Vitamin A comes in different forms. The term vitamins refer to a number of compounds with different chemical makeup that exhibit the same vitamin activities in the body. For example, vitamin A is how we call the dietary forms known as beta carotene, retinol, and emulsified vitamin A, each having varying chemical structures before digestion but acting as one vitamin inside the body.

Forms of Vitamin A

How is one vitamin form different from another? Remember that one vitamin description categorizes the activity, not the structure. Outside the body they do not act as vitamins just yet, they are nonidentical compounds with diverse names that may be found in a chicken’s liver or carrot tuber. We associate these compounds to identify and emphasize the food sources one vitamin comes from.

Preformed vitamin A absorbed in the body as retinol is the form of Vitamin A in animals usually present at high levels in livers whereas pro-vitamin A also called carotenoids comprise a group of organic compounds abundant in plants with beta carotene being the most commonly known. Both of these groups are broken down after ingestion and converted into forms of vitamin A specialized for use by the human body.

Beta Carotene and Carotenoids

Beta carotene is the most widespread form of carotenoids since they are present in many fruits and vegetables and responsible for their bright orange pigmentation, take for example carrots. Intake of beta carotene does not equate with intake of Vitamin A. After we chew a carrot it enters the stomach and small intestine to undergo a series of changes in the chemical composition.

Does it turn into Vitamin A? Not just yet. One of the reasons why beta carotene gets frequent mention among all carotenoids in scientific communities and the subsequently in the press is the fact that it is absorbed by the body the easiest. Once beta carotene reaches digestion it becomes a form much like an emulsified vitamin A and we absorb more than 20 per cent of this form but less than 25 per cent. Other carotenoids are absorbed at a maximum of 5 per cent of the total absorption rate of beta carotene.

Emulsified Vitamin A

How is Vitamin A digested exactly? Vitamin A is part of a group of naturally occurring molecules altogether known as lipids. The pancreatic bile is released in the upper section of the small intestine to help emulsify lipids, including beta carotene and other forms of Vitamin A. Why are lipids emulsified? Lipids and vitamin A are fat-soluble compounds, thus they can’t enter the water-based bloodstream.

On the other hand, emulsified vitamin A is, as the name says it, already emulsified. In comparison with other precursors of the vitamin, emulsified vitamin A skips all the process beta carotene has to go through during digestion, taking a shorter time to get absorbed by the intestinal walls into the liver where it is distributed in forms ready for use to the parts of the body that need it.

Support your eyes and immune system with a good quality Vitamin A supplement. Have you had your vitamin A Supplement today?

Author Bio: Give an emulsified vitamin A supplement a try Risk Free at VitaNet ®, LLC vitamin Store. http://vitanetonline.com/

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: emulsified vitamin A, Beta Carotene, Immune Health