Vitamin A is important for the immune system, skin and eyes, among other things. To avoid a deficiency, it is necessary to consume the vital nutrient regularly with the diet. Healthy people can usually cover their needs well with foods containing vitamin A. Nevertheless, deficiency symptoms can occur for various reasons. In this case, a vitamin A supplement is required to compensate for the deficiency.
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Vitamin A in food at a glance
- Vitamin A, for example, is important for eyesight, the immune system and the skin.
- Vitamin A or retinol is mainly found in animal foods such as liver and some types of fish, as well as in foods fortified with the vitamin.
- Certain plant foods contain beta-carotene, which the body can convert into vitamin A.
- Healthy people can cover their needs well by regularly eating foods containing vitamin A.
- An additional dietary supplement is only useful in the event of an actual deficiency.
How high is the daily vitamin A requirement?
The daily vitamin A requirement depends mainly on gender and age. According to the DGE (German Nutrition Society):
- adult women 700 μg,
- adult men between 800 and 850 μg,
- Children and adolescents up to 19 years of age between 300 and 950 μg and
- Infants 400 to 500 μg vitamin A per day
Pregnant and breastfeeding women have an increased need for vitamin A with 800 and 1,300 μg respectively.1
How does a vitamin A deficiency manifest itself?
Vitamin A or retinol has various functions in the body. The fat-soluble vitamin is important, for example, for the metabolism of iron as well as the normal maintenance of vision, skin and mucous membranes. An inadequate supply of nutrition manifests itself in the long run with various complaints.
Possible symptoms of vitamin A deficiency include:
- deteriorating eyesight at dusk up to night blindness,
- keratinization of the skin and mucous membranes, and
- an increased susceptibility to infections.
How does vitamin A deficiency occur?
Vitamin A and its precursors such as beta-carotene are contained in numerous foods. In industrialized countries such as Germany or Austria, diet-related deficiencies are therefore rare. Instead, in most cases, the deficiency symptoms can be traced back to health problems that affect the absorption or metabolism of vitamin A.
Possible causes of vitamin A deficiency include:
- exocrine pancreatic insufficiency,
- chronic intestinal diseases such as Crohn’s disease and
- Alcohol abuse.
Where is the most vitamin A contained?
Liver and products made from it contain by far the most vitamin A. This is simply because the fat-soluble vitamin is stored in the liver. 100 grams of beef liver contain 18 milligrams. Pork liver even has a vitamin A content of 39 milligrams per 100 grams.
Animal foods with a high vitamin A content
Food | Vitamin A (mg per 100 g) |
Eel | 0,98 |
Brie | 0,157 |
Camembert | 0,362 |
Edam | 0,29 |
Eggs | 0,272 |
Emmental | 0,29 |
Gouda | 0,26 |
Cod liver oil | 25,5 |
Liver sausage | 8,3 |
Mackerel | 0,1 |
Mascarpone | 0,415 |
Beef liver | 18 |
Whipped cream | 0,339 |
Pork liver | 39 |
Tuna | 0,45 |
Which fruits and vegetables contain vitamin A?
In principle, there is no vitamin A in plant-based foods. On the other hand, certain fruits and vegetables are rich in beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is also known as provitamin A. This is because the body can convert it into vitamin A. A particularly large amount of it is found in carrots, for example.
Fruits and vegetables with a lot of beta-carotene
Food | Beta-carotene (mg per 100 g) |
Apricots (fresh) | 0,8 |
Apricots (dried) | 5,8 |
Chicory | 3,43 |
Dill | 4,5 |
Corn salad | 3,98 |
Kale | 8,68 |
Honeydew | 4,7 |
Carrots | 8,48 |
Lettuce | 1,45 |
Pumpkin | 3,1 |
Palm oil | 2,7 |
Paprika | 3,5 |
Parsley | 5,94 |
Spinach | 3,25 |
Savoy cabbage | 4,7 |
How can you cover your vitamin A needs with food?
Healthy people usually don’t have to worry about their vitamin A intake. A balanced diet is usually sufficient for them to ensure a needs-based supply.
To cover the need for vitamin A, for example, the following are sufficient:
- a slice of wholemeal bread with liver sausage,
- just under 100 grams of smoked eel or
- about 200 grams of tuna.
How can the daily requirement be covered with plant-based food?
In principle, an adequate supply of vitamin A is also possible without animal products. In this case, however, you should pay more attention to regularly consuming foods with a high content of beta-carotene. The body can convert the provitamin A beta-carotene at a rate of 12 to 1. 12 milligrams of beta-carotene is therefore equivalent to one milligram of retinol.
To cover the daily requirement with beta-carotene, the following are sufficient, for example:
- 100 to 110 grams of kale,
- about 300 grams of spinach or
- 100 to 110 grams of carrots.
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Storage and preparation of foods containing vitamin A
Vitamin A is sensitive to oxygen and heat. To avoid excessive loss of the vitamin, foods containing vitamin A should be stored in a dry, cool, light-protected place for as short a time as possible. In addition, it should ideally only be heated once and then eaten immediately.
Like all fat-soluble vitamins the body can absorb vitamin A particularly well if it is taken together with a little fat. Incidentally, this also applies to its precursor beta-carotene. If the meal does not already contain a source of fat, you can improve the absorption if necessary, e.g. with a little vegetable oil. Often, however, this is not necessary due to the usual eating habits.
Can you get too much vitamin A from food?
Just like a deficiency, an excess of vitamin A can also be harmful to health. In addition to short-term symptoms such as vomiting and nausea, hair loss and dry skin can occur in the long term, among other things. In the worst case, liver damage and reduced bone density are even possible in the long run.
However, unless you regularly consume larger amounts of liver, an oversupply with the normal diet is unlikely. The situation is different when taken uncontrolled as a dietary supplement . Vitamin A preparations that are too high can actually easily lead to an excess with side effects.
What are the recommendations for the maximum daily dose?
The EU authority EFSA, which is responsible for food safety, specifies 3,000 micrograms of retinol activity equivalents (RAE) as the maximum daily dose.2 The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BFR) recommends a maximum of 0.2 milligrams per daily dose for vitamin A in dietary supplements. According to the BFR’s assessment, foods placed on the market as butter substitutes should contain a maximum of one milligram per 100 grams and other fortified foods should contain no vitamin A at all. 3
When is an additional vitamin A supplement useful?
Just like other vitamins, vitamin A and its precursor beta-carotene are often used as dietary supplements. However, this does not always make sense. Such a preparation is only useful if there is actually a need for it . This is usually not the case for healthy people if they regularly consume foods rich in vitamin A. In order to avoid health problems due to an oversupply, you should therefore always decide individually about the use of a dietary supplement.
- 1 German Nutrition Society: Recommended vitamin A intake (as of 2020). URL: https://www.dge.de/wissenschaft/referenzwerte/vitamin-a/ (last accessed on: 02.10.2024).
- 2 European Food Safety Authority: Overview on Tolerable Upper Intake Levels as derived by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) and the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) (Publication: June 2024). URL: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2024-05/ul-summary-report.pdf (last accessed on: 02.10.2024).
- 3 Federal Institute for Risk Assessment: Maximum level proposals for vitamin A in foods including food supplements (Publication: 2021). URL: https://www.bfr.bund.de/cm/343/hoechstmengenvorschlaege-fuer-vitamin-a-in-lebensmitteln-inklusive-nahrungsergaenzungsmitteln.pdf (last accessed on: 02.10.2024).
