New Vitamin A Recommendation Much of our vitamin A comes from plant chemicals that can be converted to the active form in our bodies.
Carotenoids are present in certain orange, red, green, and dark yellow fruits and vegetables.
The biggest change in this recommendation is that twice the amount of carotenoids is needed to form vitamin A as had been previously believed. This is particularly important for vegetarians who don't consume preformed vitamin A in meat, fish, eggs, or fortified milk. Vitamin A deficiency is one of the major causes of blindness in developing countries. The committee estimated that perhaps 25-50 percent of young adults in the U.S. do not get enough vitamin A to assure adequate stores in the body. The developing fetus is particularly sensitive to too much vitamin A which can cause birth defects, but adults can also suffer from excess intake.