Vitamin A - The Glow-in-the-dark Vitamin

Vitamin A - The Glow-in-the-dark Vitamin

By David Leonhardt

The ancient Egyptians had a cure for "night blindness". They fed the patient lots and lots of liver. Perhaps they thought theywere appeasing the Gods of sight. In 1930, the first fat-solublevitamin was discovered - vitamin A - which, it turns out, doesindeed appease the Gods of sight.

Vitamin A is best known for improving eyesight, particularly atnight, which is one of two reasons we call it the glow-in-the-dark vitamin. But the eyes are not the only part of your bodygrateful for your generous consumption of vitamin A.

Your skin also benefits. And your hair. And mucous membranes.And nails. In fact, almost any surface lining your body canfind.

Your immune system benefits, too, giving you added resources toward off infections. Bones and teeth are strengthened withproper amounts of vitamin A, and even the risk of some cancerscan be reduced with vitamin A.

And there are more confirmed and suspected benefits.

The other reason we call Vitamin A the glow-in-the-dark vitaminis because it is best known as the bright orange color in so manyfoods we enjoy. Like pumpkins, pumpkin pie and my favorite:pumpkin cheesecake ( see my recipe athttp://www.thehappyguy.com/pumpkin-cheesecake-recipe.html ).

And, of course, carrots, squash, peaches, apricots, cantaloupe,mangoes, sweet potatoes and the rest of the orange-spangledveggie gang.

But again, vitamin A is much more than meets the eye, because itis not actually vitamin A that turns the fruit and vegetablesorange, but a precursor to vitamin A called beta carotene. Betacarotene does not become vitamin A until your body processes it.

And vitamin A is just as likely, if not more so, to come fromprotein sources such as most dairy products, egg yolks and somefish. And the queen of all vitamin A sources is liver, thatancient Egyptian God of sight. Calves liver. Chicken liver.Pork liver. Any liver you can sink your teeth into.

The vitamin A in protein sources is real vitamin A, no processingrequired.
Other great sources of vitamin A are dark green vegetables, suchas Swiss chard, broccoli, spinach and beet greens.

As important as it is to glow with vitamin A, don't glow toobrightly. An overdose can be harmful to bones and skin, causingweakness and brittleness, even leading to fatigue and vomiting.

It is advisable not to take a vitamin A supplement except underthe supervision of a physician. In most cases, it is much betterto take a liquid multivitamin such as Essential Nectar inrecommended daily doses. There is very little chance of getting an overdose that way.

Also, increase your intake of beta carotene sources to avoid anoverdose. Whereas your body absorbs all the vitamin A it takes in directly, it converts only the beta carotene it needs (talk about customization!).

So get glowing and get the vitamin A you need.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

David Leonhardt runs The Liquid Vitamin Supplements Store:
http://www.vitamin-supplements-store.net