A key part to good health is your ABCs. We’re talking about a different kind of alphabet than the kind you put on paper: vitamins. Vitamins like A, C, and the B complexes play major roles in keeping our bodies in fine working condition. When it comes to your vision and immune health, vitamin A is the MVP. Do you get enough vitamin A in your diet? What has a lot of it? And what does it do, exactly?
What Is Vitamin A?
Vitamin A is an essential nutrient that supports us by bolstering our vision, cell function, and overall growth. Vitamin A is also known as retinol or retinoic acid. It can often be found in foods as beta-carotene, an antioxidant that our bodies convert into vitamin A when we digest them. Vitamin A itself possesses antioxidant properties, which is why retinol is often used in beauty products for its anti-aging properties.
Foods Rich in Vitamin A
Some nutrients like omega-3 can be hard to get enough of in your diet unless you specifically eat foods rich in those substances. This isn’t the case with vitamin A: it’s present in varying amounts across a wide range of fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and fish. Make sure you have a few of these staples in your diet and you’ll be well on your way to covering your vitamin A bases.
- Carrots
- Butter
- Kale
- Organ meats
- Cheddar cheese
- Swiss chard
- Collard greens
- Whole milk
- Salmon
- Goat cheese
- Mango
- Cream cheese
- Watermelon
- Eggs
- Trout
- Cantaloupe
Fortifies Vision
One of the biggest benefits of vitamin A is that it helps preserve our eyesight. Vitamin A maintains a healthy retina and keeps the cornea moist, which can help prevent night blindness and macular degeneration. Night blindness itself can be a useful indicator that you’re not getting enough vitamin A: it’s one of the first symptoms of vitamin A deficiency. The vitamin also plays a vital role in how our bodies convert light that hits our eyes into electrical signals that go to the brain and relay information about what we’re seeing.
Reduces Risk for Certain Cancers
Studies have shown that people who eat a diet high in vitamin A display lower their risk of cancer. This lowered risk applies to certain kinds of cancer: pancreas, ovaries, and the esophagus.
Teeth and Bone Health
Vitamin A can help strengthen and fortify our bodies. It does this by helping maintain our skeletal structure by promoting bone growth and formation. It has a similar beneficial effect on our teeth, spurring on the formation of enamel and cellular growth in oral tissue while also increasing saliva production (which helps fight tooth decay).
Boosts Immune System
Vitamin A is an essential part of our immune health. The vitamin helps our bodies form immune cells like neutrophils and macrophages that allow us to fight off illnesses. It promotes the production of antibodies for pneumonia and can reduce inflammation. Vitamin A also helps maintain our mucosal barrier, which shields our body from invasive bacteria, viruses, and other organisms that can cause sickness. Vitamin A can also reduce the severity of illnesses that include measles, diarrhea, and hand, foot, and mouth disease.
Article by Austin Brietta
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