What are the top 3 benefits of Vitamin A?

A diet rich in Vitamin A has been shown to potentially help your eyes stay healthy with age. High vitamin A levels in the blood have been associated with a lower breast cancer risk.

Professionally Reviewed by Charles Li, MD

Summary

Vitamin A Benefits

1. Eye Health Benefits

A diet rich in Vitamin A has been shown to potentially help your eyes stay healthy with age.

2. Cancer Risk Benefits

High vitamin A levels in the blood have been associated with a lower breast cancer risk.

3. Measles Treatment

Vitamin A, when given as a treatment for measles, can potentially save lives.

Background

Vitamin A

Vitamin A plays key roles in night vision, boosting the immune system, and helping your body grow and develop.

Key Facts

Functions

Vitamin A

Key Facts

Type
Fat soluble
Source
Diet
Other Names
Retinol, retinyl ester

Appearance

Key Sources

Carrots

Sweet Potatoes

Spinach

Vitamin A

Functions

Vision

Vitamin A plays a key role in our black and white and night vision.

Immunity

Vitamin A helps your immune system fight off disease.

Cell Growth

Vitamin A helps your cells grow and develop properly, particularly in young children.

Vitamin A Benefit #1

Eye Health

Vitamin A plays an important role in keeping your eyes healthy.

Your body gets Vitamin A from your diet. Vitamin a gets converted into rhodopsin. Rhodopsin is used by your rod cells in your retina. The retina turns light into signals for your brain to interpret.

Vitamin A & Age Related Vision loss

With age, your vision can deteriorate due to conditions like Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Fortunately, Vitamin A may help prevent this.

A clinical trial found that a combination of Vitamin C, Vitamin E, beta-carotene, zinc, and copper significantly reduces the risk of moderate visual acuity loss. OR, 0.73; 99% CI, 0.54–0.99

Data Source

"Comparison with placebo demonstrated a statistically significant odds reduction for the development of advanced AMD with antioxidants plus zinc "

Source: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Clinical Trial of High-Dose Supplementation With Vitamins C and E, Beta Carotene, and Zinc for Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Vision Loss

Vitamin A Benefit #2

Cancer Risk

Vitamin A & Breast Cancer Risk

Having more Vitamin A in your body has been linked to significantly lower breast cancer risk. Additionally, eating a diet with more vitamin A has also been liked to a lower risk. However, clinical trials have not been able to show benefits with supplements.

A pooled analysis of eight cohort studies found that Vitamin A levels in your blood correlate with your risk of breast cancer. Having a lot of vitamin A in the form of β-carotene correlates with a 17% lower risk of breast cancer. Having a lot of total carotenoids, which includes the pigments found in vegetables, correlates with a 19% lower risk of breast cancer.

Data Source

"In this large pooled analysis with more than 3000 case subjects, we observed statistically significant inverse associations between circulating levels of individual and total carotenoids and breast cancer risk. "

Source: Circulating carotenoids and risk of breast cancer: pooled analysis of eight prospective studies

Vitamin A Benefit #3

Measles

Vitamin A Saves Lives

A study found that Vitamin A may help save lives. Kids with measles had a much higher chance of surviving if they were given two doses of Vitamin A.

A meta-analysis found that two doses of Vitamin A can significantly reduce Measles deaths. They found a nearly 80% reduction in risk of death with two doses of Vitamin A and a significant reduction in Pneumonia deaths as well.

Data Source

"The authors conclude that vitamin A megadoses appear effective in reducing mortality from measles in children under two years old and have few associated adverse events."

Source: Vitamin A for treating measles in children