There are two primary sources of ๐๐ข๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง ๐.โฃ
๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐, or ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ ๐:โฃ
All mammals get two-thirds of carotenoids from beta carotenes.โฃ
Yellow, red and green (leafy) vegetables (spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes and red peppers)โฃ
Yellow fruit (mango, papaya and apricots)โฃ
๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐, or ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ต ๐:โฃ
Cheeseโฃ
Fortified low-fat spreadsโฃ
Milk and yoghurtโฃ
Eggsโฃ
Oily fishโฃ
Liver and liver products such as liver pรขtรฉ (donโt eat more than once a week, and pregnant women should avoid them altogether)โฃ
Examples of low concentration of Vit A (๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ % ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ).โฃ
๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ:โฃ
Peppers, sweet, red, raw, ยฝ cup (117/13)โฃ
Mangos, raw, 1 whole (112/12)โฃ
Black-eyed peas, boiled, 1 cup (66/7)โฃ
Apricots, dried, 10 halves (63/7)โฃ
Broccoli, boiled, ยฝ cup (60/7)โฃ
Pistachio nuts, dry roasted, 1 ounce (4/0)โฃ
๐๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ:โฃ
Egg, hard-boiled, 1 large (75/8)โฃ
Salmon, sockeye, cooked, 3 ounces (59/7)โฃ
Yoghurt, plain, low fat, 1 cup (32/4)โฃ
Tuna, light, canned in oil, drained solids, 3 ounces (20/2)โฃ
Chicken, breast meat and skin, roasted, ยฝ breast (5/1)โฃ
Though most get their Vit A from plant sources, in reality, its absorption is not great.โฃ
When we eat beta carotenes, only ๐บ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ผ๐ถ% ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฅ.โฃ
In contrast, between ๐พ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฟ๐ถ% of retinol from animal proteins will be absorbed.โฃ
To make the matter a bit more complicated, ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐ค, ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ (conditions like abetalipoproteinemia) affect carotenoid absorption.โฃ
๐๐๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ง๐จ๐ข๐๐ฌ are ๐ฑ๐ช๐จ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด.โฃ
They are the reason for the bright red, yellow and orange colours you see in plenty of fruits, vegetables, algae and bacteria.โฃ
Their importance is related to their ability to help absorb light so that photosynthesis can be done.โฃ
They are also antioxidants.โฃ
You can take supplements, if you can’t eat any of the above.