How Much Vitamin A Does a Person Need?

Vitamin A is fat-soluble vitamin that is found in a variety of fruits, vegetables and animal products. Consuming an adequate amount of vitamin A helps to keep your vision and health strong. The amount of vitamin A a person needs everyday depends on their age, with adult males requiring the largest amount. Vitamin A needs are ideally through foods, but there are dietary supplements available.

Vitamin A

• According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, vitamin A is essential to maintain vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division and regulate the immune system. The vitamin is found in foods that come from animals, such as milk, cheese and liver. Carotenoids, which are dyes found in colorful fruits and vegetables, like carrots, pumpkin, cantaloupe, broccoli and spinach, can turn into vitamin A.

Daily Requirements

• The Food and Nutrition Board at the Institute of Medicine recommends that males age 14 and above receive 900 mcg per day. Women 14 and older should consume 700 mcg per day, but pregnant or breast feeding women need to consume even more. Children needs less vitamin A than adults, with one to three year olds getting 300 mcg per day, four to eight year olds getting 400 mcg per day and nine to 13 year olds receiving 600 mcg per day.

Effects

• If you don't receive enough vitamin A, you are increasing your risk of vision problems and more susceptible to illness because of immune system deficiencies. Consuming an excess of vitamin A, which would be more than 25,000 IU per day for adults, can make you sick and has been found to cause birth defects. Poisoning can occur to adults after consuming a few hundred thousand IU. Eating too much beta-carotene, found in carotenoid foods, can cause your skin to temporarily turn orange or yellow colored.

Considerations

• Those who don't eat eggs or dairy foods may need to take vitamin A supplements or, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements, should consume at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Those who do eat animal products that offer vitamin A may also choose to get their necessary daily allowance through fruits and vegetables, as most vitamin A rich foods that come from animals are also high in saturated fats and cholesterol.