Have you suddenly started to experience night blindness? Are your eyes feeling dry and scratch, yet you don’t suffer from allergies? Is your hair really dry and your skin dry and itchy? Are you developing more infections in your throat or chest than normal?
If you said ‘yes’ to any of the above, you could be suffering from a vitamin A deficiency.
Like all vitamins, vitamin A is a substance that the body needs in order to maintain proper health. It plays an important role in healthy vision, regulates genes, maintains healthy skin, and produces red blood cells, thus it supports the immune system and helps fight infections. The body does not naturally produce vitamin A, which means that you need to make sure you are getting it from your diet.
How much vitamin A do you need? The recommended daily intake for men is 900 mcg, and for women, it’s 700 mcg. Though a vitamin A deficiency is not very common in developed countries, if you aren’t consuming enough foods in your diet that contain the vitamin, a deficiency can certainly happen.
If you are experiencing any of the symptoms that are associated with a vitamin A deficiency, or you just want to make sure that you are getting enough of this essential vitamin, here’s a look at 20 foods that are rich in vitamin A that you should consider adding to your diet.
1. Carrots
The first food most people think of when they want to make sure their eyes are healthy, they think of carrots. There’s a good reason why: 1, uncooked carrot contains more than 200 percent of the daily recommended intake of vitamin A, which means that eating carrots will certainly help to promote healthy vision. Carrots are also packed with other vital nutrients, including vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B, magnesium and fiber. Munch on a raw carrot for a snack or dip one into a veggie dip to add some extra flavor. You can also shred one and add it to a salad to make sure you are getting your vitamin A.