What You Must Know About Vitamin A: Safety Concerns, Food Sources, Etc.

Vitamin A is essential in bone and teeth formation, aids in fat storage, and protects against colds, flu, and infections of the kidneys, bladder, lungs, and mucous membranes.

It slows the aging process by helping the body utilize protein. In this same respect, topical vitamin A (in products such as Retin-A) reduces fine lines in the skin and fades age spot.

It helps prevent damage to eyes, lungs, and skin by reducing DNA oxygenation and destroying reactive oxygen molecules from exposure to air pollutants and sunlight.

Sources of Vitamin A

You can also get Vitamin A from the carotenoids, which include carrots, spinach, corn, sweet potatoes, spirulina, sweet pepper, and kale.

Foods with high amounts of Vit A include, apricots, peaches, papaya, pumpkin, red peppers, carrots, collards, asparagus, kale, mustard green, spinach, corn, sweet potatoes, spirulina, sweet pepper, Swiss chard, dandelion greens, watercress, yellow squash, and kale.

Herbs that contain Vit A include alfalfa, borage leaves, burdock root, cayenne (capsicum), chickweed, eyebright, fennel seed, lemongrass, horsetail, fennel seeds, hops, kelp, paprika, parsley, peppermint, plantain, raspberry leaf, rose hips, sage, uva, and more.

Safety Concerns

If you are pregnant, do not take 10,000 international units of vit A daily because of reported problems in fetal development.

Children should not take more than 18,000 international units daily for more than one month.

Beta-carotene is the best source of vit A for most people, because the liver converts only the amount of vit A that the body actually needs.

If you suffer from diabetes or low functioning thyroid, there is a good chance that your body may not be able to convert beta-carotene into vit A. Therefore a large amount of vit A may place tremendous stress on your liver.  

Other Considerations

• Laxatives, antibiotics, and any cholesterol-lowering medications interfere with the absorption of Vit A.
• It is suggested to take a combination of different carotenoids.
  

Please Note

It is important to emphasize that you should not reject mainstream medical attention and guidance and the use of recommended products, treatments, and remedies for individual disorder should be approved and monitored by your health care provider. See disclaimer for more!