When selecting a vitamin A supplement, it's important to understand the different forms available and their benefits. Here's a summary of key points to help you choose the best vitamin A supplement:

Types of Vitamin A

1. Preformed Vitamin A: Found in animal products, available in supplements as retinyl acetate or retinyl palmitate.
2. Provitamin A: Found in plant-based foods, commonly in the form of beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.

Benefits of Vitamin A

• Vital for maintaining healthy vision, particularly in low light.
• Supports immune function and skin health.
• Essential for fetal development and overall growth.
• Acts as an antioxidant, helping to protect cells from damage by free radicals¹²³.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)

• Men aged 14 and older: 900 mcg/day
• Women aged 14 and older: 700 mcg/day (770 mcg/day during pregnancy and 1,300 mcg/day during breastfeeding)⁴.

Potential Risks

• Overconsumption of preformed vitamin A can be toxic, leading to conditions like hypervitaminosis A.
• The upper limit for vitamin A intake from supplements is 3,000 mcg/day⁵.

If you would like, I can search for specific vitamin A supplement products to recommend. Let me know if you would like me to do so.

Footnotes

1. MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia - Vitamin A ↩

2. Office of Dietary Supplements - Vitamin A and Carotenoids ↩

3. The importance of vitamin A in nutrition - PubMed ↩

4. Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A - NCBI Bookshelf ↩

5. Recommendations for vitamin A supplementation - PubMed ↩