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Expert Q&A

	By Allison Gamble Nutritionist/Diet Technician Highland Park Hospital, Illinois

I was craving baby carrots and went to buy some the other day. When reading the nutrition facts on the bag it said that one serving had 350 percent of the daily recommended value of vitamin A. I am taking prenatal vitamins that also contain vitamin A. I've heard that too much vitamin A can be toxic. Should I not eat carrots?

Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin and plays a role in promoting vision, maintaining the health of our skin, supporting the immune system and promoting growth and bone remodeling. There are three forms of vitamin A: Retinol, Retinal and Retinoic acid. Retinol is the major transport and storage form of vitamin A. All fat soluble vitamins pose a risk for toxicity since excess amounts get stored in the body.

The good news is the beta-carotene (a vitamin A precursor) available in plant foods is not converted to vitamin A efficiently enough to cause toxicity. Excess amounts get stored as carotene in the fat deposits. Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D. states in her book, Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy, that "fruits and vegetables are the best place to get your vitamin A, since it is virtually impossible to consume a toxic dose of beta-carotene form dietary sources." So, you are more likely to get an orange tint to your skin than build toxic levels of vitamin A in your body (that's consuming a lot of carrots). Since the beta-carotene is not converted to retinol, the supplements you are taking should not cause any problems. Do stay away from vitamin supplements that contain levels thousands of times the RDA.

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