Vitamin A or retinol is an essential vitamin for visual health. It is also found as provitamin A or beta-carotene. Discover the role of this vitamin, its recommended nutritional intake, the risks of deficiency or overdose and its medical applications.
Description of vitamin A and beta-carotene
Vitamin A, or retinol, is one of the fat-soluble vitamins. It is found in foods of animal origin directly as retinol. It can also be ingested in the form of carotenoids, mainly beta-carotene or provitamin A.
These precursors of vitamin A are present in plants. However, not all of the beta-carotene consumed is converted to retinol. That is why, in order to obtain an equivalent vitamin activity, it is necessary to count 6 times more beta-carotene than retinol
