Talking about the message of balanced nutrition , of course, cannot be separated from consuming foods rich in nutrients, one of which is vitamin A. Vitamin A is an important nutrient in the body. Well, you probably already know one of the benefits of vitamin A, right?
It’s true, the benefits of vitamin A that most people are quite familiar with are that it can help maintain eye health.
In addition, this nutrient which is also commonly called retinol has other benefits for the health of the body. Anything? Come on, see the information in the discussion below!
8 Benefits of Vitamin A to Maintain Body Health
Vitamin A is a nutrient that you can get by eating a variety of healthy foods, such as fish, milk, eggs, broccoli, and so on.
When you eat foods rich in vitamin A, you will get a number of health benefits. The 8 benefits of vitamin A for the health of the body include:
1. Maintain Eye Health
Yep, the main function of vitamin A that is well known by the general public is to maintain eye health.
In the eye organ, vitamin A is useful for converting the captured light into a signal to be sent to the brain.
In addition, vitamin A also helps protect cell damage in the eye and reduces the risk of diseases, such as night blindness and so on.
2. Maintaining the Health of the Reproductive Organs
The next use of vitamin A is to maintain the health of the reproductive organs, both in men and women. The reason is, vitamin A is one of the nutrients needed for the development of sperm in men and female egg cells.
3. Help reduce the risk of contracting cancer
Help reduce the risk of contracting cancer or other chronic diseases to be the next benefit of vitamin A.
This is because vitamin A is a nutrient that has antioxidant properties. These antioxidant properties will help protect the body’s cells from damage due to the effects of excess free radicals.
4. Supports Fetal Growth for Pregnant Women
In order for the health and development process of the fetus to be maintained, pregnant women also need to have sufficient nutritional intake properly, one of which is vitamin A.
The content of retinol acid in vitamin A will help complement the structure and function of the organs of the fetus.
In addition, vitamin A is also found to help strengthen the immune system of pregnant women, thereby reducing the risk of disease.
Pregnant women are advised to consume sources of vitamin A from natural foods, such as sweet potatoes, spinach, kale, mangoes, and so on.
Meanwhile, if you want to take vitamin A supplements, the mother should first consult with a doctor so that she can maintain the health of her fetus.
5. Strengthens the Immune System
Strengthening the immune system is another benefit of vitamin A.
Vitamin A will also strengthen the body’s immune system because it helps optimize the production and function of white blood cells. Where, white blood cells in the body have a role to fight bacteria and pathogens that carry disease.
In addition, vitamin A can also launch the digestive system so that the absorption of nutrients in the body can be ideal.
6. Help slow down premature aging
The next benefit of vitamin A is to help nourish the skin. As previously mentioned, vitamin A is an antioxidant.
Therefore, vitamin A, which works by slowing cell aging, will help make one’s skin look healthy and fresh.
The way it works, this vitamin A will maintain the levels of keratin which has a role in protecting the skin from damage. In addition, vitamin A also prevents damage to collagen and increases its production thereby helping skin elasticity and firmness.
Retinol in vitamin A has also been found to be able to treat acne on the skin which is quite severe.
7. Increases the Production of Red Blood Cells
Increasing the production of red blood cells is also one of the benefits of vitamin A. This is because vitamin A helps metabolize iron which is an important component in the production of red blood cells.
Of course, you also need to consume other nutrients to help increase red blood cell production, such as iron, folic acid, vitamin C, and others.
8. Help Maintain Bone Health
The last function of vitamin A is to maintain bone health.
This is because vitamin A plays an important role in the process of forming and maintaining healthy bones, in addition to calcium and vitamin D.
The use of vitamin A has also been found to help repair and reduce the risk of fractures by influencing the bone cells to maintain their density.
Those are some of the benefits of vitamin A for body health that you need to know. Keep in mind, consumption of vitamin A still needs to be limited to just enough, yes, you don’t need to overdo it so as not to have side effects on your body.