What does vitamin A do
Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin that occurs in several chemical forms. For humans, it is important at all stages of life and is available in many different food sources . Although it is readily available there are still many people in poorer countries that suffer from deficiency of this vitamin. Because it is fat soluble it is one of the few vitamins that cause health problems in large doses. But, what does Vitamin A do and what is it good for? This article will answer this question and take a look at the food sources high in this important vitamin.
What does Vitamin A do?
Vitamin A is a very important vitamin for the normal functioning of many of our bodies processes. It is well known for it’s role in vision, but it has many other uses as well. The following processes require vitamin A:
- Vision (Vitamin A is required to produce the light-absorbing molecule retinal in the retina of the eye)
- Gene transcription (Copying of your DNA)
- General immune system function
- Development of embryo and reproduction systems
- Bone metabolism (also called bone remodelling where old bone is replaced by new healthy bone)
- Formation of the components of blood
- Healthy skin
- Antioxidant Activity
Which foods are high in vitamin A?
Vitamin A is found in many common food sources including; carrot, broccoli, sweet potato, butter, spinach, pumpkin, egg, apricot, paw paw, beetroot, peas, oatmeal, apples, peaches and even milk. The highest food based source of Vitamin A is animal liver, which may contain up to 730% of the recommended dietary intake of this vitamin!