Vitamins are an essential part of our lives and our health and are best taken in their natural form. This is usually through what we eat and drink, although supplements can help.

Vitamin A

If you want healthy skin,eyesight and a stronger immune system, then Vitamin A is what you need. It aids protection against disease, as it acts as an antioxidant. It also assists in the formation of your teeth and bones. When vitamin A deficiency exists in the developed world, it tends to happen in alcoholics or in people with diseases that affect the intestine's ability to absorb fat. The earliest symptom of vitamin A deficiency is night blindness.

Large amounts of Vitamin A is poisonous and can cause harm to your liver. Eating liver derived Vitamin A is not advised during pregnancy. (RDA) for vitamin A is 1.0 mg/day for the adult man and 0.8 mg/day for the adult woman. Since beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A in the body, the body's requirement for vitamin A can be supplied entirely by beta-carotene. Six mg of beta-carotene are considered to be the equivalent of 1 mg of vitamin A.

The best sources of vitamin A are eggs, milk, butter, liver, and fish, such as herring, sardines, and tuna.Plants do not contain vitamin A, but they do contain beta-carotene and other carotenoids. Good sources of betacarotenes, which your body converts into Vitamin A are, dark green and orange, fruit and veg:

• Acorn Squash

• Beet and Mustard Greens

• Bok Choy

• Broccoli

• Butternut Squash

• Carrots

• Collard Greens

• Dark Green Leaf Lettuces or Salad Greens, e.g. Mesclun

• Hubbard Squash

• Kale

• Pumpkin

• Romaine Lettuce

• Spinach

• Sweet Potatoes or Yams (Orange)

• Turnip Greens

• Watercress

Examples of Orange Fruits

• Apricots

• Cantaloupe

• Guava

• Mandarin Oranges

• Mango

• Nectarines

• Orange

• Papaya

• Peaches

• Tangerines