Vitamin A

Vitamin A – an important part of your diet

A fat-soluble vitamin that comes in two forms – preformed and provitamin, Vitamin A is one of the hardest on the list for people to include in their diet. Multivitamin capsules usually contain a decent amount of vitamin A, but if you are struggling with a certain condition which requires of you to up your intake, there are dedicated vitamin A supplements to consider.

The list above includes supplementation from some of the widely-recognized brands such as Now Foods, GNC, Nature Made, Solaray, Bronson, Puritan’s Pride, Beyond Health, Nutrina, and Spring Valey, and you can find capsules, creams and gels that can help you meet your daily recommended intake.

What can Vitamin A protect against?

Vitamin A is being often associated with healthy vision, and it is easy to see why. Meeting your daily intake can prevent from age related macular degeneration, which is to say the loss of central vision as you grow old. Most supplements prescribed for this condition would contain beta-carotene which is a form of vitamin A (provitamin form), as well as antioxidants, copper and zinc.

It can also protect against certain types of cancer, and reduce the suffering inflicted by measles in young children.

How about taking too much Vitamin A?

If you go too far with Vitamin A supplementation and surpass your daily recommended intake for many days in a row, certain conditions might occur, such as nausea, headaches and dizziness. In some cases of overdosing, it might lead to a coma or even death. If you don’t need supplementation, or wasn’t prescribed one by your doctor, perhaps remain satisfied with a single multivitamin per day, as it contains some of the daily recommended intake, if not the full amount.

How much vitamin A should I take?

While the upper limits for beta-carotene and other forms of provitamin A are still not established, the table below should give you a good estimate on how much should you take per day. Make sure, however, to consider your diet as well.

• Birth to 12 months of age – 2000 IU
• Children between 1 and 3 years – 2000 IU
• Children between 2 and 8 years – 3000 IU
• Children between 9 and 13 years – 5667 IU
• Teenagers between 14 and 18 years – 9333 IU
• Adults of 19 years and older – 10000 IU

These limits don’t apply if you are taking vitamin A for a certain condition, prescribed by, and under supervision of a doctor.