Health Articles > Health-supplements-and-vitamins > Why Vitamin A Is So Crucial To Your Overall Health

Casimir Funk was a Polish biochemist that discovered vitamins in 1912, the first one was specifically vitamin A. Funk came up with the word vitamine, and it was later changed to vitamin. Vitamin A is found in yellow fruits and oranges and vegetables such as spinach and fats. When in vegetables it is water soluble. It comes as beta carotene which can be eliminated from your body through natural processes. Anything that can be eliminated through natural processes is the best way to get it into the body. Vitamin A helps with eyesight and healthy skin. Obviously this is why people say that carrots are good for your eyesight. Ancient Egyptian doctors would even prescribe liver because they believed that it contained enough vitamin A to prevent or possibly even help night blindness. Vitamin A is also an antioxidant which is known to prevent cancer and to help with anti-aging. It is also good for the immune system. Fat helps with the proper absorption of vitamin A. So a low fat diet will not allow you to get the right amounts of vitamin A. You also need to have the right amount of protein which combines with vitamin A to make it stronger and helps it move through your body. Typically you should consume around 5,000 international units (IU) of vitamin A a day. This does depend a little on your health and your age. You may need to consume a little more or a little less. Beta carotene is the safest form of vitamin A and because of that it can be taken in much larger doses no matter what your age. Without consuming enough vitamin A in your diet you will become deficient. This normally causes skin problems, increased infections, and even night blindness. If the deficiency is prolonged it can also put you at a high risk for cancer as well. It will also cause you to miss out on any of the effects of anti aging that the vitamin might have. Although you can begin taking it with a deficiency the effects will not be as good as if you never had the deficiency in the first place. There is such a thing as having too much vitamin A as well. This can cause pain in your joints, abdomen, and your bones. Since having too much or not enough can cause serious side effects it is important that you make sure that you are getting the right amount in your diet. If you do not have it in your normal diet then you should take it in a vitamin supplement, making sure that it has the right amounts with no side effects.