Have you ever wondered why your parents told you that carrots let you see in the dark? I et you thought that was just a silly lie to make you eat your veg! Just like your parents may have told you bread crust gives you curly hair, and kissing girls makes your teeth fall out! Well, in actual fact, the carrot story was probably most true story your parents ever told you. Yeah, I know, it's hard to digest after your mum told you the birds delivered you to them in a little white cloth like how 'Dumbo' was delivered.

So, what is this Vitamin A. (I will call it VitA for the review)Well, to begin with, it is important to know it is a fat soluble vitamin. Which means it stores in your body for a long time. Other fat soluble Vitamins are Vitamins A, D, E, K. You can remember them as the 'ADEK', 'KADE' 'or DAKE' vitamins. Unlike water soluble vitamins (C and Bs), foods which contain VitA will not lose it's nutrients through cooking. For this reason, if you eat a high percentage of VitA foods, I wouldn't recommend taking supplements. Otherwise, you'll face consequences, fat soluble vitamins pose a greater risk for toxicity. This is because if VitA is stored in your liver and only used when needed, it doesn't dissolve away like Vitamin C and Bs do, so the next day you can't just start taking your required dosage again. As you already have VitA stored in your body, you can be causing an excess of VitA by adding supplements on top of it. Having a lack of VitA can be dangerous too, the only way to control this problem is to read the nutritional values on the back of foods, and ensure that when you take your VitA supplements, you are not exceeding the daily allowance. Not too much for too long, anyway.

I started off a bit negative about VitA supplements. So, let's get to the good stuff. What can VitA do for you? Well, first of all they help to form skin and mucous membranes. Have you ever noticed the lining of your lips, eye, nose can be a bit crusty of dry? This is likely to be due to a lack of VitA. You can't dodge your VitA guys, it plays an important role in protecting the linings of the face and this helps to prevent infection. This is used as treatment for Acne, and eczema. So unless you want a scabby face, dig into your carrots.

I'm sure you all know at the moment there is this hype about 'anti-oxidant vitamins'. Well, you should be joining in. The anti-oxidant vitamins are also called the ACE vitamins. (You know like, "that's soo ace!"?). These are the Vitimins: VitA, VitC, and VitE. Now, you should do a little research into them yourself because I don't want to go off topic here. However, anti-oxidants have numerous, and endless amounts of benefits to offer you, even a boost with the prevention of cancer!

VitA also helps fight infections, and maintaining strong bones and teeth. This means it works well with Calcium and Vitimin D. It is also used for pretty major problems such as repertory disease and ulcers.

So, what was this your parents told you about VitA giving you superhero night vision? Well VitA is used to improve eyesight, and especially in dim light. So, really, your parents didn't lie to you! Perhaps they just exaggerated a little. But why carrots, you may ask? Well, carrots are a source of VitA. And it doesn't just stop there.. As I'm about to show you:

Vitamin A sources:
*fruit (particularly yellow fruit)
*vegetables (particularly dark greens and yellows)
*Milk, yoghurt, cream, butter
*Eggs, cheese
*Other dairies.
*Fish liver oils
*Lamb
*liver
*sweet potato

Now, people are going to shoot me down because this is supposed to be for suppliments, but bear with me guys, I'm trying to make a point... and if you don't listen he will eat you! Haha, silly bear joke.

Ok, now I'm going to show you an example meal... just an ordinary, example meal and remember I'll get to the point!

::Breakfast:
Cereals with fruit pieces* (like special K) ... the cereals in Milk* of course
Mango* juice as a drink

:: Lunch:
Cheese* sandwich with butter* ... followed by a yoghurt* and tea with milk*

::Dinner:
Lamb* dish with sweet potato* (the potatoes served with butter*) and a side of greens*
With a glass of milk* for a drink

::Dessert:
Cake (made with eggs*, butter*, milk*) topped with cream*

From what I just showed you there, how many "*" did you see?
Well, each star that was on the menu, indicates a source of VitA. There was 15 little stars in that Menu, now that is a lot of VitA for a menu.

Now, add on the fact that all the VitA that is in your daily menu won't be used up right away, it will remain in your liver and used when needed. Imagine all that Vitimin A stored in your fat, and then you take supplements on top of it? You would seriously be toxicating yourself. Once you have taken too much VitA, that's it, it stays. It is not like taking too much Carbohydrates, where you can just run it off. Taking too much VitA is dangerous, and people take VitA supplements thinking that they don't get enough of it because they don't eat liver! People need to remember VitA is present in very simple things like Eggs, milk, cheese, butter, veg, fruits.. Things you throw into your diet without even thinking. Fat soluble vitamins are really the vitamins that you can't take too much off, so you must be careful and you can't be careless!

Now, let's just say that you were on of the silly billies who eat endless amounts of fruit and dairies, then take supplements on top of them. How would you know that you have taken them to an extent that it is dangerous (hypervitaminosis A)? You will notice: thin hair, haemorrhages, headaches, nausea, inflamed tongue and gums, mental irritability, calcium deposits in blood vessels, cracks in the corners of mouth, enlarged liver, increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure, loss of hair, sleep disturbance, swelling of the long bones, ulceration of mouth, vomiting, water retention, increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure, drowsiness.
Now, look at that list and just take a look for yourself at what taking a few extra supplements can do to you. These aren't even the long-term effects.

In the long term you can face defects such as blurry vision as VitA strongly effects the eyes (usually in a good way, but as Cheryl Cole says 'too much of anything can make you sink - even the good can be a curse'); you can even face anorexia, not anorexia Nervosa which is a disorder and is usually psychological, it is to do with the fact VitA effects appetite. If used properly, it helps appetite, but over-use it and we are back to the Cheryl Cole quote! It can cause muscle and abdominal spasms, and can even drive you to mental irritability. Yeah, tough vitamin!

**VitA and pregnancy*
Now, as this is a review open to the public, I would like to give a quick mention about VitA and pregnancy. You need VitA in your pregnancy, it is essential. VitA is essential for your baby's growth. It helps with the development of hearts, lungs, kidneys, eyes, bones and circulatory, respiratory, and central nervous systems. So, don't get me wrong, it's essential and you need it. However, there are also defects. Excessive VitA can damage your growing baby, and it is not recommended that you take any sot of VitA supplements without your GP being consulted.

It is no surprise that an estimated 75% of people consume too much VitA. It is present in our diet all the time, and there are some silly folk who assume they get too little of it. This is the reason why I strongly protest to VitA supplements. I only recently worked all this out, so I am sorry about my previous review supporting the use of multivitamins. I write my reviews based on my opinion at the time.

Final thoughts:
VitA should be encouraged as it is a great vitamin which is believed to do great work such as prevent cancers. However, I would never recommended VitA supplements unless you have been to a doctor's with a VitA deficiency complaint and he has recommended them to you. This review is for Vitamin A but I think I saw some people only based it on the supplement VitA. Despite the fact my review is mostly about the supplement and why it should be avoided, my extra information on VitA is simply sue to the fact it does not state that this is only supposed to be for the supplement, and I don't want to do anything wrong.

Thanks for reading!