One way to make sure you are getting all of the necessary vitamins is to purchase a bottle of them. Of course, you also need to remember to take them! Another, arguably better, way to get enough vitamins is to learn what foods contain which ones. That knowledge can help you to make healthier food choices. Here are some foods that have vitamin A.

Healthy Foods Choices that Contain Vitamin A

Why do you need vitamin A? It is because vitamin A helps promote bone growth, keeps the immune system strong, helps you to fight disease as a powerful antioxidant, and helps you to maintain a healthy reproductive system.

The Office of Dietary Supplements says that vitamin A helps to prevent infection by producing white blood cells and that it is also important for healthy skin and mucous membranes. Medline Plus notes that vitamin A helps to promote good vision.

Carrots have 9,000 milligrams of vitamin A. This vegetable (which is in season during December and January) is the number one source of vitamin A. Try some baby carrots as a lunch time snack. Add some carrots to the next batch of juice that you mix. Choose carrots as an easy to prepare vegetable side dish for dinner.

Other vegetables that have vitamin A include: sweet potatoes, pumpkins, spinach, collards, kale, turnip greens, beet greens, and winter squash. In other words, you want to look for the colorful vegetables and focus on the greens. The most common type of pro-vitamin A is beta-carotene, which is found in plants.

There are also some fruits that contain vitamin A. These include some of the bright yellow and orange fruits like cantaloupe, pink grapefruit, and apricots.

LiveStrong notes that vitamin A from plant sources is not as well absorbed by the body as the vitamin A that comes from animal sources. The type of vitamin A that comes from animal sources is called preformed vitamin A.

There are several different kinds of animal sources that contain vitamin A. They include eggs, meat (meaning red meat), cheese, cream, liver, kidney, cod, and halibut fish oil. All of those sources are high in saturated fat and cholesterol. If you want to avoid that, try some skim milk that has been fortified with vitamin A. It is not high in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Keep this knowledge in mind as you are making choices about what to make for dinner or to pack for lunch. It is possible to eat seasonally and still get a good amount of vitamin A. People who are vegetarian or vegan can get their vitamin A from the right fruits and vegetables.

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