Vitamin A – Eye’s right

I started this series of posts as I got into researching the vegan diet in more depth. The information below comes from a range of websites including: vegansociety.com, vegan.com, veganhealth.org, the UK NHS website, US NIH website, healthline.com, and a number of other seemingly credible looking websites. Please note however that I am neither a doctor, a dietician, nor a nutritionist so if you are experiencing any health issues, it is always best to seek proper advice from a qualified professional.

Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin that is most often associated with eye health. Early symptoms of vitamin A deficiency can include night blindness and other eye problems. This vitamin is also required for a healthy immune system and is essential for growth and development in children. Vitamin A deficiency is rare in developed countries, but common in developing countries.

Sources of Vitamin A

Vitamin A describes a group of compounds that include retinol, retinoic acid, retinal, and a number of provitamin A carotenoids such as beta-carotene. Vitamin A is found in both plant and animal food sources.

The form of vitamin A absorbed when animal sources are consumed is retinol. Retinol is found in meat and dairy products, and considered preformed as your body uses it directly.

Plant sources of Vitamin A include orange and yellow fruits and vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, apricots and mangoes. The orange/yellow pigment occurs due to the presence of provitamin A carotenoids such as beta-carotene. Other plant-based sources of provitamin A include green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale. Betacarotene is called a provitamin as it must be converted into Vitamin A in the body before it can be used.

Most people can adequately convert provitamin A compounds into useable Vitamin A adequately such that food sources of Vitamin A without supplements will be sufficient.

Recommended Amount of Vitamin A

The daily amount of Vitamin A required by adults is 0.7 – 0.9 mg for men and 0.6 – 0.7 mg for women. Any Vitamin A that is not required immediately is stored in body fat for future use.

Eating too much betacarotene may cause your skin to go yellow, an annoying but not fatal side effect. Taking too much preformed vitamin A (retinol), usually from high-dose supplements can make you very sick and even be fatal, so caution is advised with supplements. Another potential side effect of too much Vitamin A is that it affects your bones making fracture more likely in older age. For these reasons, it is recommended to talk to your doctor before considering Vitamin A supplements.

How do vegans get Vitamin A?

It is recommended that vegans make a point of eating two or more foods high in vitamin A each day. As noted above this includes all yellow/orange fruit and vegetables, and leafy greens. If you can do that there should be no need for supplements.

This reinforces the science behind the “rainbow” approach to diet planning mentioned in the Vegan Nutrition Unpacked post. Including a mix of different coloured foods in every meal will ensure you are getting a healthy variety of vitamins and nutrients in your diet and reduce the likelihood of health issues, or the need for supplements.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

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