Vitamin A

Benefits
Vitamin A helps maintain healthy eyes, skin, teeth, and bones. It’s also essential for cell division -- which means renewal -- and it plays a key role in keeping your immune system strong.

Medfit Recommendation
Your body doesn’t need much vitamin A, and too much (in supplement form) can harm your health, so it’s best to get your A the natural way: from plenty of fruit and vegetables.

If you take a daily multivitamin, make sure it contains no more than 2,500–3,000 international units (IU) of vitamin A and that it’s in the form of beta carotene (from plants). Your body regulates its supply of plant-based A -- also known as provitamin A -- by absorbing it slowly and flushing out any excess before it becomes harmful. But other types of A -- from animal sources, such as liver and giblets, as well as some supplements -- can build up in your system and become toxic. You need to limit these types, called preformed or retinol A.

Bottom line: If you stick to fruit and vegetable sources and an appropriate multivitamin, you should be A-OK.

Good Sources
Eggs, milk, and fortified cereals are good sources of preformed vitamin A. For plant-based provitamin A, the following foods are your best bets. If you’re not taking a multivitamin with A, try to include at least one serving of these foods in your daily mix:


Carrots
Sweet potatoes
Pumpkin and squash
Red bell pepper
Spinach
Cantaloupe
Mango
Broccoli