Читать книгу Need to Know Fertility, Conception and Pregnancy - Harriet Sharkey - Страница 51

Foods containing vitamin A

• liver

• liver pâté

• carrot

• full fat milk

• egg

Vitamin A occurs in two main forms in our diet: the first form is ‘retinol’ – the ‘real’ vitamin A; the second is the ‘carotenoids’, which your body converts into retinol. Beta-carotene is a carotenoid and is converted into retinol only when it is required. It acts as an antioxidant in the body (helping to prevent damage to blood vessels caused by free radical molecules) and is the pigment that gives the green, yellow or orange colour to vegetables and fruit. The brighter the vegetable, in fact, the more beta-carotene it contains. Fresh liver is a particularly rich natural source of vitamin A, as animals, like humans, store vitamin A in their livers.

Very high intakes of ‘true’ vitamin A – ‘retinol’ – have been linked with an increased risk of fetal abnormalities during pregnancy. Such high levels are likely to be far in excess of those you would find in your normal diet, however. The amount of retinol linked with fetal abnormalities is in excess of 3,300 mcg per day. This level is very high: you would need to eat 30 eggs in one day, for example, to get that much vitamin A. At the same time, you should not take supplements containing vitamin A in the retinol form or eat foods that are very rich in retinol, such as liver or liver products like pâté, when you are planning to become pregnant or are pregnant. Similarly, fish liver oils (e.g. cod liver oil) should also be avoided.