Vitamin A and Your Eyesight. The benefits of Vitamin A is good for your eyes in 3 major ways: helps prevent night blindness, prevents cataracts (like Vitamin C) and helps to preserve eyesight. Let’s go over how Vitamin A & beta carotene benefits each one...
For Night Blindness... your retinas are light-sensitive cells that have a large amount of Vitamin A stored in it. And within your retinas you have a thing called rods and cones. Rods and cones allow you to see black & white and colors, respectively. The rods are specifically used for night vision.
Without getting too scientific, rods use the combination of a special protein called opsin and a specific form of Vitamin A (called retinal) in order to function properly. Without the Vitamin A portion... the rods would not work properly and you won’t be able to see that well in dark or in dim lighting. This is especially true as you get older.
The next one is about Cataracts. Cataracts form when the lens of the eye becomes cloudy... making it very difficult to see. Cataracts used to be one of the leading causes of blindness.
But a better way to prevent this from happening (and avoiding the surgery to fix it) is having a diet rich in carotenoids... especially beta carotene.
The antioxidant power of beta carotene wipes out the free radicals before they damage the lens.
Vitamin C is also helpful in preventing cataracts. So combining these 2 will definitely help to prevent cataracts.
And lastly is helping to preserve your eyesight. As you grow older there is a thing called Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) which causes some vision loss. AMD is one of the leading causes of blindness in people older than 65. And about 31% of Americans 75 and older has it.
One study suggests that eating just one serving of a food high in Vitamin A or beta carotene can reduce the chances of AMD by almost half! A few other carotenoids (i.e. Lutein and zeaxanthin) are also helpful in preserving your eyesight as you get older.
So if you like your eyes and want to keep them healthy for a long time... it’s best to include Vitamin A and beta carotene in your diet. Getting at least 10,000 to 15,000IU per day.
Vitamin A, Cancer & Your Heart So this may be a touchy/difficult subject to discuss... but let’s do it anyway! So far there’s strong evidence that shows that the benefits of Vitamin A and beta carotene (mostly beta carotene) can decrease your chances of certain cancers, heart disease & stroke.
Before we talk about cancer, something interesting you should know. If you’re a smoker, do not take Vitamin A or beta carotene supplements. Studies have shown that taking these supplements can actually increase your chance of getting lung cancer. Studies are still being done but stay away from Vitamin A. Taking Vitamin C is a better solution for smokers (and so is quitting smoking!!)
But other studies show a diet that includes whole food or supplemental Vitamin A and beta carotene can help prevent the chances of colorectal and prostate cancer. And may even fight off breast cancer but more studies are being done on this one.
As far as your heart is concerned... one major study involving female nurses shows the ones who got their beta carotene from foods had about 20% fewer heart attacks than those who didn’t. The nurses got their beta carotene from foods, not supplements. The verdict is still out on beta carotene supplements & heart health.
But I will say taking some form of Vitamin A and beta carotene supplement is much better than taking nothing at all.
Anything Else? Yes! Here are a few other lesser-known benefits of Vitamin A worth knowing.
Vitamin A helps in the creation of important proteins used throughout your body. This is important because your muscles are made from proteins and proteins also affect your genes.
Speaking of proteins, Vitamin A benefits pregnant & nursing mothers. The retinoic acid form aids in protein and growth hormone development for the developing fetus. They also help in forming the heart, eyes, limbs and ears.
Warning: Excess vitamin A during pregnancy is a big no-no. Talk to your doctor first before you decide on supplementing with Vitamin A.
They also aid in red blood cell formation and help to transport iron to your blood cells. This translates to more oxygen and oxygen is very beneficial for your body.
It also may help you in preventing Type 2 diabetes.
Now that we talked about all those benefits let’s go over how much you need per day.
How Much Vitamin A Do You Need? To get the full benefits of Vitamin A, get at least 10,000 to 15,000IU per day. And it’s good to get both the preformed version (which comes from animal sources such as eggs, liver, poultry & dairy) and from carotenes (these come from plant sources).
This may seem like a lot but it really isn’t.
1 large egg has around 320IU of preformed Vitamin A while 1 medium carrot has about 8,000IU of beta carotene.
I definitely recommend food sources of Vitamin A... leaning more towards getting them from plant sources.
And if you decide on taking a Vitamin A supplement then be aware that one with mixed carotenoids is best. But most of the supplements (especially multi-vitamins) come in a mixed form of retinyl palmitate or acetate & beta carotene. This works as well.But the important thing is getting at least 10,000 to 15,000IU per day to get the full benefits of Vitamin A.
