Vitamin A is one of the true staples of good health. While you may recognise it as retinol in your skincare, its real work happens beneath the surface – maintaining everything from your immune response to how clearly you see in low light.
What does vitamin A do?
Vitamin A (commonly known as retinol) is a nutrient that quietly supports a surprising number of things at once. It contributes to the normal function of the immune system, the maintenance of normal vision, and the maintenance of normal skin. As an antioxidant, it also contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress, and it plays a role in the normal process of cell specialisation – the everyday business of your cells developing into the many different types your body needs.
One of its most familiar roles is vision – specifically, your ability to see in dim light. It's what helps your eyes adjust when you walk into a dark cinema, and it's the reason vitamin A deficiency is historically linked to night blindness. It also contributes to the maintenance of normal mucous membranes – the moist linings of places like your nose, throat and gut – which form part of the body's natural first line of defence. And in a role fewer people know about, vitamin A contributes to normal iron metabolism, helping your body put that important mineral to use.
In other words, vitamin A isn't a one-trick nutrient. It's involved in vision, skin, immune function and more, all at the same time – which is exactly why it earns its place as a staple.
Retinol or beta-carotene? The two forms of vitamin A
Here's something that trips a lot of people up: vitamin A doesn't come in just one form. There are two, and your body treats them differently.
Retinol is the "ready-made" form, found in animal sources like eggs, oily fish, and (if you're brave) beef liver. Your body can use it more or less as-is. Beta-carotene is the "raw material" form, found in brightly coloured fruit and vegetables – think sweet potatoes, carrots, mango, apricots and spinach. Your body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A as and when it needs it, which is rather elegant: it takes what it needs and leaves the rest.
That second point is worth knowing, because it's part of why plant sources are considered gentler – your body self-regulates how much it converts. It's also why "eat a rainbow" is such useful shorthand: those deep oranges, yellows and greens are a good visual cue for beta-carotene.
What are the best food sources of vitamin A?
As above, you'll get retinol from animal foods and beta-carotene from colourful plants, so a varied diet naturally covers both. The recommended daily amount is 700µg for men and 600µg for women, and most people can meet this comfortably through everyday eating.
Vitamin A is fat-soluble, which is a useful thing to understand. Unlike the water-soluble vitamins (such as the B group and vitamin C), your body can store fat-soluble vitamins, so you don't need a perfect intake every single day – your reserves smooth things out. The flip side is that, because it's stored rather than flushed out, it's genuinely possible to have too much, which is why vitamin A is one to be a little more considered about than, say, vitamin C.
It's also a nutrient that can be lost in handling and cooking. Food loses some of its vitamin content between field and plate, and vitamin A in particular is sensitive to heat, oxygen and light – so very high-heat cooking like frying can break some of it down.
Should I take a vitamin A supplement?
Most people can get enough vitamin A through a balanced diet, and because your body stores it, the occasional low day isn't a concern. But some people may find a supplement helpful.
If you have a condition that affects how well you absorb nutrients, getting enough from food alone can be more challenging – it's worth speaking to your GP or pharmacist about whether a supplement would help. The same goes for those following plant-based diets that don't regularly include beta-carotene-rich foods.
Pregnancy deserves a special mention, because vitamin A is the rare nutrient where the advice is often to be careful not to take too much. High doses, and liver products like pâté, are generally best avoided in pregnancy. So if you're pregnant or planning to be, don't take a vitamin A supplement without speaking to a healthcare professional first – this is one to get personal advice on rather than self-manage.
Is vitamin A good for your skin?
There's a reason it's known as the "skin vitamin". Vitamin A contributes to the maintenance of normal skin, supporting the daily process by which your skin renews itself from within. It works hand in hand with its role in cell specialisation, since healthy skin depends on a steady, orderly turnover of cells.
It's worth being clear about the difference between taking vitamin A and applying it. A supplement supports your skin from the inside as part of your overall nutrition; topical retinols, on the other hand, are formulated to work on the surface of the skin directly, and that's a different job. Many people use both. If you're interested in topical vitamin A products, explore our retinol skincare collection.
Explore further
These pieces from our Discover blog pick up where this article leaves off:
- Retinol for sensitive skin: start smart – how to introduce topical vitamin A if your skin needs a gentler approach.
Explore our range of vitamin A supplements supporting normal skin, vision and immune function.