All about vitamins: vitamin A
Vitamin A, i.e., retinol is a fat-soluble vitamin that dissolves in fat. It plays a crucial role first and foremost in the development and growth of cells.
Vitamin A can be found in products of animal origin: mostly in sea fish, liver, different dairy products and egg yolk. As regards crop products, carrot, spinach, margarine and peach are very rich in vitamin A.
Vitamin A plays a crucial role in ensuring the proper functions of the immune system and also indispensable for sight and the activity of the mucous membranes and for maintaining healthy skin. Carotenes are also significant anti-oxidants.
If your body does not get enough vitamin A, first your sight deteriorates - in many cases, vitamin A deficiency is responsible for night-blindness, too. Also, if there is not enough of this vitamin, external epidermis can be damaged, and keratodermia and cracked skin may appear. Frequent nose bleeding might also have a connection to vitamin A deficiency.
Like all other vitamins, vitamin A can have detrimental side effects in case of overdose: This can lead to loss of appetite or problems of bone structure, or in extreme cases, brain and liver damages. In the case of mothers-to-be, the chance of fetal damage and also miscarriage increases. Overdosing carotene can have harmless side effects concerning the yellowish coloring of the skin.
Needed daily vitamin A intake
For children:
| up to six months: | 420 µgs |
| from six moths to age 1: | 400 µgs |
| between ages 1-3: | 400 µgs |
| ages 4-6: | 500 µgs |
| ages 7 - 10: | 700 µgs |
For women:
| ages 11 - 14: | 800 µgs |
| ages 15 - 18: | 800 µgs |
| for adults: | 800 µgs |
| during pregnancy: | 1000 µgs |
| during breast feeding: | 1300 µgs |
For men:
| ages 11 -14: | 1000 µgs |
| ages 15 - 18: | 1000 µgs |
| for adults: | 1000 µgs |