Vitamin A is one of the essential vitamins our body needs to function properly. It has many uses, one supporting a healthy immune system.
The body’s immune response exists to fight off invading pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and toxins, and protect us from infections. When it doesn’t work as well as it should, we are more susceptible to illness and diseases.
In this article, learn more about vitamin A and how it helps keep your immune system in tip-top shape!
What is Vitamin A?
We may think of vitamin A as a singular nutrient when in fact, it is a group of fat-soluble nutrients, including retinol, retinal, and retinyl esters. These play a crucial role in many bodily functions and are required for good health.
Vitamin A is not produced by the body and must be consumed through the diet or as a supplement. It’s recommended that men get 900 mcg, women 700 mcg, and children and adolescents get 300–600 mcg of vitamin A per day. There are two forms of vitamin A found in food 1:
- Preformed vitamin A (retinol, retinal, retinoic acid): This is the active form of vitamin A that the body can use immediately. It is found only in animal products such as dairy, red meat, chicken, and fish.
- Provitamin A carotinoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin): This form of vitamin A is inactive and must be converted by the body into retinol and retinoic acid. It is found in plant foods such as yellow fruits, leafy vegetables, carrots, and red peppers.
As vitamin A is fat-soluble, the body can store it for later use, mostly in the liver as retinyl esters. To use provitamin A, the body must first convert it to the active form. Once it is in active form, the body can use it for a variety of purposes.
How Does The Body Use Vitamin A?
Vitamin A is an essential nutrient that has many important functions in the body. It is perhaps most well known for its role in maintaining healthy vision 2 - carrots are high in beta-carotene, which is why we’re convinced from a young age that eating them will help us see in the dark!
But its uses stretch far beyond helping us see in low light. Vitamin A also helps maintain healthy tissues and skin, ensures organs are functioning properly, and supports reproductive health and the growth and development of babies.
Additionally, another major role of vitamin A is supporting our immune system. It does so by acting as a potent antioxidant and increasing the production of white blood cells that protect the body from infection 3.
Vitamin A and the Immune system
Oxidative stress occurs when there is an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in the body. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that cause cell damage and are linked to many chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease 4. They are released as a natural by-product of metabolism, but also in response to things like environmental toxins, alcohol, and fried foods.
Antioxidants exist to keep these harmful molecules in check by neutralizing them and preventing cell damage. Provitamin A has strong antioxidant properties and can help fight oxidative stress.
According to research, people with diets high in provitamin A have a much lower risk of developing chronic diseases 5. Other studies have found that retinoids can even inhibit the growth of cancerous cells 6.
Another way vitamin A helps protect you from illness and disease is by boosting the production of B cells and T cells. These are important immune cells involved in the immune response that help protect you from disease 7. They work by recognizing and destroying foreign pathogens that have the potential to cause illness and are crucial to a healthy immune system.
Vitamin A deficiency is known to increase your risk of infections and delay recovery from illnesses because of an increase in inflammatory molecules which suppress the immune response.
Interestingly, one study found that treating vitamin A deficiency in children who live in countries where serious illnesses like malaria are common decreases the risk of mortality 8.
Supplementing With Vitamin A
Obtaining enough vitamin A through diet alone is sometimes challenging. Taking a supplement like Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multi that contains a dose of vitamin A can ensure you are meeting your daily requirements to maintain a healthy immune system.
These come as two separate multivitamins for men and women and are calibrated for your specific nutritional needs. Combine the multivitamin with PL-Immune for extra immune-boosting nutrients that support long-range health.
Conclusion
Vitamin A is an essential vitamin that is required for overall good health. It is involved in a regulating number of body functions, including vision, growth and development, tissue and organ maintenance and immune support.
Vitamin A supports a healthy immune system by acting as a potent antioxidant to fight oxidative stress, reducing cell damage and the risk of diseases. It also increases the production of crucial immune cells that protect the body from infections.
Feel confident you are getting all the vitamin A you need for a healthy immune system by taking supplements like Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multi, and consider adding in PL-Immune for all-round immune support!
References
- Russell, Robert, et al. "Dietary reference intakes for vitamin A, vitamin K, arsenic, boron, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, vanadium, and zinc." A report of the panel on micronutrients, subcommittees on upper reference levels of nutrients and of interpretation and uses of dietary reference intakes, and the standing committee on the scientific evaluation of dietary reference intakes food and nutrition board Institute of medicine (2001): 797.
- Lenahan, Cameron, et al. "Rhodopsin: a potential biomarker for neurodegenerative diseases." Frontiers in Neuroscience 14 (2020): 326.
- Liang, Yuejin, et al. "Retinoic acid modulates hyperactive T cell responses and protects vitamin A–deficient mice against persistent lymphocytic Choriomeningitis virus infection." The Journal of Immunology 204.11 (2020): 2984-2994.
- Pizzino, Gabriele, et al. "Oxidative stress: harms and benefits for human health." Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity 2017 (2017).
- Maria, Alessandra Gammone, Riccioni Graziano, and D’Orazio Nicolantonio. "Carotenoids: potential allies of cardiovascular health?." Food & nutrition research 59.1 (2015): 26762.
- Doldo, Elena, et al. "Vitamin A, cancer treatment and prevention: the new role of cellular retinol binding proteins." BioMed research international 2015 (2015).
- Huang, Zhiyi, et al. "Role of vitamin A in the immune system." Journal of clinical medicine 7.9 (2018): 258.
- Patel, Sapna, and Michael Vajdy. "Induction of cellular and molecular immunomodulatory pathways by vitamin A and flavonoids." Expert opinion on biological therapy 15.10 (2015): 1411-1428.
