Vision, Red Blood Cells, Immunity & Thyroid depend on Vitamin A.
Hi, Dr. Jim here talking with you today about an important vitamin – vitamin A. Vitamin A is really necessary for visual function, it is important for red blood cell formation, thyroid function and maybe most critically, it’s important for immunity.
Persons with vitamin A deficiency may have visual disturbances, they may have anemia, they may develop difficulty with metabolic processes and metabolic function. But most of all they may be susceptible or vulnerable to infection.
Foods like kale, carrots, mangoes, grapefruit, some seafoods and beef liver are rich in vitamin A. The RDA or recommended daily allowance for vitamin A is 900 µg or 5000 international units daily. Supplements generally contain 2500 to 5000 international units.
And it’s important to know that as a fat soluble vitamin, vitamin A can be toxic – you can take too much of it. The tolerable upper limit is 3000 µg or 10,000 international units a day. So take care with the foods you eat plus supplementing, so you don’t consume too much vitamin A. For example, a single serving of beef liver may contain more than 10,000 international units!
This is Dr. Jim for Be Healthy! Be Happy! Power your path to happiness. Subscribe to Be Healthy! Be Happy! with Dr. Jim on YouTube and stay tuned for my next segment on vitamin B6.
Reference: Linus Pauling Institute Oregon State University. Available at: https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-A