Vitamin A Rich Foods Video

Vitamin A is found in a number of animal products. The record holder for its content is liver (beef, pork, chicken). Vitamin A is rich in some types of oily fish, sea and river. It is also found in milk, butter, lactic acid products and chicken eggs.

A number of plant products contain a substance close to vitamin A – beta-carotene or “provitamin A”. Carrots are very rich in carotene. There is a lot of provitamin A in sweet red pepper, apricots, parsley, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, pumpkin, persimmon. Some berries are also rich in carotene: hawthorn, viburnum, mountain ash, rose hips. There are animal products (for example, milk), which simultaneously contain both vitamin A and provitamin A.

However, beta-carotene can be converted to vitamin A only in the presence of fats, vegetable or animal origin.

That is why salads of carrots, sweet peppers, tomatoes are recommended to be seasoned with vegetable oil or sour cream, and not with mayonnaise.

There is a lot of provitamin A in such an exotic product for Russians as sweet potato (sweet potato), and in the leaves of the well-known dandelion. Therefore, for example, in late spring and early summer, you can supplement your diet with a salad of young dandelion leaves seasoned with vinegar and vegetable oil. Foods such as red caviar, margarine, butter, melon, peaches are also rich in vitamin A.

According to doctors, the daily requirement of an adult for vitamin A ranges from 1,5 to 2,0 milligrams. Of this amount, about 1/3 should come in the form of vitamin A itself, and 2/3 – in the form of beta-carotene.

However, for large people, as well as when doing work associated with great physical exertion, significant nervous tension or increased eye fatigue, the daily dose of vitamin A should be increased. The same is necessary for a number of diseases of the digestive system, during pregnancy, as well as breastfeeding.

A characteristic feature of vitamin A is that it can be deposited in the liver “in reserve”. However, this requires that the body is not deficient in vitamin B4.

With a lack of this vitamin in the body, the human skin becomes dry, flaky, itching and redness often occur. Immunity decreases, and as a result, frequent diseases appear. A characteristic sign of vitamin A deficiency is the so-called “night blindness”, that is, very poor visibility in low light. In addition, visual acuity decreases. Hair becomes dull, brittle, begins to fall out due to the weakening of hair follicles.

However, an excess of vitamin A is also harmful. If there is too much of it in the body, pains in the head and legs may begin, digestion is upset, nausea occurs, often accompanied by vomiting, and appetite and immunity decrease. The person experiences increased drowsiness, a feeling of apathy, lethargy. A woman whose body is deficient in retinol may become infertile.

In women, excess vitamin A can also lead to menstrual irregularities.

Vitamin A is fat-soluble. In addition, it quite easily tolerates prolonged heat treatment, so when cooking or canning food, most of this vitamin is retained.

As already mentioned, carrots and a number of other vegetables, colored in red and yellow, are very rich in provitamin A. However, this rule is not always followed. There are times when the beta-carotene content of such vegetables is very low. The fact is that nitrates entering the soil during the decomposition of nitrogen fertilizers destroy provitamin A.

The content of vitamin A and provitamin A in milk can also fluctuate greatly, depending on the season and the conditions in which the cows are kept. If animals do not receive juicy green fodder in winter, these nutrients in milk become almost 4 times less than in summer.

Pro-vitamin A is best absorbed by the body if you drink freshly prepared juice (vegetable or fruit). After all, beta-carotene is found inside strong plant cells, the shell of which consists of cellulose. And the body does not digest it. When grinding the same products, part of the cell walls is destroyed. It is easy to understand that the stronger the grinding, the more beta-carotene can be absorbed. However, fresh juice should be consumed shortly after preparation, since provitamin A, when exposed to air, quickly begins to oxidize.

It should be noted that in order to replenish the daily dose of vitamin A, a person needs to eat several kilograms of carrots per day. If this is not possible, take retinol tablets.

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