Vitamin A also has a second name - retinol. A person needs to consume at least three quarters of a gram of this substance per day.
Lack of retinol in the body can lead to such unpleasant consequences as: dry skin of the face and head, weakening of tooth enamel, impaired vision and immunity, loss of appetite, diseases of various kinds.
That is why it is important to know foods that can become a source of vitamin A, so that you can get it naturally at any time.
Where is Vitamin A contained? Vegetables and greens
Retinol vegetables can often be distinguished by bright red or orange. The most striking example is carrots: eating two pieces a day, you use a daily intake of vitamin A. You can also fill the vitamin A deficiency by adding pumpkins, melons, red bell peppers, tomatoes to the diet. A lot of vitamin A is found in herbs and spices: in parsley - 950 mcg per 100 g of product. Exactly 10 times more (9500 mcg) of vitamin A is contained in 100 g of ordinary potatoes.
Green foods are also a source of vitamin A, namely:
• spinach;
• green onions;
• dill;
• basil;
• Beijing salad;
• nettle;
• sorrel;
• broccoli;
• celery;
• peas.
Vitamin A, found in vegetables and herbs, can be consumed without any harm to health, because for an overdose you need to eat a really huge amount of these products.
There are recommendations for use: a salad of fresh vegetables is best to season with sour cream or add cheese, since in combination with vitamin A from animal products, it is absorbed much better. The addition of fats, such as olive oil, will also improve lettuce absorption.
But carrots, oddly enough, it is better to send to cook: in boiled carrots, in contrast to raw, bioavailable beta-carotene is contained in larger quantities. Here the rule applies: the softer the better, so it is best to eat vegetables in a soft consistency, ideally in juice or puree. This is not about packaged juices, but only freshly squeezed ones.
Meat products that may contain vitamin A
Retinol can be scooped not only from plant products, but also from animal products. Here, the risk of overdoing it and getting an overdose is higher, because vitamin A is absorbed immediately. Excess will not only not benefit, but also harm the human body. What animal products contain vitamin A?
Fat from cod liver can be called the undisputed leader: 100 g of the product covers the intake of vitamin A per day by 3333%, 100 g contains 30,000 micrograms of this useful substance. But you can’t just eat 100 grams of cod liver with a spoon from a jar, because it is a very fatty product, so you should still use it for sandwiches.
Beef liver is also rich in retinol: by eating just a small piece of it, you can get 9442 mcg of vitamin A. In addition to beef liver and cod liver, vitamin A contains:
• in chicken, pork, goose and duck liver and kidneys;
• in any granular caviar;
• in fatty meats and fish, for example, trout;
• in sprats;
• in meat of chicken, pheasant, duck, quail, turkey, chicken;
• in seafood - mussels, shrimps, anchovies.
It does not matter how all the products on the list are cooked: Vitamin A tolerates any heat treatment. A little of the substance content after cooking will drop, but these inevitable losses are not too significant.
Vitamin A: Where is it contained, other than vegetables and meat?
To find a vitamin that strengthens the immune system and gives skin elasticity, it is worth lingering on shelves with dairy products and eggs. Chicken egg yolk is rich in vitamin A: 100 g of the product contains 908 mcg. Retinol is also found in cheese, milk, high fat cottage cheese, sour cream, cream, cheese. However, it is important to choose the right milk: only the milk of cows that fed on grass and hay will provide the body with the maximum amount of retinol.
Vitamin A in large quantities contains oils: creamy, olive, linseed. An important point: the oil must be obtained by cold pressing, not refined, not deodorized, not refined. Otherwise, the initial vitamin A content will drop significantly.
The use of vitamin A from berries and fruits will provide the body with the necessary antioxidants, which is very beneficial for the beauty of the skin and overall well-being. Fruits and berries, which contain the most vitamin A:
• apples, pears, mangoes;
• apricots, peaches, persimmons;
• mountain ash, viburnum, wild rose, cherry;
• blackberry, sea buckthorn, black currant;
• watermelons, melons and grapes;
• tangerines;
• figs, pineapple.
Where to look for vitamin A in a pharmacy? Preparations in which it is precisely contained
Retinol can be found not only in the grocery store. Of course, obtaining vitamins with food is preferable, but sometimes it is easier and faster to acquire a vitamin complex. Other medicines should be used with caution: in combination with vitamin A, tetracycline causes serious health problems. Do not combine the intake of vitamins with alcoholic libations, this will lead to undesirable consequences. At a minimum, the effect of vitamins will come to naught.
Now there are a lot of drugs and complexes, and it’s not necessary to be scared of two scary words “fish oil”: modern vitamins are easy to swallow, they smell almost nothing. Vitamin A is sometimes prescribed in injections, then an oil solution called A-palmitate will be required.
Where else is vitamin A? Some names of medicines: Aevit, Retinol, Aquadetrim.
Often you can find this vitamin in the complexes: Complivit, Gendevit, Pangexavit and others.
Examples of Foods That Contain Vitamin A
Vitamin A is not only healthy, but also very tasty. Here are some recipes for foods rich in this valuable substance, which can be called the "retinol bomb."
Salad "Sea"
It is prepared from boiled shrimp, celery, apple, small red pepper, seasoned with sour cream or olive oil of your choice.
Salad "Orange"
The main ingredient is carrot. This is an extremely simple salad from childhood: carrots and apples are grated, seasoned with sour cream and a spoonful of sugar. If desired, you can add an additional product with vitamin A - parsley.
Spinach Puree Soup
It is simple to prepare: boiled spinach is added with a frying of onions and carrots, a little butter and cream, all this is whipped in a blender. Density can be adjusted by adding more or less flour to the fry.
Liver paste
In the preparation of liver paste, the main thing is to stew the liver for a long time so that it becomes very soft. After this, boiled eggs and boiled carrots are added, everything is passed through a meat grinder or chopped together in a blender, at the end, butter and seasonings are added, mixed.
Carrot casserole
For this dish you will need 2 carrots, butter (a teaspoon), egg, flour, milk, sugar, salt. Finely chopped carrots are stewed until soft, while a sauce is prepared from flour and milk. The sauce is combined with mashed carrots, yolk and protein foam are added. All this is laid out in a greased form, baked in the oven.
