Vitamin A & Beat-carotene

Hi healthy eaters!

So today let's talk about vitamin A and beta-carotene, which both are really important and may improve many things to function more properly in your body. Both have enormous influence on you wellbeing and mood. 

.

Vitamin A is an essential nutrient, also known as retinol, which have important functions:

• It helps your immune system work against infections,
• It plays an huge role in vision as an essential element of rhodopsin (a protein that absorbs light,
• It keeps skin, hair and nails healthy.
• It also exerts an impact on the normal formation and maintenance of lungs, heart, kidneys and other organs.

There are two forms of Vitamin A available:

1. PREFORMED VITAMIN A --> It can be found in animal an diary products. 
2. PROVITAMIN A CAROTENOIDS --> It can be found in plan-based products, such as fruit and veggies. By far the most important is BETA-CAROTENE (more about it later in the post). 

VITAMIN A exists in: 

• carrots,
• green, leafy veggies,
• orange-coloured fruit,
• spinach,
• tomatoes,
• pumpkins,
• butter and margarine,
• cheese,
• milk,
• yogurth,
• eggs,
• liver,
• oily fish.

You may also contribute good sources of BETA-CAROTENE, because it can be converted into vitamin A by your body. Beta-carotene gives yellow and orange fruits and veggies their colour.

The main food sources of beta-carotene are:

• yellow, green and red leafy veggies, such as carrots, spinach red peppers or sweet potatoes,
• yellow fruit such as apricots or mango.

VITAMIN A IN KITCHEN

*Cooking foods, which contain vitamin A causes a 25% loss,

*Washing and draining make the vitamin A vanish by 35%,

*Drying causes the highest loss of vitmin A, up to 50%.

Remember to wash all fruit and veggies before cooking, so that you remove microorganisms on the surface of them.