Vitamins : How Spirulina Benefits Your Body with Vitamin A

Article by JC Shaw

VITAMIN AFirst off, what are vitamins? Vitamins are nutrients that an organism requires but can’t produce by itself. So, these compounds need to be gotten through diet. Because not every organism has the exact same needs, vitamins are not the same for every species. For example, humans require vitamin C, but many animals do not. Something else to note about vitamins is that they are called not necessarily according to an underlying chemical structure, but more for what they do chemically and biologically. Because of that you may see that Vitamin A, for example, is associated with several chemical compounds: retinol, retinal, retinoic acid and even precursor vitamins such as carotenoids. But, we’ll delve into more below.Generally, we obtain vitamin A through our diet. In foods it can appear in two different forms: 1) Animal-based Retinoids Retinoids are a class of fat-soluble substances found in animal tissue. One chemical in this class, retinol, is sometimes referred to as preformed vitamin A because it’s readily useable by our body for vitamin A related activities. Some foods that have this form of vitamin A are animal liver, kidney, eggs, and dairy products. While this form of vitamin A is easily used by our bodies, these food sources can also be high in fat, cholesterol, and other things that we should watch our consumption level. Additionally, it is possible to overdose on vitamin A if too much is taken.2) Plant-based CarotenoidsCarotenoids are pigments that appear in yellow, orange, and dark-green plant-based foods. A few of these carotenoids are considered precursor vitamin A or provitamin A because our body can easily change them into retinol, which is the ready-to-use animal-based form already mentioned. This conversion process occurs in the liver after which the newly formed retinol is stored in our body fat or transferred to other parts of our body through our circulatory system. The only carotenoids that can be changed into vitamin A are the carotenes (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, gamma-carotene) and one of the xanthophylls (cryptoxanthin). The most famous and most efficiently converted carotenoid is beta-carotene. For a given amount of retinol, it takes twice as much cryptoxanthin or any other carotene to match that of beta-carotene.Foods that are rich in carotenoids can be bright red-orange in color like carrots, mangos, papayas, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes or dark-green like spinach, broccoli, kale, collard greens, and of course spirulina. The reason some foods are green in color is due mainly to the large quantity of chlorophyll, the substance that allows for photosynthesis to occur in plants. It is not uncommon for carotenoids and chlorophyll to exist together in nature.You can see examples of this when the leaves change color in the fall. The leaves halt their production of chlorophyll and the green color fades away revealing reds, yellows, and oranges. Another example is the pink color of flamingos. They turn pink because of their eating blue-green algae like spirulina or crustaceans that have themselves been feeding off algae. In fact, flamingos will be white if you feed them a carotene-free diet!Because of the other health benefits that can be gotten from consuming fruits and vegetables rich in carotenoids, plant-based forms are often recommended as a source of vitamin A. In addition, there is no risk in vitamin A toxicity because the body converts carotenoids into vitamin A only when the body needs more. There is no toxicity risk in over-consuming beta-carotene. Spirulina is a rich source of carotenoids, the plant-based form of vitamin A. Eighty-percent of the carotenoids in spirulina is the efficient beta-carotene. Also, spirulina benefits include cryptoxanthin, which is another carotenoid that converts to vitamin A although half as effectively as beta-carotene. BENEFITSAntioxidant PropertiesAs with vitamins C and E, vitamin A (beta-carotene) is considered an antioxidant. What are antioxidants? When our cells consume oxygen they release “free radicals” as byproducts. These free radicals drift and harm other cells and are believed to contribute to many ailments, diseases, as well as aging-related indicators like wrinkles and sagging skin. Antioxidants help by matching up with these floating free radicals and neutralizing them.VisionVitamin A is probably most well-known for the benefits it offers your vision. You’ve likely been told many times as a kid that you should eat your carrots because it’s good for your eyes. Now you know that it’s the beta-carotene in carrots that do in fact enhance your vision. More specifically, one way in which retinol benefits your vision is by helping your eyes adjust to low-light and night conditions. In fact, inadequate amounts of vitamin A can cause a condition known as night blindness. Immune SystemIn addition, vitamin A benefits our body’s immunity. Our initial defense against disease is the barrier formed by our skin and the mucous membranes that line our airways, digestive tract, and urinary tract. Retinol is a critical component to the everyday functioning and development of the skin and mucosal cells. If we do get sick, vitamin A also plays an important role in the development of white blood cells which attack harmful viruses and bacteria that can hurt our bodies. Development and GrowthVitamin A has also been found to be integral to the growth and development of other systems within our bodies. The ongoing growth of bone, teeth, reproductive cells, and embryonic development all depend on sufficient amounts of vitamin A.DOSAGERecommendations from the Institute of Medicine of the US NIH (United States National Institutes of Health) suggest that 3 mg to 6 mg (833 IU – 1667 IU vitamin A)( of beta-carotene daily are associated with lowered risks of chronic disease. A typical serving of spirulina powder (1 tsp, or 3g) fits well within these guidelines. A serving has about 5 mg of beta-carotene and 2 mg of cryptoxanthin.

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