Vitamin A - For Bones, Eyes and Hair

November 18, 2020 | 902 words | 5 minutes

What is Vitamin A?

Vitamin A is an antioxidant that aids the healthy growth of your heart, lungs, kidneys, vision, and immunity functions. Vitamin A is not produced by our bodies naturally, and yet it is an extremely beneficial micronutrient that needs to be included in our diet.

Here are some detailed and scientifically proven benefits of Vitamin A and the function it serves:

What are the benefits of Vitamin A?

1. Encourages healthy immune functions:

Vitamin A assists the body in the fundamental function of keeping the body safe from bacteria. It also clears the bloodstream of bacteria and other pathogens. With vitamin A deficiencies, the body becomes much more susceptible to infection.

1. Strengthens and supports bone health:

A deficiency in Vitamin A has been linked to quicker bone degeneration and poor bone health, shown in studies that prove that people with Vitamin A deficiencies are at a higher risk of fractures. While it is not vitamin A alone that determines your bone health, it contributes to vitamins.

1. Reproductive health:

Studies have shown Vitamin A to be essential for the reproductive health of men, women, and an embryo’s development during pregnancy. Studies in animals have shown a direct correlation between vitamin A deficiency and a reduction of egg quality. Vitamin A works as a catalyst in an unborn child; it serves to develop the heart, eyes, pancreas, skeleton (re: bone strength!), and nervous system.

1. Protects our eyesight:

Vitamin A safeguards our eyes from eyesight issues that arise with age, as well as night blindness. It is considered essential for the protection of eyesight because it is a considerable component of a pigment called rhodopsin. This is the pigment present in our retinas and is strengthened with a vitamin A intake. The threat of age-related blindness, caused by age-related macular degeneration, is fought off by antioxidant supplements such as vitamin A, which reduces the risk of vision impairment.

1. Influences the risk of cancer:

A recommended intake of vitamin A, as beta-carotene, has been connected to a diminished danger of particular kinds of cancerous growth, including Hodgkin’s lymphoma, cervical, lung, and bladder disease. The link between vitamin A and the influence on cancer is found within cells’ development; when cells grow or divide in unpredictable and uncontrollable ways, that often leads to cancer. Vitamin A is hypothesized to ensure healthy cell division and growth.

What are the results of a deficiency in Vitamin A?

Pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and children are usually at high risk of vitamin A deficiency. However, vitamin A deficiencies have adverse effects on multiple levels and can affect everybody. Some of the ways you can tell you have a vitamin A deficiency are:

1. Infertility:

Research and studies have found a link between vitamin A deficiencies and infertility; defects in embryos result in difficulty getting pregnant for women while research on males have suggested that barren men may have a more noteworthy requirement for antioxidants, such as Vitamin A, because of more significant levels of oxidative pressure in their bodies.

1. Infections in the chest and throat:

Studies suggest that people with vitamin A deficiencies are prone to throat and chest infections and respiratory and inflammation issues. Vitamin A should be given to people with a deficiency, not to be taken as a preventative measure in this instance, if the deficiency does not exist.

1. Dry skin and eyes:

Dry skin issues such as acne or eczema, which causes inflamed and itchy skin, can be related to vitamin A deficiencies. Dry eyes and the inability or lack of tears is one of the first signs of a lack of vitamin A. Dryness of the eyes can lead to other detrimental issues such as blindness or night blindness.

Vitamin A for hair

For those of you that did NOT throw a fit as a child about eating carrots and other greens, how does it feel to have long luscious healthy hair? Packed with vitamin A, certain greens and vegetables increase the production of the natural oils and sebum in our scalp, making our hair follicles healthy and helps blood circulation for growth.

Vitamin A for skin

Our body has different layers of skin, all of which can benefit from Vitamin A. One of the leading causes of distressed skin is sun damage, which is prevented by the intake of Vitamin A, which hinders the process that breaks down your collagen. Being an antioxidant, vitamin A also protects your skin from sunburn.

Sources/which foods have it

The best way to intake vitamin A is through the foods that contain high levels of the vitamin; here are ten foods high in vitamin A:

1. Carrots
2. Squash
3. Bell peppers
4. Broccoli
5. Sweet potatoes
6. Liver
7. Cod liver oil
8. Fish ( King mackerel, salmon, tuna)
9. Cheese
10. Whipping cream (I know, right!)

While there are many supplements of vitamin A besides its natural presence in food, it is recommended that you take them under your physician’s advice as an overdose of vitamin A can cause harm.

However, some supplements preserve the integrity of natural antioxidants such as Vitamin A, like Mulmina; an antioxidant-filled, immunity-boosting health drink which you can purchase here:

Mulmina Orange — https://amzn.to/2FMe6E9

Mulmina Mango — https://amzn.to/2Hkq5cw

First published on November 18, 2020
#antioxidants, #Vitamins , #antioxidants, #Nutrition, #Hair growth, #Vitamin A

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