Homegrown Vegetables High in Vitamin A | Gardener's Path

We’ve been told since we were young that eating carrots will help our eyesight… or maybe it was just my mom who said that?

There is some truth to this common recommendation because carrots, and several other types of vegetables, happen to be a good source of vitamin A.

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Let’s take a closer look at what this essential nutrient has to offer:

Starting with the basics, let me explain what vitamin A is.

This fat-soluble vitamin is made up of several chemical compounds. There are two types commonly found in the human diet: preformed vitamin A that is mainly found in meat and animal products, and provitamin A carotenoids which are found in plants.

Preformed vitamin A compounds (including retinol, retinal, and retinoic acid) are the “active” forms of the vitamin, which can be utilized by your body without undergoing any conversion process.

Provitamin A carotenoids such as beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin are “inactive” forms that your body needs to convert into retinol, the usable form.

A type of provitamin A carotenoid that you may have heard of is beta-carotene.  This compound gives fruits and vegetables a reddish-orange hue, the typical color of most carrots, for example.

Other phytochemicals like lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin are also carotenoids, however, they are not converted to usable vitamin A in the body. They do bring their own unique health benefits and it is still good to include foods high in these compounds in your diet nonetheless!

The recommended daily allowance of vitamin A is 900 micrograms of RAE (retinol activity equivalents) for