Alexandra Ramirez
1. THORNE RESEARCH
Best Overall Vitamin A
5/5 Product Rating
With all these important functions being connected to vitamin A, you need to make sure you are getting the recommended amount each day. Unless you are eating a perfect diet, you will get the needed amount of vitamin A through a good supplement such as Thorne Research Vitamin A.
It has 25,000 IU of vitamin A per capsule and is free of all preservatives or substances that cause allergies. Even the most sensitive people can usually handle Thorne Research’s products.
– Linda Krantz
2. Seeking Health
Best Overall Vitamin A – Runner Up
4.8/5 Product Rating
It is important for healthy immune function, healthy vision, bone growth and development and healthy skin. It’s very easy to administer these drops and can be mixed with food or drinks easily. Each drop provides 5000 IU of palmitate vitamin A and 25 IU of beta-carotene vitamin A.
There are no real worries about allergies from taking this liquid supplement. It is free of milk/casein, wheat/gluten, yeast, corn and soy. It also doesn’t contain artificial sweeteners, flavors or colors. The stabilizing agent in this supplement is potassium sorbate which is safe for people.
– Linda Krantz
3. Now Foods Vitamin A
Best Budget Vitamin A
4.5/5 Product Rating
NOW Foods Vitamin A is derived from fish liver oil and each serving gives you 25,000 IU that will improve night vision as well as improving the overall health of your eyes.
It is important for immune function and to maintain eye health as well. This product does contain animal products (fish) and soy. All you need to take is 1 softgel daily with a meal unless your doctor recommends a different amount.
You can rest assured knowing you are getting the vitamin A your eyes and immune system needs to operate at an optimal level.
– Linda Krantz
Vitamin A Buying Guide
There are many different foods that naturally contain vitamin A. These include beef liver, egg yolks, yellow or orange colored fruits and vegetables, fortified milk and others. In today’s society of fast and processed food it is difficult to get the proper amounts of vitamin A from your food alone.
Signs of Deficiency
There are many symptoms that can occur when there is a deficiency of vitamin A in your system. Some of these symptoms include night blindness, brittle nails, insomnia, fatigue, dull, lusterless hair, dandruff, and even depression. If you notice any of these symptoms, you may want to talk to your doctor about adding some vitamin A to your diet in the form of a good quality supplement.
Benefits of Vitamin A
There are many beneficial properties that vitamin A provides your body. It is an essential vitamin that helps the body be as healthy as it can be. We have listed many of the benefits that vitamin A provides below.
- Ensures soft skin – vitamin A provides your skin with nutrients that help keep your skin supple and soft by improving moisture retention. This prevents the skin from becoming dry and prevents skin disorders like psoriasis.
- Strong bones and teeth – Vitamin A is essential for strengthening the bones and teeth. It helps form the layer of hard material that is below the surface off the teeth called dentin. Dentin helps strengthen the teeth overall so they are much tougher.
- Prevents stones – Vitamin A reduces the chances of stones in the urinary track by preventing urinary calculi from forming from calcium phosphate. It keeps the urinary tract lining healthy.
- Strengthens Immune System – Vitamin A does many things to help the immune system. For starters, it keeps the mucus membranes from drying out to ensure stronger immunity and stimulates white blood cell activity. It provides two-fold benefits by preventing germs from entering the body and also fighting any infections that are possible once the germs get into the system.
- Prevents Acne – One of the ways vitamin A helps get rid of acne is by cutting down the production of sebum. This reduction reduces the chances of acne forming. It also flushes out toxins from the body and cleanses the system from the inside with the antioxidant properties it contains.
- Slows down aging – Vitamin A is very well known for its wrinkle eliminating ability. It can also reduce fine lines and age spots too. By improving the health of the skin, your skin will look more youthful, radiant and younger.
- Lowers cholesterol – Taking vitamin A can lower blood cholesterol levels which can protect you from more serious health issues.
- Improves Reproductive System – Taking vitamin A can help with the proper functioning and health of the reproductive system so it does what it is supposed to do to stay healthy.
- Improves and Ensures Eye Health – Vitamin A is an excellent vitamin to take to improve the vision. It can help your eyes adjust to different light changes, improves night blindness, keeps your eyes moist and many other things. It is very important for reducing the risk of cataracts and prevents macular degeneration that is caused from aging. It is an excellent vitamin to ensure healthy, beautiful eyes.
- Repairing old tissues – Vitamin A is very important in replacing old, tired and worn out tissues with new ones so you look and feel great.
- Prevents some cancers – The antioxidant properties of vitamin A can prevent some types of cancers from forming.
- Reduces chances of Muscular Dystrophy – muscular dystrophy can develop when the bones are not growing properly. Vitamin A helps bones stay healthy and keep their shape as well. It is very important to have vitamin A to keep those bones growing properly.
Choosing the Right Vitamin A Supplement
There are several things you should look at when it comes time to choose the right vitamin A supplement for your needs. We have listed some of the most important factors to look at during the research process so you can be confident that you are choosing the best supplement for you and/or your family.
- Nutrient form present – Read the label of the supplements that you are considering. Look to see what form the vitamin is in the bottle. The form, if it is a specific kind, will be inside parentheses right after the name of the vitamin. Not all vitamin have special forms but for those that do, you want to choose the natural form since they are superior to the other forms.
- Dosage level – make sure that the dosage level provides you with the right amount of the vitamin or mineral you are taking. The amount of the vitamin is very important so don’t just go by face value of the bottle, look at the amounts too.
- Reputable Companies – Where your vitamins come from are very important when it comes to ensuring quality and potency as well as purity. You want to choose supplements that come from well known companies that are known for quality. You can find out a lot about the company from reading reviews and even talking to their customer service if you have questions that need answering.
- Price – Price has a bearing on the quality of the supplement you are purchasing. Everyone wants to save money when they can but you should never purchase supplements based on the fact that they are the cheapest you can find or even the most expensive. The very cheap varieties do tend to lose quality and purity. You should base your selection on several factors. Cost effectiveness or good value is fine however make sure that the supplement meets all the other criteria as well before you purchase it.
- Check the Expiration Date – When you are looking for supplements, make sure the expiration dates are what they should be. There are some vitamins and minerals that will maintain their freshness for many years. Others have a much shorter shelf life. The FDA doesn’t require supplement companies to put expiration dates on the bottles but we don’t recommend purchasing supplements without having this information labeled clearly.
- Watch out for Fillers – Things like sugar, preservatives, chlorine, artificial coloring, artificial flavoring, etc are all red flags that you want to avoid when it comes to purchasing supplements. The fewer of these things the vitamin has the better quality and better for you it is.
Conclusion
Vitamin A is a vitamin that has a lot of beneficial properties to the body. When you are deficient in this nutrient, you will certainly be able to tell based on the symptoms we have listed above.
For this reason it is important to ensure that your body has the right amount of vitamin A every day. While most people can’t get the amounts they need completely from the food they eat, it is possible to make up the difference with a good vitamin A supplement.
The information that we have provided you in this guide is designed to help you understand the benefits of vitamin A as well as how to choose the best supplement for your specific needs.
We have also reviewed three of the top rated vitamin A supplements on the market for you to consider that meet the criteria one should look for when choosing the right vitamin supplement for their body’s needs. This information will make the decision making process much easier.
Resources
- NOW – https://www.nowfoods.com/
- Seeking Health – https://www.seekinghealth.com/
- Thorne – https://www.thorne.com/
