Vitamin A

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Basics

• Summary
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Research

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Summary

Vitamins are substances that your body needs to grow and develop normally. Vitamin A plays a role in your:

• Vision
• Bone growth
• Reproduction
• Cell functions
• Immune system

Vitamin A is an antioxidant. It can come from plant or animal sources. Plant sources include colorful fruits and vegetables. Animal sources include liver and whole milk. Vitamin A is also added to foods like cereals.

Vegetarians, young children, and alcoholics may need extra Vitamin A. You might also need more if you have certain conditions, such as liver diseases, cystic fibrosis, and Crohn's disease. Check with your health care provider to see if you need to take vitamin A supplements.

NIH: National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements

Start Here

• Vitamin A (National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements) Also in Spanish
• Vitamin A (Harvard School of Public Health)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Vitamin A (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Estimated Dietary Intakes of Vitamin A5.
• Article: Genetic evidence linking retinol to birth weight: A two-sample Mendelian randomization...
• Article: Study on serum vitamin A level in patients with type 1...
• Vitamin A -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Find a Nutrition Expert (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)
• Food and Drug Administration
• Food and Nutrition Information Center
• National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements

Patient Handouts

• Beta-carotene blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hypervitaminosis A (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Vitamin A (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Vitamin A blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish