Vitamins are the organic substances (or molecules) which are very much essential for our body to grow. Vitamins contain vital micronutrients our body needs for the growth and also should be in the proper amount. Vitamins help to grow metabolism in our body. There are 13 vitamins which are necessary for our body, these are Vitamin A, Vitamin , Vitamin , Vitamin , Vitamin , Vitamin , Vitamin , Vitamin , Vitamin , Vitamins C, D, E, and K.
Vitamin A
Today we will study in this article about Vitamin A and Top Vitamin A Foods which are necessary for our body to grow. To be healthy our body needs many nutrients like, vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, proteins, and fats. It is always better to consume good quality of diet, preferably organic, to get all these nutrients in sufficient quantity in our body.
Let us know about what is Vitamin A so, “Vitamin A is the organic nutritional compounds which are not saturated”. These compounds contain several provitamin A beta-carotene, and retinol, retinoic acid. The word vitamin is the synonym for provitamin.
Foods Enriched With Vitamin A
Vitamin A contains the compounds which are fat solvent and are stored in the liver. We can find the two types of Vitamin A in the foods, which are classified as :
- Vitamin A, which is preformed and is found in meat, fish, poultry, and dairy products, like milk.
- The plant-based foods like, fruits and vegetables. It is known as Provitamin A, mostly it’s beta-carotene.
If you are taking a sufficient amount of intake of Vitamin A contained foods, then you will not be infected with the diseases such as skin problems, irritation in eyes, night blindness, hair loss, and also increases your immunity to any viral diseases.
There are recommended dietary plans from RAD (Recommended Dietary Allowances), which is as shown in the below table :
| Life Stage Group | U. S. RDAs (µg/day) | Upper Limits (UL) (µg/day) | |
| Infants | 0-6 Months | 400 (AI) | 500 (AI) |
| 7-12 Months | 600 | 600 | |
| Children’s | 1-3 Years | 300 | 600 |
| 4-8 Years | 400 | 900 | |
| Males | 9-13 Years | 600 | 1700 |
| 14-18 Years | 900 | 2800 | |
| > 19 Years | 900 | 3000 | |
| Females | 9-13 Years | 600 | 1700 |
| 14-18 Years | 700 | 2800 | |
| > 19 Years | 700 | 3000 | |
| Pregnancy | < 19 Years | 750 | 2800 |
| > 19 Years | 770 | 3000 | |
| Lactation | < 19 Years | 1200 | 2800 |
| > 19 Years | 1300 | 3000 | |
The foods which contain the Vitamin in them are given in the below table :
| Source | Retinol Activity Equivalences (RAEs) µg/100g | Percentage of adult male RDA per 100g |
| Cod liver oil | 30000 | 3333% |
| Turkey liver | 8058 | 895% |
| Beef, pork, fish liver | 6500 | 722% |
| Chicken liver | 3296 | 366% |
| Ghee | 3069 | 344% |
| Sweet potato | 961 | 107% |
| Carrot | 835 | 93% |
| Leaves of broccoli | 800 | 89% |
| Butter | 684 | 76% |
| Kale | 681 | 76% |
| Frozen collared greens | 575 | 64% |
| Butternut squash | 532 | 67% |
| Dandelion greens | 508 | 56% |
| Spinach | 469 | 52% |
| Pumpkin | 426 | 43% |
| Collard greens | 333 | 37% |
| Cheese cheddar | 265 | 29% |
| Cantaloupe melon | 169 | 19% |
| Red Capsicum or Bell Peper | 157 | 17% |
| Egg | 140 | 16% |
| Apricot | 96 | 11% |
| Papaya | 55 | 6% |
| Tomatoes | 42 | 5% |
| Mangoes | 38 | 4% |
| Pea | 38 | 4% |
| Florets | 31 | 3% |
| Milk | 28 | 3% |
| Green capsicum | 18 | 2% |
| Spirulina | 3 | 0.3% |
Organic Vegetables High in Provitamin A
It is found that our body can create vitamin A from the carotenoids which are found in plants, fruits, and vegetables. These are formed by the collection of alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, which is known as Provitamin A.
Here is the list of the organic foods which are high with provitamin A
- The cooked sweet potato contains 204% DV/serving.
- Cooked winter squash contains 127% DV/serving.
- Cooked kale contains 98% DV/serving.
- Cooked collards contains 80% DV/serving.
- Cooked green turnip contains 61% DV/serving.
- Cooked carrot contains 44% DV/serving.
- Raw red pepper contains 29% DV/serving.
- Raw Swiss chard contains 16% DV/serving.
- Raw spinach contains 16% DV/serving.
- Raw lettuce contains 14% DV/serving.
Metabolic Functions of Vitamin A
The important functions of Vitamin A are as follows :
- Vision – the consumption of Vitamin A contained food helps to improve the eyesight.
- The retinoic acid form of Vitamin A, is very important in the arrangement of the genes of the body.
- Vitamin A helps to build a good immune system. It helps building T cells.
- It helps to avoid infectious diseases of the skin.
Conclusion
In this article we have tried to give you information about the importance of Vitamin A in our body and also the top foods which are highly enriched with Vitamin A and Provitamin A. Consumption of these foods in our daily diet can help users to be healthy with good immune system.