Benefits of Vitamin A - Find Out How You Can Achieve All Vitamin A Benefits Through Proper Supplementation!

What are the benefits of vitamin A? What are its recommended daily allowance (RDA) and precautions on intake to prevent toxicity? Is supplementation required and how to choose the right supplement? Find the answers here.

Vitamin A can be classified as a fat soluble vitamin. It is stored in our liver and our body obtains it through ingesting animal fats.

Our intestines can also manufacture vitamin A from beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is a carotenoid that is found in vegetables such as carrots.

Benefits of Vitamin A

To begin with, vitamin A is an excellent and a powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants have the capability to neutralize the free radicals in our body. Free radicals are highly reactive chemical substances present in our body that cause cellular damage, diseases and premature aging.

Among the other vitamin A benefits is its role in maintaining sharp and healthy vision. It also helps to --

• Ward off night blindness
• maintain skin health
• helps in skin diseases such as psoriasis
• boost the immune system
• helps in the healing of wounds

It is also used in a derivative form (prescription Retin-A) for the treatment of wrinkles and acne.

Studies show that vitamin A plays a beneficial role in diabetes. It helps the hormone insulin in regulating the levels of blood sugar.

Vitamin A Precautions

Even though vitamin A is absolutely crucial for optimal health, it is also potentially toxic if taken in large dosages. The liver is especially high in vitamin A because all its reserves are stored in it.

Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for Vitamin A

The RDA for vitamin A is currently set at:

• For men -- 5000 IU
• For women -- 4000 IU

IU = international units

Vitamin A Toxicity

Some symptoms of vitamin A toxicity can show up as:

• easily cracking dry skin
• hair loss
• brittle and soft nails
• nausea
• fatigue

Our Opinion on Vitamin A Supplementation

Vitamin A holds a special place in our health due to its importance.

Elderly people often have poor dietary intake, so they suffer from vitamin A deficiency. Besides that, the average Western diet is overloaded with refined grains, processed foods and sugary snacks, which are all poor sources of vitamin A.

In addition to the above, studies also show that the modern agriculture and farming practices have significantly diminished the nutritional value of even the most healthy foods -- this makes the use of dietary supplements even more important.

We are of the opinion that vitamin E supplementation should be considered seriously, but we don't suggest exceeding the RDA limits due to the risk of potential toxicity.

Only if you have consulted your physician and want to achieve the therapeutic benefits of vitamin A to treat any particular health condition, should you consider taking more vitamin A than the specified RDA.

Tips on Choosing the Best Vitamin A Supplement

1) Vitamin A works in excellent synergy along with vitamin E. Our recommendation is that you should take both of them together for maximum benefits.

2) Our body converts beta carotene into vitamin A when there is a requirement for it. Thus, beta carotene does not induce toxicity.

There are also some differences between vitamin A and beta carotene. So, you should include both of them in your regular diet. In our opinion, you should choose a supplement which contains both beta carotene and vitamin A.

3) The nutritional supplements industry in the US is largely unregulated. In research conducted by both government and private parties, it has been concluded that -- you as a consumer, have only a 20% chance of actually purchasing a product that contains exactly the amount of ingredients as stated on the product label!

Therefore, you should purchase your supplements only from manufacturers that comply with the pharmaceutical GMP guidelines. These are the strictest manufacturing standards for nutritional and dietary supplements.

In this way, you can ensure maximum product safety, purity and effectiveness in the supplements you purchase. You can be sure that you are getting the vitamin A that you have paid for and that the supplement you are consuming is free of contaminated ingredients.

A Comprehensive Product

Total Balance manufactured by Xtend-Life natural products, New Zealand is the vitamin A supplement of our choice. It complies on all the above mentioned guidelines - and much more.

Total Balance contains Vitamin A and Beta Carotene, plus a full spectrum of minerals, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, potent herbal extracts, antioxidants and speciality nutrients. In fact, it contains most of the nutrients that we have covered on this entire site!

We have been personally taking Total Balance since the last few years and have enjoyed the excellent benefits of vitamin A and all other essential nutrients.