Video Discription |
Vitamin A: Benefits, Deficiency, Toxicity and More
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble nutrient that plays a vital role in your body.
It exists naturally in the foods you eat and can also be consumed through supplements.
This article discusses vitamin A, including its benefits, food sources, as well as effects of deficiency and toxicity.
What Is Vitamin A?
Though vitamin A is often considered a singular nutrient, it’s really the name for a group of fat-soluble compounds, including retinol, retinal, and retinyl esters
There are two forms of vitamin A found in food.
Preformed vitamin A — retinol and retinyl esters — occurs exclusively in animal products, such as dairy, liver, and fish, while provitamin A carotenoids are abundant in plant foods like fruits, vegetables, and oils
To use them, your body must convert both forms of vitamin A to retinal and retinoic acid, the active forms of the vitamin.
Because vitamin A is fat-soluble, it’s stored in body tissue for later use.
Most of the vitamin A in your body is kept in your liver in the form of retinyl esters
These esters are then broken down into all-trans-retinol, which binds to retinol-binding protein (RBP). It then enters your bloodstream, at which point your body can use it
SUMMARY
Vitamin A is the generic term for a group of fat-soluble compounds found in both animal and plant foods.
Functions in Your Body
Vitamin A is essential for your health, supporting cell growth, immune function, fetal development, and vision.
Perhaps one of the best-known functions of vitamin A is its role in vision and eye health.
Retinal, the active form of vitamin A, combines with the protein opsin to form rhodopsin, a molecule necessary for color vision and low-light vision
It also helps protect and maintain the cornea — the outermost layer of your eye — and the conjunctiva — a thin membrane that covers the surface of your eye and inside of your eyelids
Additionally, vitamin A helps maintain surface tissues such as your skin, intestines, lungs, bladder, and inner ear.
It supports immune function by supporting the growth and distribution of T-cells, a type of white blood cell that protects your body from infection (7Trusted Source).
What’s more, vitamin A supports healthy skin cells, male and female reproduction, and fetal development C0WXE-otKuc |