Vitamin A is a vital fat-soluble vitamin present in a number of foods and is essential for normal vision, reproduction and the immune system. It is also helpful for kidneys, lungs, heart and other organs to function properly. However, this micronutrient is not produced by the human body.
Hence, individuals must obtain it from their diet. There are a number of vitamin A rich foods, including vegetables and fruits, which would help an individual gain an adequate amount of vitamin.
Vitamin A provides protection to the eyes from night blindness and decline related to age. It is necessary to convert light falling on one’s eyes to an electrical signal that can be sent to the brain.
Vitamin A helps to maintain a body’s natural defences. The white blood cells in the body help to capture and clear pathogens and bacteria from the bloodstream. This vitamin is involved in the functioning and production of these cells, thereby indicating that being deficient in this vitamin would increase an individual’s susceptibility to infections and will make it difficult to recover from sickness.
Due to the antioxidant properties, fruits and vegetables rich in carotenoids might provide protection against some specific type of cancer. In addition to this, as per test tube studies, retinoid might result in the inhibition of the growth of some specific cancerous cells like that of ovarian, breast and bladder cancer.
This vitamin is important for foetal and maternal health and for those individuals trying to conceive. Due to their role in the development of egg and sperm, vitamin A is considered essential for both female and male reproduction.
Now coming into the top vitamin A rich foods, one can opt to have the following:
- Beef liver
- Cod liver oil
- Black-eyed peas
- Pumpkin pie
- Tomato juice
- Herring
- Lamb’s liver
- Liver sausage
- Butter
- Salmon
- Milk
- Hard-boiled egg
- King mackerel
- Bluefin tuna
- Goat cheese
- Trout
- Cream cheese
- Caviar
- Roquefort cheese
- Blue cheese
If you are looking for vitamin A vegetables, consider having the following to get a good amount of this vital vitamin:
- Sweet potato
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Spinach
- Winter squash (cooked)
- Kale (cooked)
- Turnip greens (cooked)
- Parsley
- Sweet red pepper
- Romaine lettuce (raw)
- Collards (cooked)
- Swiss chard (raw)
- Peas
- Tomato
- Pumpkin
When it comes to the fruits that contain vitamin A, mango, papaya, guava, watermelon, cantaloupe, goji berries, tangerine, nectarine, peach, passion fruit, dried apricots, and red/pink grapefruit are some healthy options.
Vitamin A is a vital fat-soluble vitamin necessary for a number of body functions. To acquire the recommended daily intake, one must consume the best vitamin A rich foods. Nevertheless, one must keep in mind that there might be negative impacts on the body because of excessively high and low levels of this micronutrient.