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Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives
85 East Seventh Place, Suite 220, PO Box 64882
St. Paul, MN 55164-0882 651-201-5443
www.health.state.mn.us/obesity
Nutrition: Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a generic term for a large number of
related compounds that promote healthy vision,
bone growth, and the surface linings of the skin. It
helps the immune system by creating the white
blood cells that destroys harmful bacteria and
viruses.
One of the first signs of vitamin A deficiency is
night blindness. Severe deficiencies are not
common in the United States but it can be found in
individuals consuming excess alcohol, children
living in poverty, and individuals with disorders of
the intestines.
Preformed Vitamin A at high levels can make you
sick, cause birth defects, or death. It is possible to
get too much vitamin A from eating large amounts
of liver but in most cases toxicity is caused by
taking excessive amounts of a preformed vitamin A
supplement. Plant sources of vitamin A are not
toxic even at high levels.
Good Food Sources:
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Sweet potato
Carrots
Kale
Spinach
Cabbage
Cantaloupe
Apricots
Romaine Lettuce
Broccoli
Milk
Sweet peppers
Liver (beef, poultry, and pork)
A ½ cup of cooked vegetable
provides more vitamin A than
a ½ cup of the same vegetable
raw because the cooked
vegetable weighs more.
Nutrition: Fats Fact Sheet – Page 2
Requirements across the Lifecycle:
Life-stage Recommended
Group
Dietary
Allowance
Infants
Tolerable Upper
Intake (UL)
0-6 months 1,333 IU
7-12 months 1,667 IU
Children
1-3 years 1,000 IU
4-8 years 1,333 IU
Males
9-13 years 2,000 IU
14-18 years 3,000 IU
19-30 years 3,000 IU
31-50 years 3,000 IU
51-70 years 3,000 IU
> 70 years 3,000 IU
Females
9-13 years 2,000 IU
14-18 years 2,333 IU
19-30 years 2,333 IU
31-50 years 2,333 IU
51-70 years 2,333 IU
> 70 years 2,333 IU
Pregnancy
</= 18 years 2,500 IU
19-30 years 2,567 IU
31-50 years 2,567 IU
Lactation
</= 18 years 4,000 IU
19-30 years 4,333 IU
31-50 years 4,333 IU
1,998 IU
1,998 IU
Recommended Dietary Allowances for vitamin A
are measured in micrograms but most food and
supplement labels use International Units (IU).
Adequate Intakes (AI) are used when there is not
enough evidence to establish an RDA. Tolerable
Upper Intake Level (UL) applies to healthy
populations and is designed to prevent vitamin A
toxicity.
1,998 IU
2,997 IU
5,661 IU
9,324 IU
9,990 IU
9,990 IU
9,990 IU
9,990 IU
5,661 IU
9,342 IU
9,990 IU
9,990 IU
9,990 IU
9,990 IU
9,324 IU
9,990 IU
9,990 IU
9,324 IU
9,990 IU
9,990 IU
For more information
Nutrition: http://www.health.state.mn.us/nutrition/
Overweight and Obesity Prevention:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/obesity/
Updated June 2012
Nutrition: Fats Fact Sheet