Table of Contents
Vitamin A
Signs of Vitamin A Deficiency:
- Abscesses in the ears
- Chronic diarrhea
- Dry skin or hair
- Dryness of the conjunctiva and cornea
- Fatigue
- Frequent colds and other respiratory infections
- Insomnia
- Night blindness
- Pneumonia
- Poor growth
- Reproductive difficulties
- Sinusitis
- Skin disorders including acne
- Weak tooth enamel
- Weight loss
Health Concerns – Vitamin A is used for:
- Dry eye (topical)
- Measles
- Support for Aids patients
- Viral illnesses
What Vitamin A Does:
- Aids in reproductive functions
- Antioxidant
- Anticarcinogenic
- Improves body’s ability to heal
- Improves vision and prevents night blindness
- May help in the treatment of hyperthyroidism
- Prevents and treats skin disorders and aging of skin
- Promotes the growth of strong bones, hair, teeth, skin, and gums
- Stimulates immunity
FOOD SOURCES of Vitamin A
- Apricots
- Asparagus, cooked
- Beet greens
- Broccoli
- Butter
- Cantaloupe
- Carrots
- Chili peppers
- Collards
- Dairy products
- Dark leafy greens
- Eggs
- Endive, raw
- Green beans, cooked
- Kale, cooked
- Kidney
- Leaf lettuce
- Liver
- Mangos
- Mustard greens, cooked
- Papayas
- Parsley
- Peaches
- Peas, fresh, cooked
- Pumpkin
- Red peppers
- Seafood
- Spinach
- Squash, winter
- Sweet potato
- Swiss chard
- Tomatoes
- Turnip greens
- Watercress
- Watermelon
- Yams
- Yellow corn
Herb Sources of Vitamin A
- Alfalfa
- Barley grass
- Borage leaves
- Burdock root
- Cayenne (capsicum)
- Chaparral
- Chickweed
- Dandelion greens and root
- Dulse
- Eyebright
- Fennel seed
- Garlic
- Gotu kola
- Hops
- Horseradish
- Horsetail
- Kelp
- Lemongrass
- Mullein
- Nettle
- Oat straw
- Paprika
- Parsley
- Peppermint
- Plantain
- Raspberry leaf
- Red clover
- Rose hips
- Sage
- Spirulina
- Uva ursi
- Violet leaves
- Watercress
- Yellow dock
OTHER SOURCES of Vitamin A:
- Cod liver oil
- Cataplex A (Standard Process Labs) is a whole-food, highly bioavailable form of Vitamin A that really works great for heel spurs.
Cautions & Comments about Vitamin A:
- Antibiotics, laxatives, nitrates, and some cholesterol-lowering drugs interfere with Vitamin A absorption
- If you have hypothyroidism, avoid beta-carotene, because your body probably cannot convert beta-carotene into Vitamin A
- If you have liver disease, do not take a daily dose of over 10,000 IU of Vitamin A in pill form or any amount of cod liver oil.
- If you are pregnant, do not take more than 10,000 IU of Vitamin A daily. Excess amounts may cause birth defects.
- Vitamins A, D, E, and K do build up in the liver if you take huge amounts for long periods of time.
- Children should not take more than 18,000 IU of Vitamin A