Vitamin A is an important vitamin. It is also known as retinol. You need Vitamin A for your eyes, especially for being able to see at night. It is also important for your immune system and for your skin. You can only get it from food and drink or Vitamin A supplements.
Immunity
Vitamin A enhances the body’s immunity against infections by increasing the lymphocytic responses against disease-causing antigens. It keeps the mucous membranes moist to ensure better immunity and also enhances the activity of white blood cells.
Vision
Vitamin A can aid in improving vision. It enables your eyes to adjust to light changes, keeps them moist, and also improves night vision. It can prevent many conditions like dry eyes and night blindness by increasing the adaptability of the human eye to both bright light and darkness. It can also significantly cut down the risk of cataract and macular degeneration, which is commonly associated with ageing.
Skin
Vitamin A helps keep the skin soft and supple by ensuring moisture retention, thereby preventing dryness, keratinization, and skin conditions like psoriasis.
Sources of Vitamin A include:
Liver or liver pate
Butter
Cheese
Whole milk
Yoghurt
Egg yolk
Oily fish
Leafy green vegetables
Orange, red and yellow vegetables
Some vegetable oils
You can get Vitamin A deficiency if you can’t absorb it from your food, such as if you:
Drink a lot of alcohol
Have conditions like anorexia nervosa, liver disease, cystic fibrosis or coeliac disease
Have recently had gastrointestinal surgery
Vitamin A deficiency is usually diagnosed following a blood test.
The recommended daily amount of Vitamin A from all sources is 700mcg retinol equivalents for women and 900mcg retinol equivalents for men.
To buy Vitamin A in supplemental form, you can choose from Vitamin A capsules, cod liver oil or in combination with other vitamins, minerals, or herbs.