Most vitamins play an important role in the processing of the body. Vitamin A, like other vitamins, is required for the body to function properly. Without vitamin A, our bodies begin to breakdown and have problems that can be life threatening.
Vitamin A is considered a fat-soluble vitamin. Fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins that are absorbed in the intestinal tract of a person.
From here they can be stored in the fat cells in places like the liver and used over time. This means that the body is able to store up vitamin A and use it as it needs it. This differs from water-soluble vitamins that require constant resupply. That does not mean the deficiencies in vitamin A cannot occur.
Vitamin A can play a vital role in the disposal of PMS symptoms from a woman’s life. There are many effects that occur when vitamin A levels are increased through diet that will fight PMS symptoms like acne and heavy bleeding as well as problems that occur like fatigue and breakouts when vitamin A levels fall. Since vitamin A has proven to have effects on reproductive health, there are many benefits from maintaining a balanced level of vitamin A.
Vitamin A plays an important role in the body. The primary function of vitamin A helps with vision, gene transcription, immune functionality, reproduction, bone metabolism, skin and cellular health, and antioxidant activity. Vitamin A is also known by the name Retinol and contains carotenoids, the most known of the carotenoids is beta carotene. The two largest responsibilities of Vitamin A in the body are vision and dermatology.
Vision is supported by vitamin A by promoting the development and long-term health of the rods and cones of the eyes. Vitamin A also helps keep the rods and cones of the eyes functioning so that people maintain their vision and do not start to have problems like night vision blindness or color blindness.
Vitamin A is required to maintain healthy skin. Vitamin A helps to turn on genes that will turn immature skin cells in to mature skin cells that form the epidermis, or outer layer of skin. Vitamin A plays a vital role in skin repair and rejuvenation in the body. This is why an increase in the levels of vitamin A will result in the reduction in acne and other skin problems. Many of the best skin care products contain retinol to help with younger looking skin.
Vitamin A Deficiency
When the body has a vitamin A deficiency, problems start to occur. As vitamin A is a nutrient that is required to sustain long-term health, when people do not get high enough levels of vitamin A, the systems that utilize vitamin A will shut down, sometimes permanently.
Vitamin A deficiency can present itself as either a primary or secondary deficiency. A primary deficiency is a deficiency that occurs when people are not consuming enough vitamin A in their diets. This can easily be remedied by increasing the intake of vitamin A and developing a balanced diet.
Secondary vitamin A deficiency is apparent when internal problems prevent the absorption or use of vitamin A in the body. The body may be passing vitamin A through the system without using it or without storing it. This can happen naturally when there are problems like malfunction in bile production and release or lipid problems. This can happen as a function of things that people due to themselves like cigarette smoking or excessive alcoholism which changes the natural processes in the body.
Vitamin A Deficiency Symptoms
Symptoms are often present with a vitamin A deficiency. People who exhibit signs of a vitamin A deficiency will have problems in their eyes like night blindness, swelling in the eyes (conjunctivitis), dry eye syndrome (xerophthalmia), color-blindness, dry corneas (keratomalacia), abnormal tolerance of light (photophobia), and complete blindness.
Symptoms associated with the hair and nails would be present like dry hair, peeling nails, and ridges in the nails. Skin problems would present themselves as acne, skin infections, scleroderma, dry skin, and skin cancers. Other symptoms include reproductive problems, bad teeth, slow bone development, cardiovascular problems, weakened immune systems, weight loss and loss of smell, taste or appetite.
To prevent vitamin A deficiencies, women should get approximately 0.7 milligrams per day of vitamin A in their diets and men should get 0.5 milligrams per day to maintain a balanced level of vitamin A in the system. This level of vitamin A will stave off the primary deficiencies, but the secondary deficiencies require more work.
Secondary vitamin A deficiencies are harder to prevent. Things like cigarette smoking and alcoholism need to be treated by the individual. Medical problems associated with vitamin A deficiencies need to be tested and treated by a medical doctor and monitored closely to ensure that no harm is done permanently from this deficiency.
Hormones can cause minor deficiencies in women during menstruation that can be adjusted by adding vitamin A to the diet regularly. When hormones fluctuate around the time of a period, estrogen and progesterone levels start to adjust at rapid rates.
When this happens, vitamin levels in the body fall and the onset of PMS symptoms occurs. Vitamin A is directly linked to skin problems, fatigue, and heavy bleeding. When the hormones fluctuate, vitamin A falls, women experience outbreaks of acne, exhaustion and heavy bleeding during their periods – many of the symptoms of PMS.
