Vitamin A Deficiency

Lack of vitamin A in your body can cause dry hair and skin, dry eyes, poor growth, frequent colds, skin disorders, sinusitis, insomnia, fatigue, and respiratory infections.

Be careful not to go overboard when taking vitamin A because excessive amounts of vitamin A may lead to liver damage. Choose carotenoids instead of vitamin A. Also, carotenoids such as beta-carotene, are safer than vitamin A because body will convert beta-carotene to vitamin A without producing vitamin A in toxic amounts.

Want to Live to Be 100?

Blood levels of antioxidants generally decrease with age. However Italian researchers discovered that centenarians (people 100 years of age and older) needed significantly higher blood levels of vitamin A and vitamin E than their younger counterparts. The researchers concluded that these two vitamins seem to be very important in guaranteeing longevity.

The New Super Berry: Acai

The acai berry is gaining in popularity daily, largerly because world is spreading that it is rich in antioxidants like vitamin A, vitamin C, and calcium. It is also a good source of omega-3s, fiber, protein, carbohyrdates, and minerals. But topping the headlines is a report published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry in 2007, which stated that of all fruits and vegetables tested to date, freeze-dried acai, had the highest activity against superoxide in the superoxide scavenging (SOD) assay.

Kiwi for Heart Health

Kiwi is low in sodium and calories and high in potassium. Ripe kiwi contains the proteolytic enzyme actinidin, which aids digestion. Ounce for ounce, kiwifruit contains more vitamin C than an orange. It’s also a good source for two of the most important fat-soluble antioxidants: vitamin E and vitamin A. This combination of both water- and fat-soluble antioxidants has been shown to improve cardiovascular health.

In fact, a 2004 University of Oslo study shows that daily consumption of two or three kiwifruit has similar effects as the daily dosage of aspirin some physicians recommend to improve heart health.

Carrots - Gold Mine of Nutrients

Carrot juice is said to be a gold mine of nutrients.

Carrot juice is very high in beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is a pigment substance found in plants that can often form into vitamin A.

(Did you know that if you eat a carrot raw, you only get access to about 1% of the available beta carotene? But, when you or your child has a glass of carrot juice, you your system absorbs almost 100% or the beta carotene!)

Another vitamin contained in carrot juice is vitamin E. This vitamin appears in three forms, commonly known as the vitamin E complex.

Carrots also carry other vitamins such as B, C, D, and K, and minerals like calcium, phosphorous, potassium, sodium, and traces of protein.

Juicing a carrot removes the indigestible fiber. Thus, the nutrients in it are available to the body in much larger quantities than if the carrot was eaten whole. This is because many of the nutrients are trapped in the fibre, and while fibre aids digestion, some part of the fibre is indigestible. Thus, you don't get the benefits of the nutrients that are trapped in the indigestible fibre.

Eating just one small carrot every day may help protect you from cancer.