Vitamin A
 |
| Vitamin A: Dark Green Leafy Vegetables |
Vitamin A is a group of unsaturated nutritional organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal, retinoic acid, and several provitamin A carotenoids. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that is good for healthy vision, skin, bones and other tissues in the body. Vitamin A works as an antioxidant. Vitamin A works against cell damage, but it also has many other uses. Vitamin A has an important role in the normal formation and maintenance of the heart, lungs, kidneys and other vital organs.
 |
| Vitamin A: Sweet Potato |
Sources
There are two types of vitamin A. Preformed vitamin A and pro-vitamin A. Preformed vitamin A is also called retinol, which is found in animal products. Good sources are fortified milk, eggs, meat, cheese, liver, halibut fish oil, cream and kidneys. Pro-vitamin A is found in plant-based foods such as fruits and vegetables. The most common type of pro-vitamin A is beta-carotene, a carotenoid that produces dark pigments in plant foods. Beta-carotene can be found in brightly coloured foods such as pumpkins, apricots, carrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes, dark green leafy vegetables etc.
 |
| Vitamin A: Carrot |
Benefits
Vitamin A has many functions. Retinol creates the pigments in the retina of the eye. Retinol is good for vision, especially night vision, and overall eye health. Taking high levels of antioxidants along with zinc may reduce the risk of developing advanced age-related macular degeneration. Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness in the older population. Vitamin A also helps in the growth and repairing of skin. Vitamin A also takes part in the formation and maintenance of teeth, bones, soft tissues, mucus membranes, white blood cells, and the immune system. Beta-carotene also acts as an antioxidant, which helps protect cells from free radical damage.
 |
| Vitamin A: Pumpkin |
Deficiency
Vitamin A deficiency is common in many developing countries. Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of childhood blindness. Around 250,000 to 500,000 children around the world with vitamin A deficiency become blind every year. Around 50% of those children die within one year of losing their vision. In case of severe deficiency of vitamin A, symptoms like night blindness, dry eyes, skin problems, and diarrhoea have been observed.
 |
| Vitamin A: Apricot |
Dosage
Too little intake of vitamin A makes a man more susceptible to disease and vision problems while too much intake of vitamin A can create many problems. The recommended dietary intakes for vitamin A depend on age, gender and reproductive status. Overdose of vitamin A is associated with the symptoms ranging from skin and hair loss to neurologic problems, to gastrointestinal problems. High doses of vitamin A for long term can cause liver injury, nausea, vomiting, balance problems, fatigue, confusion, muscle pain, higher risk of osteoporosis, and hip fractures.
No comments:
Post a Comment