How vitamin A pills change how your body uses carrot vitamin
Absorption and retinol equivalence of β-carotene in humans is influenced by dietary vitamin A intake Published, JLR Papers in Press, June 1, 2003. DOI 10.1194/jlr.M300116-JLR200
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Higher vitamin A yield despite reduced cleavage of beta-carotene
Common belief holds that beta-carotene must be cleaved to be useful. This study shows that even when cleavage decreases, net vitamin A availability can increase due to improved absorption.
Practical Takeaways
Taking vitamin A supplements may improve how efficiently your body uses beta-carotene from plant foods like carrots and sweet potatoes.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Higher vitamin A yield despite reduced cleavage of beta-carotene
Common belief holds that beta-carotene must be cleaved to be useful. This study shows that even when cleavage decreases, net vitamin A availability can increase due to improved absorption.
Practical Takeaways
Taking vitamin A supplements may improve how efficiently your body uses beta-carotene from plant foods like carrots and sweet potatoes.
Publication
Journal
Journal of Lipid Research
Year
2003
Authors
S. Lemke, S. Dueker, J. Follett, Yumei Lin, Colleen Carkeet, B. Buchholz, J. Vogel, A. Clifford
Related Content
Claims (4)
Taking a lot of vitamin A every day for about three weeks might help two healthy people absorb more beta-carotene from their food, based on how much showed up in their urine over the next month.
Taking a specific dose of vitamin A every day for about three weeks might make your body get rid of much less of a certain form of beta-carotene through urine, based on a small observation in two healthy adults.
Taking a lot of vitamin A every day for about three weeks might make your body break down beta-carotene (from food) into vitamin A less efficiently.
After taking vitamin A supplements for three weeks, two people ended up getting more usable vitamin A from beta-carotene—even though their bodies were breaking it down less, which is kind of surprising.