Vitamin A (a.k.a. retinol, retinal, retinoic acid):
So what’s up with this vitamin, doc? Though known as being good for vision, vitamin A has many other vital tasks:
- It encourages red and white blood cell production and activity
- keeps the immune system fit and blood vessels healthy
- helps rebuild bone
- regulates cell growth and division,
- may reduce the risk for some cancers
Retinoids, variations of Vitamin A, are also used in medications to treat various skin diseases and acne .
Vitamin A deficiency also plays a role in diarrhea and increased susceptibility to infectious diseases in developing countries. So make like Bugs Bunny and crunch on some carrots for high doses of beta-carotene, which is readily converted to vitamin A once digested.
What You Need:
- Men = 900 mcg
- Women = 700 mcg
How to Get It:
- Consider kale (443 mcg per ½ cup)
- eggs (91 mcg per large egg)
- cod liver oil — ymmmm (1,350 mcg per teaspoon)
And think orange:
- consider carrots (538 mcg per ½ cup) baked sweet
- potatoes (961 mcg per ½ cup)
- canned pumpkin (953 mcg per ½ cup)
- cantaloupe (467 mcg per ½ a melon)
- mango (79 mcg per fruit)
- butternut squash (572 mcg per ½ cup)
What’s Too Much:
- 3,000 mcg
