Vitamin A Rich Foods

If you thought that your parents telling you that carrots would help you see in the dark was an old wive's tale, you are wrong. Carrots are just one of the foods that contain Vitamin A, which is necessary for good night vision as well as color vision, too. Here you will find the foods that you can eat to make sure you get enough of this vital nutrient in your daily diet.

Vitamin A is found in foods in two forms. Animal sources of Vitamin A contain the form called Retinol. Fruit and vegetable sources of Vitamin A contain Beta Carotene. Beta Carotene is an antioxidant that can be turned into Vitamin A by our bodies. Our bodies use Vitamin A to help make the teeth, bones, skin and the pigment in the eyes. A deficiency in this Vitamin causes a loss of night vision and can result in total blindness if allowed to progress. While not as much of a problem in the United States and other industrialized countries, globally nearly a third of all young children are deficient.

These foods contain the retinol form of Vitamin A

• Liver

• Butter and Margarine

• Cheddar Cheese

• Eggs

• Milk

These vegetables contain the provitamin Beta Carotine which our bodies make into Vitamin A.

• Carrots
• Sweet Potatoes
• Kale
• Spinach
• Pumpkin
• Collard Greens
• Peas
• Broccoli

These Fruits are a good source of Vitamin A in the Beta Carotine form.

• Cantaloupe

• Apricots

• Papaya

• Mangoes

Although I always thought he ate spinach for the iron, Popeye's creator, E. C. Segar used his character to promote the Vitamin A content. In the nineteen-twenties and thirties the nation was fighting against malnutrition in children. What better way to encourage young children to eat that spinach than a role model who now has been around for almost a century.