The benefits of plants and fruits for health and beauty | Plants for health benefits | benefits of fruits for beauty | Traditional medicine | herbs | spices | herbs | vitamins source | source of fiber | and mineral supplements.
For Night Blindness... your retinas are light-sensitive cells that have a large amount of Vitamin A stored in it. And within your retinas you have a thing called rods and cones. Rods and cones allow you to see black & white and colors, respectively. The rods are specifically used for night vision.
Without getting too scientific, rods use the combination of a special protein called opsin and a specific form of Vitamin A (called retinal) in order to function properly. Without the Vitamin A portion... the rods would not work properly and you won’t be able to see that well in dark or in dim lighting. This is especially true as you get older.
The next one is about Cataracts. Cataracts form when the lens of the eye becomes cloudy... making it very difficult to see. Cataracts used to be one of the leading causes of blindness.
But a better way to prevent this from happening (and avoiding the surgery to fix it) is having a diet rich in carotenoids... especially beta carotene.
The antioxidant power of beta carotene wipes out the free radicals before they damage the lens.
Vitamin C is also helpful in preventing cataracts. So combining these 2 will definitely help to prevent cataracts.
And lastly is helping to preserve your eyesight. As you grow older there is a thing called Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) which causes some vision loss. AMD is one of the leading causes of blindness in people older than 65. And about 31% of Americans 75 and older has it.
One study suggests that eating just one serving of a food high in Vitamin A or beta carotene can reduce the chances of AMD by almost half! A few other carotenoids (i.e. Lutein and zeaxanthin) are also helpful in preserving your eyesight as you get older.
So if you like your eyes and want to keep them healthy for a long time... it’s best to include Vitamin A and beta carotene in your diet. Getting at least 10,000 to 15,000IU per day.
Vitamin A, Cancer & Your Heart So this may be a touchy/difficult subject to discuss... but let’s do it anyway! So far there’s strong evidence that shows that the benefits of Vitamin A and beta carotene (mostly beta carotene) can decrease your chances of certain cancers, heart disease & stroke.
Before we talk about cancer, something interesting you should know. If you’re a smoker, do not take Vitamin A or beta carotene supplements. Studies have shown that taking these supplements can actually increase your chance of getting lung cancer. Studies are still being done but stay away from Vitamin A. Taking Vitamin C is a better solution for smokers (and so is quitting smoking!!)
But other studies show a diet that includes whole food or supplemental Vitamin A and beta carotene can help prevent the chances of colorectal and prostate cancer. And may even fight off breast cancer but more studies are being done on this one.
As far as your heart is concerned... one major study involving female nurses shows the ones who got their beta carotene from foods had about 20% fewer heart attacks than those who didn’t. The nurses got their beta carotene from foods, not supplements. The verdict is still out on beta carotene supplements & heart health.
But I will say taking some form of Vitamin A and beta carotene supplement is much better than taking nothing at all.
Anything Else? Yes! Here are a few other lesser-known benefits of Vitamin A worth knowing.
Vitamin A helps in the creation of important proteins used throughout your body. This is important because your muscles are made from proteins and proteins also affect your genes.
Speaking of proteins, Vitamin A benefits pregnant & nursing mothers. The retinoic acid form aids in protein and growth hormone development for the developing fetus. They also help in forming the heart, eyes, limbs and ears.
Warning: Excess vitamin A during pregnancy is a big no-no. Talk to your doctor first before you decide on supplementing with Vitamin A.
They also aid in red blood cell formation and help to transport iron to your blood cells. This translates to more oxygen and oxygen is very beneficial for your body.
It also may help you in preventing Type 2 diabetes.
Now that we talked about all those benefits let’s go over how much you need per day.
How Much Vitamin A Do You Need? To get the full benefits of Vitamin A, get at least 10,000 to 15,000IU per day. And it’s good to get both the preformed version (which comes from animal sources such as eggs, liver, poultry & dairy) and from carotenes (these come from plant sources).
This may seem like a lot but it really isn’t.
1 large egg has around 320IU of preformed Vitamin A while 1 medium carrot has about 8,000IU of beta carotene.
I definitely recommend food sources of Vitamin A... leaning more towards getting them from plant sources.
And if you decide on taking a Vitamin A supplement then be aware that one with mixed carotenoids is best. But most of the supplements (especially multi-vitamins) come in a mixed form of retinyl palmitate or acetate & beta carotene. This works as well.But the important thing is getting at least 10,000 to 15,000IU per day to get the full benefits of Vitamin A.
The benefits of plants and fruits for health and beauty | Plants for health benefits | benefits of fruits for beauty | Traditional medicine | herbs | spices | herbs | vitamins source | source of fiber | and mineral supplements.
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