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Neuro-Natural General |
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Neuro Natural General |
Science has long established that many brain and nervous system disorders are a direct result of long-term nutrient deficiencies... |
The stresses of a modern life, natural depletion of essential nutrients from your diet, a decrease in your immunity and the subsequent vulnerability... |
The ‘standard’ medical solution for high cholesterol is to prescribe a statin drug. Whereas these are generally effective in lowering cholesterol… |
Vitamin A Retinol Equivalents
Vitamin A is found in various foods and their regular intake would provide adequate amounts of vitamin A, which is essential for the body. In order to determine the quantity of intake of these foods it was first necessary to classify a uniform code of reference that would help us to know how much of a particular food equivalent to a particular amount of retinol is. However, there has been some amount of confusion in determining vitamin A retinol equivalents as the normally accepted equivalences have changed over the years. In the past, the most used system of equivalencies was the international unit (IU) where 1 IU was equal to 0.3 μg of retinol. One IU was also equal to 0.6 μg of β-carotene and 1.2 μg of other carotenoids which acted as provitamin-A.
After the IU was used as a means of determining vitamin A retinol equivalents for many years, a new unit known as retinol equivalent (RE) gained acceptance. 1 RE was equal to 1 μg retinol. Since these compounds are absorbed by the body better from supplements than from food, it is tabulated that 1 RE equals 2 μg β-carotene dissolved in oil, as found in diet supplement pills, and 6 μg β-carotene in normal food. 1 RE is also equal to 12 μg of either α-carotene or β-cryptoxanthin in normal food.
In the year 2001, when new research had established that provitamin-A carotenoids were absorbed by the body only half as much as previously assumed, a new unit for vitamin A retinol equivalents known as retinol activity equivalent (RAE) was proposed by the US Institute of Medicine. According to the new unit, 1 μg RAE is equal to 1 μg retinol, 2 μg of β-carotene in oil, as found in diet supplement pills, 12 μg of β-carotene found in normal food, or 24 μg of other dietary provitamin-A carotenoids.
One of the main findings from new research on vitamin A retinol equivalents indicate that fat-dissolved supplements were a much better source of vitamin A than fruits and vegetables. In other words, the IU’s referring to fat-dissolved supplements indicated a more realistic figure than those of other types of vitamin A sources. One of the main reasons for this disparity between these various types of vitamin A sources is due to the fact that provitamins are absorbed better in conjunction with lipids as these lipids increase the level of absorption or uptake of provitamin into the body.