Carotenoids And Vitamin A-Do They Play The Same Way?

By rkutchjm on March 20, 2013

Made The Image Huge, It’s That Important In Our DIET

Both Vitamin A and carotenoids are fat-soluble and require fat for absorption into the body. Vitamin A has multiple names such as retinol, retinal and retinoic acid. Retinol is found in foods like liver, butter, whole milk, eggs and cheese. These foods are high in fat.

Retinal is from animal meats and also made by the body from plant-based carotenoids.

Retinoic acid is a prescription product that is used in dermatology. This Vitamin A derived-acid reboots skin cells bringing them back to normalcy. Physicians also use this product to reduce the effect aging has on your skin.

Each Color A Different Carotenoid

Carotenoids are preformed vitamin A foods that your body attains from plant sources. Some of the more popular foods containing carotene are carrots, leafy green vegetables, watermelon, cantaloupe and tomatoes. Anything with yellow-green or red-orange colors contain some type of carotenoid. These carotenoids are best absorbed with foods containing fats or made with oils.

An excess of Vitamin A through supplementation can cause severe side effects. They may include blurred vision, swelling of the breast tissue in men, severe bone pain and sexual dysfunction. The danger is significantly less with beta-carotene (provitamin A) supplementation. Many supplement companies have been replacing at least some of the Vitamin A with beta-carotene which reduces the risk of overdosing.

Conducts The Process

Vitamin A’s primary functions in the body are extensive. It is involved with embryonic cell differentiation and development. It resembles an orchestra leader telling what cells get to be a liver, lungs, heart, etc. With deficiencies of Vitamin A there are fetal abnormalities and possibly death.

Vitamin A has a significant role in vision that allows both sight at night and black/white visual acuity. A severe deficiency causes night blindness and prolonged unavailability of Vitamin A may lead to permanent blindness. Many millions of children go blind in third world countries due to a lack of Vitamin A in their diet. Much of this is called by famine and starvation.

Another important use of Vitamin A is regarding immunity and sufficient protection against infection. Vitamin A directs traffic in the intestinal tract and allows cells to production a lubrication of mucous that prevents bacteria and viruses from access into our bloodstream. Without this vitamin, the intestinal starts drying out and getting thick producing what is called “keratinzation” and the cracking of this skin. This allows bacteria to get through the cracks of the dry intestinal tract going into the blood called translocation. Another significant problem in third world countries where a loss of Vitamin A causes epidemics of measles.

Vitamin A is important for proper bone growth and development. It also plays a valuable role in formation of red blood cells. In addition, it is also response for both DNA and RNA production which are basic building blocks that make up our genes.

Vitamin A is the ultimate multitasker. Beta-carotene is the safest form of provitamin A. The body converts the beta-carotene as needed into Vitamin A. So if you require supplementation, this is the safest way to achieve sufficient Vitamin A aside from the diet.

It’s much better to obtain the vitamin from food because produce has so many other types of carotenoids besides just beta-carotene. There are more than 60 carotenoids that are available in a diet filled with fruits and vegetables. There are probably more potential nutritional riches yet to be discovered in the carotenoid world.

Carotenoids are protective substances that we need to welcome into our bodies every day. An apple plus loads of carotenoids a day will increase your chances of keeping the doctor away.