Vitamin A

Vitamin A was discovered from research conducted in 1906 to find whether other factors other than proteins, fats and carbohydrates were needed to maintain healthy cattle. Its name was chosen since an earlier discovery of Vitamin B was made. In 1947 it was also first synthesized by David Adriaan van Dorp and Jozef Ferdinand Arens, both Dutch chemists.

It is normally consumed through a person’s diet usually from animal or plant sources. If it comes from an animal source it is known as performed Vitamin A and if it comes from a plant source is known as provitamin A carotenoid. Animal food sources allow the vitamin is be more easily absorbed and used efficiently than those that come from plant sources.

Vitamin A aids the body in several ways including:

• Vision
• Immune functionality
• Skin health
• Reducing heart disease risk
• Gene transcription
• Bone Metabolism

However, the fat-soluble nature of Vitamin A makes disposing of an excess much harder than other vitamins including vitamin B and Vitamin C as they are both water soluble. As a result, an excess intake of this vitamin can lead to toxicity. Toxicity symptoms include vomiting, headaches, hair loss, drowsiness and nausea just to name a few.

Research was conducted and was successful at changing a fat-soluble vitamin into a water-soluble hoping to reduce potential toxicity. However in 2006 a study concluded that children given the water soluble vitamins suffered from asthma twice as much.

Vitamin A is an essential part of the human body and needs to be maintained to be healthy.