Vitamin A and my health

I learnt that Vitamin A is good for my health. Kindly let me know the usefulness of Vitamin A to the body and how much I should take per day.

Victoria (by SMS)

Vitamin A, a fat soluble nutrient, plays a crucial role in the body. It is a key ingredient for good vision, healthy immune system, important for reproduction and foetal development, supports cell growth, and much more. It also aids in healthy functioning of the heart, lungs, kidneys and many other organs of the body. With its antioxidant properties, it protects the cells against the effects of free radicals. Furthermore, it helps surface tissues like the skin, intestines, lungs, inner ear, bladder etc. There are two kinds of vitamin A; one is preformed vitamin A, retinol and retinyl esters, often found in animal products, meat, dairy, fish etc, while the other one, i.e. provitamin A is found mostly in fruits and vegetables with the most common, beta carotene, found in dietary supplements.  Vitamin A being a fat soluble nutrient, is stored in the body tissue for usage later, stored in the liver, in the form of retinyl esters. The right amount of required daily Vitamin A actually depends on the age and the sex of an individual. The vitamin A content of foods is expressed as retinol equivalents. The average daily recommended quantity, in micrograms (mcg) of retinol activity equivalents (RAE) for an adult male and adult female is nearly 600µg/d.

Be it naturally from food, following a healthy diet, or from supplements, it is necessary to get enough vitamin A in the body. A few sources include:

Preformed Vitamin A: Egg yolk, butter, cod liver oil, fish like salmon etc.

Pro Vitamin A: Carrots, cabbage, spinach, kale, basically it can be found in leafy vegetables. While most of the daily intake can be satisfied with maintaining a healthy lifestyle and including Vitamin A rich food in the diet, sometimes doctors might also suggest supplements to make up for severe deficiency.

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