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Vitamin A
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘥𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯 𝘈 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭.
Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin with a half-life of 75 days in the body. In dietary supplements, Vitamin A often comes in the form of: 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 which are 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 and also exist in animal products; and 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐀 and exists in plant based foods. you can also get a mixture of both in supplement form. 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞 can be obtained from foods rich in carotenoids which are often colorful fruits and vegetables. Consumption of five servings of fruits and vegetables per day could provide 5.2 to 6 mg/day of provitamin A carotenoids (Lachance, 1997), which would contribute approximately 50 to 65 percent of the men's RDA for vitamin A.
𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲: vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division and differentiation, immune system regulation, healing of the respiratory tract and its development, and gene transcription. 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 is rare however 35% of Canadians over 19 years of age have inadequate intakes. Some symptoms include: 𝐝𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬; 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 (𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤), 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦, 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐧𝐞. A number of factors can influence the requirement for vitamin A, including iron status, the presence and 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐭, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐀 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐀 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐀 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 (𝐀𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐳 𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥., 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟓; 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥., 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟒). 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐀 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬.
𝐃𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞:
𝐋𝐚𝐛: Serum retinol 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤: individuals from developing countries, people with crohn’s disease, celiac disease, pancreatic diseases. 𝐓𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬: 10,000 units a day daily can cause liver toxicity, birth defects, nausea, vomiting, altered mental status, abdominal pain, blurred vision, headache, muscle pain, weakness, increase in fracture risk, and can cause toxicity in alcoholics. Toxicity does not have to present symptoms.
For more information on vitamin A and other health benefits check out the following:
𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬: • Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium, and Zinc. Institute of Medicine (US) Panel on Micronutrients. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2001. • Compendium of Therapeutic Choices. Canadian Pharmacists Association; P.2014; 2018.