By bringing up the levels of the vitamin A back up in the body, it can dramatically decrease the levels of heavy bleeding during menstruation, allow a person to be less tired, and clear up acne plagued skin.
There are other reproductive advantages to vitamin A intake as well. Vitamin A can help fight PMS syndrome, yeast infections, fibrocystic breast disease and help to prevent breast cancer in women. This points to major benefits of getting regular vitamin A intake.
In a study conducted by the Palmer College of Chiropractic and published in the Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association, it was determined that a Vitamin A deficiency can be a contributing factor to heavy bleeding during menstruation. Vitamin A deficiencies occur when hormones fluctuate during PMS.
In this study, 40 women were used and 92.5% of women found relief from excessively heavy bleeding, known as menorrhagia, with a dosage of 18 milligrams of Vitamin A added to their diets. This is a high dosage, but it was also found that a smaller dosage could help with normal to high levels of bleeding as well. This study showed that heavy bleeding can be controlled with vitamin A. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2077876
Vitamin A is also needed to fight skin problems like acne that present themselves during PMS. In a double-blind study that was conducted by Wyman Park Medical Associated and published by the Dietary Supplement Bureau, it was concluded that by increasing the levels of vitamin A to 1.5 milligrams per day, acne levels were drastically decreased in women. It was proven that acne can be controlled with vitamin A. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1955626
Since vitamin A is known to help quell heavy bleeding, it can also help with the constriction of blood vessels in the body. This means that it can drastically help to reduce the number and intensity of headaches that occur during PMS. This is also true because vitamin A plays such a vital role in the care of the eyes and eyesight can be a large contributor to headaches. When vitamin A falls, the eyes are not getting the nutrition they need and blood vessels constrict, causing headaches.
There are many ways to increases the levels of vitamin A in a diet .Vitamin A can be naturally found in foods that are a part of a balanced diet. Vitamin A can also be synthetically created in a laboratory. Either form has shown to be beneficial to the body and can be delivered in a variety of methods.
There are many foods that contain high levels of vitamin A. Vitamin A can be found in natural sources like liver of animals, dandelion greens, carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, butter, kale, spinach, pumpkins, collard greens, cheddar cheese, cantaloupe melons, eggs, apricots, papayas, mangos, peas, and milk. This can also be gained from a natural multivitamin as well. Many multivitamins have the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A in them to ensure that people get the appropriate levels of vitamin A.
To maintain a diet that is rich in vitamin A, a diet should contain foods like liver, sweet potatoes and fresh vegetables that can be seasoned with chili peppers, red pepper, cayenne pepper, and paprika. All these foods and spices are high in vitamin A and provide good sources for a variety of nutrients.
When looking for foods that are high in vitamin A, stick to animal based food sources like liver, eggs, and dairy products. Look for vegetables or fruits that are rich in color, typically as green, orange or yellow to get the highest yield of vitamin A from vegetable and fruit sources.
Since vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, the body stores vitamin A in the body. The body often stores most vitamin A in the liver, which is why eating the liver of other animals is so beneficial. People who have excessive intakes of vitamin A can develop a condition called hypervitaminosis A. People who take more than two milligrams of vitamin A per day exhibit symptoms of hypervitaminosis A. These symptoms present themselves as intracranial pressure, dizziness, nausea, headaches, skin problems, joint and bone pain, coma, and death. Liver damage can also be a result of excess vitamin A intake and often is permanent.
Vitamin A deficiencies have shown to cause high levels of skin problems and fatigue in women. When hormone levels fluctuate in the body during PMS, vitamin A levels drop and then cause acne breakouts, heavy menstrual bleeding, headaches, and fatigue. By keepingthe vitamin A levels up in the body during PMS, you have more energy, fewer headaches, lighter periods, and clearer skin during the time youshould be experiencing PMS.
Period Vitamin includes 1.5 milligrams of vitamin A in their product. This level of vitamin A can help women to have clearer skin during PMS. As the study by Wyman Park Medical Associated showed, 1.5 milligrams was ideal for reducing the levels of acne. This dosage of vitamin A also works to fight fatigue, normal to heavy bleeding during menstruation, and headaches. Period Vitamin uses a natural source of vitamin A in their products to make sure that the nutritional content is as high as it can possibly be.
As with any supplement, it is important to maintain a balanced diet to get the optimal results you are seeking to reduce the symptoms associated with PMS. By just increasing the levels of certain vitamins and herbs, like vitamin A, women have the ability to avoid serious symptoms associated with PMS.