Vitamin A is also known as retinol because it produces the pigment in the retina of the eye and promotes good vision even in low or dim light. Vitamin A helps build and maintain healthy skin, teeth, immune system, skeletal and soft tissue and mucous membranes. Vitamin A acts as an antioxidant. It also assists in cell rejuvenation, and thus prevents the fine lines and wrinkles on the skin.
Vitamin A is found in many foods high in saturated fats and cholesterol. And many people unknowingly avoid eating vitamin ‘A’ foods.
Sources of vitamin A include eggs, dark green and yellow fruits and vegetables, carrots, sweet potatoes, dairy products, meat, liver, kidney, cream and halibut fish oil.
Another form of vitamin A is called carotenoids. These are dark colored pigments found in plant foods which turn into a form of vitamin A. There are so many carotenoids and one such form is beta carotene. Food sources of Beta carotene have the ability to reduce the risk of cancer.
Vitamin A can produce the following signs of deficiency:
- Poor night vision or night blindness
- Dry, rough and cracked skin
- Decline in immunity: prone to respiratory infections
- Keratinisation of the nasal
- Defective teeth and gums
- Eye irritations
- Loss of smell
- Sleeplessness
- Nerve damage
- Kidney stones
Consumptions of vitamin A up to the recommended mark will overcome the problem of deficiency. Excess of vitamin A also should not be absorbed as it leads to cause birth defects and some chronic illness.