Single Test

Which food is the highest in vitamin A? Probably not what you think. In fact, the food that often gets credited as being highest in vitamin A contains none at all. Think you’re getting vitamin A from carrots and spinach. Think again. There’s A lot of confusion and misleading information about vitamin A. I’ll tell you the highest vitamin A food in less than a minute. But first, it’s really important to understand the two dietary sources of vitamin A so you don’t miss out on this important nutrient. This is especially important for people on plant-based diets. So the human diet contains two sources of vitamin A. One is called preformed vitamin A. This is found in meat, fish, dairy, and other animal foods. Preformed Vitamin A is also called retinol or retinol ester. The body uses this immediately for its vitamin A needs. The other dietary source of vitamin A is called provitamin a carotinoids, and these are the orange plant pigments like betacarotene. This type of vitamin A precursor is not ready to use. The body needs to convert these in the intestines using an enzyme, but there are several factors that determine how well that enzyme does its job and therefore how much vitamin A you actually get from foods that contain carotid. Some people convert very little vitamin A from carotinoids and some none at all. That means some people on plant-based diets are putting themselves at risk for vitamin A deficiency, even if they’re eating a lot of provitamin a carotinoids. So the food that is often touted as being highest in vitamin A is carrots. The label on a bag of carrots will say that you get a hundred percent of your recommended daily intake of vitamin A, but now you know that carrots don’t contain any vitamin A, neither does spinach, which also often tops the list of vitamin A foods. Carrots and spinach do contain carotinoids, but again, how much vitamin A people will get from that varies per person, and for some people there won’t be any. The actual highest food in vitamin A is liver yummy. Some people scrunch their face at this, but a weekly serving of beef or chicken liver will meet your body’s needs for vitamin A. If you really can’t handle that, then cod liver oil may be an easier source of Vitamin A. Just check the label content as the vitamin A can vary by brand vitamin A. Fortified dairy products are another source of preformed vitamin A and of course, so are vitamin A supplements. But is vitamin A safe aren’t vitamin A supplements dangerous? Check out my next video to find out.