Vitamin A

Vitamin A is certain group of compounds that play an important role that maintains eye vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division, cell differentiation, (when a cell becomes a part of the body in either mussels, brain, lungs, and other important cell tissue).  Vitamin A also helps maintain the immune system and fight off infectious diseases by producing white blood cells to fight off bacterial and viral infections.  Vitamin A also produces a special white blood cell called lymphocytes, which defends the body against altered or mutated cells.

Plant/Vegetable Sources of Vitamin A

Taking in the right amount of vitamin A is important to a health diet.  its important to get an adequate amount but not to little and not to much.  To little Vitamin A can lead to deficiency within the body this is described in the next section).  To much Vitamin A within a diet can lead to toxicity of the body leading to certain health problems later in life.  The condition caused by vitamin A toxicity is called hypervitaminosis A.  it is caused by over consumption of preformed vitamin A but not carotenoids.    

Vitamin A deficiency rarely occurs in the U.S.  Vitamin A deficiency problems occur in countries lacking nutrition and surplus food sources such as Africa.  Within the United States, vitamin A deficiency is most often associated with strict dietary restrictions and excess alcohol intake.  Excess alcohol consumption can deplete vitamin A, and a stressed liver may be more susceptible to vitamin A toxicity. Zinc deficiency is also linked to the problem of vitamin A deficiency.  Zinc is required to make a certain protein (retinol binding protein) that carries vitamin A to the body tissues and other vital organs in the human body.  Therefore, if a body deprived or lacks zinc, the body will also lack Vitamin A. deficiency can lead to problems such as loss of night vision, and loss of the ability to fight off infectious diseases. 

Who may need Vitamin A to prevent deficiency?

People with life threatening diseases, such as measles, and other serious diseases or disorders need to keep up a good supply of vitamin A in their bodies.  People that are also susceptible to catching deadly diseases such as the measles, malaria, etc. also might need to keep their supply of vitamin A.   This is essential to fight off other bacterial and viral infections that could possibly make his/her existing disease or abnormality worse.

Health risks of to much Vitamin A or Carotenoids

The only severe health risk of too much vitamin A is toxicity.  This arises when large amounts of vitamin A are consumed either through food rich in vitamin A, or from the result of taking excess vitamin A supplements taken in a short period of time.

Healthy diet of vitamin A

The best way to keep the level of vitamin A at its normal level is to maintain a balanced diet and to consume vitamins and minerals through food sources and not through supplement tablets.  The most important attribute of maintaining a healthy diet is to mix and match different types of foods each day.

The following information was gathered from:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002400.htm

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminA/

http://www.hoptechno.com/book29a.htm

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=106

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-Fact/5000/5551.html

http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/misc_topics/vitamina.html

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamina.asp

http://www.astaxanthin.org/carotenoids.htm

http://www.cheeleycare.com/content/vitamin_a.php#tooMuch

http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/diet.htm

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/habits.html

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamina.asp#h9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_A_deficiency

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/v/vitamin_a_deficiency/book-diseases-7a.htm

http://www.wdxcyber.com/ngen21.htm

http://www.childinfo.org/areas/vitamina/