Vitamin A protects your vision, boosts your immunity so eat your carrots – they will help you see in the dark! This vital vitamin is used by the body to make rhodopsin, a photopigment present in cells in the eye. Vitamin A also keeps the mucous membranes inside the nose, mouth and respiratory tract healthy
Where do you find Vitamin A
Sweet potatoes, spinach, carrots, red peppers and broccoli and watercress. The most potent carotenoid is beta carotene responsible for the bright orange colour. It’s also present in apricots, papaya and cantaloupe melons. Cooking fruit and vegetables boost vitamin A intake as the heat softens the walls of the plant cells to make the carotenoids more available. Animal derived products provide another variation of Vitamin A, retinol and is found in milk, eggs, yogurt, oily fish and liver.
For vitamin A to be processed by the body, the mineral zinc is needed which is found in whole grains, seeds, nuts and lean red meat.
A deficiency can cause vision problem, dry hair and skin and infections.
So eat your carrots! Just one cooked carrot can provide a day’s vitamin A requirement.
