“The Pharmacist Recommends Vitamin A Supplements to Everyone” — Not Quite
Vitamin A is essential for vision, immune function, growth, and maintaining healthy tissues, but that doesn’t mean everyone should take a vitamin A supplement. Most people can obtain enough from food, and vitamin A deficiency is uncommon in many developed countries.
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Office of Dietary Supplements
When supplementation may be appropriate
A supplement may be recommended when someone has a documented deficiency or a medical condition that interferes with vitamin A absorption. Certain intestinal disorders, including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and celiac disease, can increase the risk of deficiency.
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Office of Dietary Supplements
Good dietary sources include:
Carrots and sweet potatoes
Spinach and other dark-green vegetables
Eggs and dairy products
Mangoes, cantaloupe, and apricots
Fish and organ meats
More isn’t better
High doses of preformed vitamin A (retinol) can accumulate in the body and cause headache, nausea, dizziness, liver problems, weakened bones, and other toxicity. The adult upper limit is 3,000 mcg RAE (10,000 IU) per day from all sources, unless vitamin A is being used under medical supervision.
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Office of Dietary Supplements
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People who smoke or previously smoked should be particularly cautious with supplements containing high-dose beta-carotene, because clinical trials have found an increased lung-cancer risk in these groups.
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Office of Dietary Supplements
Vitamin A supplements can also interact with medicines such as acitretin, bexarotene, and orlistat.
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Office of Dietary Supplements
Bottom line: A pharmacist should not routinely recommend vitamin A supplements to everyone. For most people, getting vitamin A from a varied diet is preferable; supplementation should have a specific reason.
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Sources
