Vitamin A
VITAMIN A
Retinol is one of the most active forms of Vitamin A and is found in animal foods such as liver and eggs. Vitamin A plays an important role in vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division, and cell differentiation.
It helps maintain the lining of surfaces such as the eyes, respiratory, urinary, and intestinal tracts. If the lining breaks bacteria can enter the body and cause infection to the body. Vitamin A also helps regulate the immune system to fight off infections by making white blood cells that destroy harmful bacteria and viruses. Vitamin A is found in whole eggs, whole milk, and liver. The recommended amount of Vitamin A for and adult women is 700 mg and 900 ug for men. Mor than 50 percent of men and women do not get enough of Vitamin A a day. Vitamin A deficiency rarely happens in the United States, but it is still a major problem in the rest if the world. At least 3 million children each year develop xeropthalmia, which is damage to the cornea of the eye and 250,000-500,000 children go blind each year for not consuming enough Vitamin A.
Hypervitaminosis A is a high storage of levels of Vitamin A in the body that can lead to toxic symptoms. The three main effects of hypervitaminosis are: Birth Defects, Liver Abnormalities, and Osteoporosis.
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