Bedtime struggles are real for many people. It’s estimated that 10 to 30% of the population worldwide has insomnia, which, in some places, can even be as high as 60% 1.
And while many people aren’t diagnosed with insomnia, they still struggle nightly with sleep disruptions that prevent them from getting the rest they need.
Whether it be difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, it’s not fun to deal with—and it can lead to various health issues down the line.
To curb sleep problems, many people turn to natural supplements like magnesium, melatonin, and herbs to help them fall asleep—but what about vitamin A? While it may be known for its role in vision, vitamin A does appear to have a connection to sleep.
In this article, we dig into the details of vitamin A and sleep and give you some of our best remedies for getting a peaceful night’s rest and having boundless next-day energy.
What Is Vitamin A?
Have you heard about vitamin A before? If you’re like most people, you’re familiar with it thanks to its role in eye health and vision, but vitamin A has a bigger job than just protecting the eyes.
Contrary to what most people think, vitamin A isn’t a sole vitamin—it’s a group of fat-soluble compounds that include retinol, retinal, and retinyl esters 2, 3. In nature, you’ll find vitamin A in two forms:
- Preformed vitamin A, also known as retinol
- Provitamin A, also known as the carotenoids
Preformed vitamin A, or retinol, is the active form of vitamin A you’ll find in many animal foods 2. When consumed through food or supplementation, retinol is converted to retinoic acid, retinal, and retinyl esters, the only three forms of vitamin A the body can use immediately.
Any other form must undergo conversion before us. Carotenoids are an example of that. They are a group of more than 750 naturally occurring plant pigments that give fruits and vegetables their vibrant red, orange, and yellow hues.
But unlike the active form of vitamin A, carotenoids must convert into retinol and further into retinal before they can be used 4.
While we may only know vitamin A for one function, it serves plenty of roles in the body, including:
- Eye health and vision
- Immunity
- Reproduction
- Skin health
- Bone health
- Growth and development
Like most nutrients, it has widespread roles throughout the body, making it an essential part of the diet.
However, before you run out and grab yourself a supplement, be mindful that vitamin A is fat-soluble, which means it’s stored in fat tissue if in excess. As a result, you don’t want to go buck wild with supplementation preformed vitamin A.
Beta-carotene metabolism, on the other hand, is regulated, so going nuts with beta-carotene may cause minor side effects like skin discoloration rather than toxicity 5.
Vitamin A And Sleep: Is There A Link?
It’s clear that vitamin A plays a vital role in maintaining healthy eyes and vision, and since impaired night vision is one of the earliest signs of a vitamin A deficiency, researchers have studied how this happens in both the rods and cones of the retina.
When light enters the eye, it hits the retina and strikes vitamin A, bound to a protein in the opsin family. The energy of the light alters the shape of vitamin A, which subsequently changes the shape of the opsin protein, allowing the nerve impulse to travel down the optic nerve to the brain and allowing us to see.
In the rods, the opsin protein is called rhodopsin; in cones, there are three opsins specific to different colors—red, blue, and green.
But apart from housing the rods and cones that support vision, cells of the retina also play a role in setting our circadian rhythm—these are known as intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) 6.
The opsin protein in these cells is called melanopsin, and it’s involved in communication with the brain about what time of day it is; when blue light enters the eye, it signals that it’s daytime 7. This is also why blue light has such profound influences on arousal.
Vitamin A plays the same role in melanopsin as in other opsins. As such, without sufficient vitamin A, the brains can’t differentiate between daylight and nighttime, and our circadian rhythms will be wonky.
If the circadian system fails, it can lead to issues with sleep, including daytime sleepiness and nighttime sleep disruptions.
Scientific Evidence For Vitamin A And Sleep
Although you’ll find little information in the way of vitamin A directly supporting sleep—most of that’s reserved for more common sleep supplements—there is some evidence supporting the role of vitamin A in the circadian rhythm.
Some biochemistry experiments mapped out the melanopsin pathway, while another human observational study found that people with lower vitamin A status are more likely to have sleep disorders 8-10.
The same study that linked low vitamin A to sleep disruptions also found that higher vitamin D, folate, vitamin B12, carotenoids, and vitamins E and C states were linked to better sleep.
Other Health Benefits Of Vitamin A
Although the relationship between vitamin A and sleep is complex and still being explored, there are many other benefits to getting enough vitamin A.
1. Protects against night blindness and age-related vision decline
Vitamin A is essential for converting light into an electrical signal transmitted to the brain. One of the first signs of low vitamin A is night blindness, also known as nyctalopia 11.
Because vitamin A is a major component of the pigment rhodopsin, which is highly sensitive to light, a lack of vitamin A can impair vision in low-light conditions.
Beta-carotene can also help preserve vision and slow age-related decline in eyesight 12. Although the exact cause isn’t clear, it’s thought that age-related macular degeneration (AMD) may be partially due to cellular damage to the retina.
The Age-Related Eye Disease Study found that supplementation with an antioxidant supplement that included beta-carotene in people over 50 with mild eyesight degeneration reduced their risk of developing advanced macular degeneration by 25% 13.
2. Boosts immune function
Vitamin D, zinc, and vitamin C are the classic immune trio but don’t forget about vitamin A. It helps to strengthen your body’s mucosal barriers, which are the first line of defense against pathogens and infectious agents 14.
A vitamin A deficiency can increase susceptibility to infections and delay recovery if illness strikes.
