Tell me about...
Vitamin A
Why do we
need vitamin A?
Vitamin A is part of a group of compounds known as retinoids.
Vitamin A promotes good eyesight and helps keep the skin and
mucous membranes resistant to infection. Vitamin A also enhances
immunity, enabling the body to defend against colds, influenza,
many infections, and certain cancers, and prevents certain
skin disorders.
What are
some good sources of vitamin A?
Vitamin A can be found in a number of common foods, including
fish liver oils, egg yolks, butter and cream, and dark green
and yellow fruits and vegetables (especially carrots, asparagus,
apricots, spinach, yellow squash, and sweet potatoes).
What can
happen if we don't get enough vitamin A?
Night blindness, dry hair and skin, insomnia, fatigue, frequent
colds and other respiratory infections, skin disorders (such
as acne) and weight loss have been attributed to vitamin A
deficiencies. Children are most at risk of vitamin A deficiency
because they have not yet developed adequate vitamin A stores.
Other Resources :
The
More You Know About Vitamins
The
More You Know About Nutrition
References
• Ross CA. Vitamin
A and retinoids. In: Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease,
9th ed.,1999: pp305-328. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD.
• Balch JF, Balch PA. Prescription for Nutritional Healing,
2nd ed., 1997: Avery Publishing Group, New York.
• Tyson JE, Wright LL, Oh W, et al. Vitamin A supplementation for
extremely-low-birth-weight infants. New England Journal
of Medicine 1999:340, pp1962-68.
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