what is vitamin A and its benefits

"Vitamin A or retinol is an important nutrient for vision, growth, cell division, reproduction, and the immune system. In addition, vitamin A is also an antioxidant so it can protect body cells from the effects of free radicals."

Thedoctormedical , united states – If you think that vitamin A is only useful for eye health, this assumption is wrong. Because, this vitamin is not only limited to that. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin only. So, what is vitamin A used for?

Apart from functioning in the vision process and maintaining eye health, this vitamin also functions to protect your body from various foreign microorganisms and disease-causing pathogens. This is because this vitamin contains antioxidants, namely beta-carotene which is useful for counteracting free radicals.

What are the Benefits of Vitamin A?

This vitamin has many benefits for the body, such as helping the body's natural defenses to fight diseases and infections that interfere with your body's health. Not only that, this vitamin is also very good for helping a person's vision to be more optimal.

According to research from the US National Eyes Institute , regarding age-related eye diseases , the risk of conditions such as macular degeneration can actually be reduced by consuming high levels of antioxidants in this vitamin by around 25 percent.

Not only useful for maintaining healthy eyesight, according to Dr. David Greuner a director and co-founder of NYC Surgical Associates , meeting the needs of this vitamin in the body can help maintain healthy skin and several other body parts.

Some of the benefits of vitamin A you may not be aware of are:

Reducing the risk of certain cancers.
Supports a healthy immune system.
Reducing the risk of skin breakouts.
Supports bone health.
Promotes healthy growth and reproduction.
Meanwhile, the need for vitamin A that is properly met can actually help the formation and maintenance of teeth, bones, soft tissue, white blood cells and also a person's immune system.

This is the Source of Vitamin A
Maybe you want to know, what exactly is vitamin A? This vitamin comes from two sources, namely from animals and from plants. Animal-derived sources include retinol, which are called retinoids. Meanwhile, sources derived from plants are called carotenoids and these sources are included in beta-carotene.

The body converts beta-carotene to vitamin A. These carotenoids, including lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, have important biological properties, including antioxidant and photoprotective activity .

So, to get the maximum benefits every day, where can you get vitamin A? The answer, of course, is from the healthy food you eat, including:

Carrot.
Fish oil.
Milk and its preparations, including butter and milk flour.
Cheese and processed products.
Liver and beef.
Chicken meat and eggs.
Sardines and several types of fish.
Red beans.
Yellow potatoes, sweet potatoes, and red yams.
Green vegetables, such as spinach, long beans, seaweed, kale, clover, eggplant, and so on.
Fruits such as apples, mangoes and breadfruit, but generally found in yellow fruits such as bananas and papayas.
In order to get the benefits of vitamin A, most people seek it from sources of fruits and vegetables. Approximately, which fruit is the highest in this vitamin? The answer is mangoes. One medium-sized mango contains 1082 IU of this vitamin.

So, what vegetable is the highest in vitamin A? You can guess the answer, of course, namely carrots. In 100 grams of carrots, there is a content of this vitamin as much as 16,706 IU. That is, you can meet their needs just by eating carrots every day.

Daily Needs

Reporting from the National Institutes of Health , the need for this vitamin for each person is actually different. This condition is adjusted to the age and activities of each person. The recommended intake of nutritionists for people over the age of 14 is between 700-900 micrograms.

Meanwhile, pregnant and lactating women need to meet the needs of vitamin A as much as 1,200-1,300 micrograms equivalent to retinol activity per day. Meanwhile, infants and children under the age of 14 need vitamin A lower than 700 micrograms.

Effects of Excess Vitamin A

Even though it has many functions and benefits, this vitamin can also be toxic if you consume it in high doses. Avoid taking this vitamin beyond the recommended daily requirement without first talking to your doctor.

Too much intake of this vitamin during pregnancy can also cause serious birth defects. Therefore, instead of taking this vitamin supplement, it is better for you to get it through the foods previously mentioned.

This vitamin is very important for many important processes in the body. You can use this compound to maintain healthy vision, ensure the normal function of organs and the immune system, and build normal growth and development of the baby in the womb.

Too little and too much of this vitamin can have a negative impact on health. Therefore, the best way to ensure a balance of needs is to consume foods rich in this vitamin as part of a healthy diet.