Vitamin A

Great for Your Skin, Vision, & Immune System

Vitamin A is actually a group of compounds that play an important role in your immune system. It is also critical for good vision, bone growth, cell division, reproduction but might be known best for skin health.

What is Vitamin A

Vitamin A can be broken down into 2 categories:

Retinols

• Retinol comes from foods of animal origin and is also know as preformed vitamin A. It is the most useable form of the vitamin for your body.
• The best sources for retinol are liver, whole milk and eggs.

Carotenoids

• Vitamin A that is found in fruits and vegetables is called provitamin A carotenoids. The body can make these into retinol.
• Carotenoids come in several forms including beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lycopene, and lutein. Beta-carotene is the carotenoid that you body can best convert into retinol and is the most used carotenoid in vitamin supplements.
• The other carotenoids are either not converted into retinols or are done so at a less efficient rate, but they are equally important to other functions in your body and your overall health and wellness.

Food Sources

Vitamin A can be found in many foods. Protein sources such as

• Liver
• Cheese
• Eggs
• Dairy

are good at supplying the preformed vitamin and retinol.

Bright colored fruits and vegetables, especially the orange ones, are full of betacarotene and the other carotenoids including the provitamin A carotenoids that are converten into retinol. Some good sources are

• Carrots
• Sweet Potatoes
• Spinich
• Mango
• Broccoli
• Pumpkin

The Importance of Vitamin A

Vitamin A plays an important role in many functions throughout your body. These include:

• Vision - Retinol is critical to maintain your eye's retina. Inadequate retinol can impair you vision, especially your night vision.
• Gene Transcription - helps to regulate the synthesis of proteins.
• Immune Function - Is required for normal functioning of you immune system. Creates a barrier on your mucous membranes (airways, digestive tract, urinary tract) that serves as the first line of defense against infections.
• Bone Metabolism - Is important in the production of red and white blood cells.
• Skin Health - Part of the immune system function. Keeps the skin clear of infections, including acne.
• Antioxidant activity - helps to control free radicals and the damage they cause within the cells.

Other Benefits

Studies done in cell cultures and with animals have shown that retinoids can assist in disease prevention. The results have not been confirmed in humans at this time.

However, the preliminary results show the ability of these retinoids to reduce carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer) significantly in skin, breast, liver, colon, prostate and other areas of the body.

Supplementation

Vitamin A supplements usually come in the form of Betacarotene. This carotenoid can be converted by the body into retinol. But because the body will only convert what it needs there is no chance of overconsumption.

However, because Vitamin A is not water soluable, supplementing directly with the vitamin or the preformed version - retinol - can cause hypervitaminosis. The body can not clear the excess retinol very quickly because it is not water soluble.

A good choice if you are looking to supplement your diet is a natural food source vitamin that contains a balance of carotenoids including betacarotene.

A good multivitamin is also a good choice to be sure you are getting a sufficient amount of Vitamin A (usually in the form of Betacarotene) to support normal vision, immune functions and gene expression.

If you are looking for ways to clear up your skin and acne, a combination of Vitamins A, E and zinc is a great place to start. It has worked wonders in our family.

Return from Vitamin A to HealthyLife Home Page