USANA Essential Tips

Vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamins, is a pale yellow primary alcohol that came from carotene that usually affects the maintenance and formation of the skin, bones, teeth and mucous membrane as well as vision and reproduction.

Also called retinol and it is popularly known for helping the eyes adjust to light changes. This vitamin is mostly sourced from animal foods such as liver, fish liver oil, milk and other milk products, eggs and butter. It is important that Vitamin A be obtained from the diet rather than from the supplements because Vitamin A acquired from a varied diet provides the optimum potential of heath benefits that supplements cannot.

Vitamin A can be found in various dark green and deep orange fruits and vegetables including carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, bok choy, turnip greens, mustard greens and romaine lettuce. Liver is a very rich source of Vitamin A, it is chiefly stocked in the liver of animals and humans. There are small amounts of this vitamin in most human tissues, this kind of Vitamin A is found in chemical forms dubbed as retinoids.

The rest of the Vitamin A in the human and animal bodies is produced in the intestines from the beta-carotene and other carotenoids abundant in many vegetables and fruits. Beta-carotene is the most active carotenoid but it is inefficiently sucked up and transformed to retinol compared to the Vitamin A that comes from animal sources. Top sources of beta-carotene include carrots, pumpkins, broccoli, apricots, spinach and collard greens, sweet potato and cantaloupe.