3. Promotes better skin
Topical vitamin A is a big thing in the skincare world, and studies show that vitamin A can have profound effects on improving the appearance of skin and minimizing the signs of aging. It’s been shown to:
- Increase skin cell turnover
- Improves skin texture and tone
- Boosts collagen production
- Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
- Treats acne
- Reduces post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation
For more details on vitamin A and skin health, check out this article.
4. Supports bone health
Although most people aren’t aware of the links between vitamin A and bone health, it’s just as important as calcium and vitamin D.
Both osteoblasts (bone-building cells) and osteoclasts (bone-breaking down cells) are influenced by levels of vitamin A, and studies show that people with lower blood levels of vitamin A are at an increased risk of bone fractures 15.
But it’s not just low vitamin A—high intakes of vitamin A are also linked to an increased risk of fractures 16. While the link between the two isn’t clear, it is evident that vitamin A is crucial for healthy bones.
The Solutions You Need
If your intake of vitamin A is sufficient and you’re still feeling sleepy, we have a few solutions for you!
If you need more sleep…
We all struggle with sleep now and again, but for anyone who finds themselves tossing and turning more than they are sleeping, Performance Lab Sleep is for you. It’s a revolutionary natural sleep formula designed to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
Featuring natural melatonin derived from Montmorency tart cherry paired with tryptophan (the precursor to melatonin) and three types of magnesium, Sleep promotes a deeper sleep with no next-day drowsiness.
If you need an energy boost…
Missed out on sleep and desperate for a surge of energy without hitting heavy caffeine? We have two solutions for you.
First, try Performance Lab Energy—a state-of-the-art formula designed to supercharge your mitochondria’s function rather than electrify your energy with caffeine.
By targeting the root of energy production, Energy provides a surge in natural vitality to keep you running on high all day long.
And if you’re in the mood for a slight caffeine hit, Performance Lab Caffeine+ offers a moderate, controlled dose of caffeine stacked with boosters and balancers for more natural, stable energy throughout the day.
No crashes, no burnout, and no nasty side effects—just clean, healthy, more relaxed energy.
If you want nutritional maintenance…
And for anyone looking for general maintenance to avoid the pitfalls of nutrient deficiencies and excesses, Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multi is your gem.
Explicitly designed with male and female needs in mind, Multi supplies 100% RDI of 17+ essential vitamins and minerals in the most bioavailable and bioidentical form, thanks to NutriGenesis technology.
With enhanced absorption and bioactivities, Multi restores depleted nutrient levels and fills in nutrient gaps in the diet for optimal health and peak performance.
References
- Bhaskar S, Hemavathy D, Prasad S. Prevalence of chronic insomnia in adult patients and its correlation with medical comorbidities. J Family Med Prim Care. 2016;5(4):780-784.
- Gilbert C. What is vitamin A and why do we need it?Community Eye Health. 2013;26(84):65.
- O’Byrne SM, Blaner WS. Retinol and retinyl esters: biochemistry and physiology. J Lipid Res. 2013;54(7):1731-1743.
- Wang XD. Carotenoids. In: Ross CA, Caballero B, Cousins RJ, Tucker KL, Ziegler TR, eds. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. 11th ed: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2014:427-439.
- Penniston KL, Tanumihardjo SA. The acute and chronic toxic effects of vitamin A. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;83(2):191-201.
- Pickard GE, Sollars PJ. Intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells. Rev Physiol Biochem Pharmacol. 2012;162:59-90.
- Wolf G. Three vitamins are involved in regulation of the circadian rhythm. Nutr Rev. 2002;60(8):257-260.
- Sexton TJ, Golczak M, Palczewski K, Van Gelder RN. Melanopsin is highly resistant to light and chemical bleaching in vivo. J Biol Chem. 2012;287(25):20888-20897.
- Tsukamoto H, Kubo Y, Farrens DL, Koyanagi M, Terakita A, Furutani Y. Retinal Attachment Instability Is Diversified among Mammalian Melanopsins. J Biol Chem. 2015;290(45):27176-27187.
- Beydoun MA, Gamaldo AA, Canas JA, et al. Serum nutritional biomarkers and their associations with sleep among US adults in recent national surveys. PLoS One. 2014;9(8):e103490.
- Sommer A. Vitamin a deficiency and clinical disease: an historical overview. J Nutr. 2008;138(10):1835-1839.
- Wu J, Cho E, Willett WC, Sastry SM, Schaumberg DA. Intakes of Lutein, Zeaxanthin, and Other Carotenoids and Age-Related Macular Degeneration During 2 Decades of Prospective Follow-up. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2015;133(12):1415-1424.
- Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group. A randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of high-dose supplementation with vitamins C and E, beta carotene, and zinc for age-related macular degeneration and vision loss: AREDS report no. 8 . Arch Ophthalmol. 2001;119(10):1417-1436.
- de Medeiros PHQS, Pinto DV, de Almeida JZ, et al. Modulation of Intestinal Immune and Barrier Functions by Vitamin A: Implications for Current Understanding of Malnutrition and Enteric Infections in Children. 2018;10(9):1128.
- Zhang X, Zhang R, Moore JB, et al. The Effect of Vitamin A on Fracture Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14(9):1043.
- Tanumihardjo SA. Vitamin A and bone health: the balancing act. J Clin Densitom. 2013;16(4):414-419.
