  Children need approximately half the adult amounts.

It is safest to supplement vitamin A as beta-carotene since the body processes it in a manner that prevents overdose.  Beta-carotene is often included in multi-vitamins at 10,000 IU to 20,000 IU and is safe at these levels since the body converts it to about twice the RDA.  Preformed vitamin A (vitamin A acetate and vitamin A palmitate) is toxic when consumed at levels of 25,000 IU per day, or higher. 

Toxicity effects from the consumption of excess vitamin A include severe liver injury, bone and cartilage pathologies, elevated intracranial pressure and headaches, and birth defects in infants whose mothers consumed excess vitamin A during pregnancy.  Groups especially vulnerable to vitamin A toxicity are children, pregnant women, and those with existing liver disease.

Vitamin A Deficiency

It’s estimated that a quarter of the people in the US fail to take in the (RDA) of vitamin A.  As a nation, Americans don’t eat enough fresh fruits and vegetables. 

The results of a deficiency of vitamin A include night blindness, a decrease in immune response to infection and cancer, dry and bumpy skin, dull and dry hair, soft bones, and menstrual irregularities.