🧪 Vitamin A

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin needed for vision, defence against disease and healthy skin. Vitamin A is needed for eyesight, especially in dim light, for fighting off illness and for healthy skin. It also supports the moist linings of the body, such as inside the nose. The body can store vitamin A, so you do not have to get it every day.

In milk, vitamin A is dissolved in the milk fat. So whole milk, cream, butter and cheese have more of it, and skimmed milk has less. The NHS lists cheese, milk and yogurt among sources of vitamin A, along with eggs and oily fish. There is also a plant route: carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes and apricots contain beta-carotene. The body turns it into vitamin A on its own.

Vitamin A or beta-carotene? The vitamin itself comes from animal foods, and in milk it is dissolved in the milk fat. Beta-carotene is the plant route: carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes and apricots contain it, and the body turns it into vitamin A on its own. That is why whole milk, cream, butter and cheese have more vitamin A than skimmed milk, while plant foods supply the precursor. Either way you do not need it daily, since the body can store vitamin A.

At the supermarket dairy chiller the fat level tells the story: whole milk, cream, butter and cheese carry more vitamin A, while low-fat and skimmed milk carry less, because the vitamin sits in the milk fat. For beta-carotene, look to the greengrocer or fruit aisle for carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes and apricots. Liver and pâté at a deli counter are especially rich, and the NHS advises pregnant women to avoid them.

The NHS says men need about 700 µg of vitamin A a day and women about 600 µg. A varied diet usually provides enough. Too much vitamin A is dangerous. Getting more than 1,500 µg a day for years can make bones weaker. Liver is especially rich in it. The NHS advises pregnant women not to eat liver or pâté.