What is retinol? Basic Insight!
Imagine your world in darkness, what could you do? Possibly you couldn’t read this article, you couldn’t see the colors of this world, you could only smell the petals and hear the humming bees, but you couldn’t possibly see the marvelous color of the petals and the wonderful maneuvers of the bees. What if probably you were hit by measles as a young baby? What would the world be to you? Extremely devastating, if you happened to survive. How about frequent diarrhea, skin disorders and unceasing respiratory disorders? Surely, you would be experiencing hell. And yet, all these are effects of Vitamin A deficiency. Surprisingly, Vitamin A which is the bedrock of retinol is found in the most basic foods that we probably taken for granted.
Vitamin A is a very unique kind of Vitamin in that it is fat-soluble. Two primary sources of Vitamin A are Retinoids and Carotenoids. Retinoids are derived from animal sources such as eggs, liver, kidney, fish, and dairy products. Carotenoids are derived from plant sources such as carrots, dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, kales and fruits containing carotene such as pumpkins, papaya and mangoes. Furthermore, nuts such as pea nuts also contain a rich source of Vitamin A.
Retinol plays a very significant role for the well being of your body. Some of the metabolic functions of Vitamin A include vision support, immune support, bone development, embryonic development, reproduction function, skin health care, gene transcription, and anti-oxidant activities that are commonly known to reduce the rate of aging.
Research has confirmed that Vitamin A can reduce the mortality rate from measles, inhibit the growth of certain types of cancer, boost body immunity and support general body growth and development.
Retinoids consists of retinol and retinoic acids. Retinol is easily converted to other forms of Vitamin A. Retinol can be converted to retinal which is essential for your vision. Retinol can also be converted to retinoic acid. Retinoic acid is essential for skin health, bone formation and teeth growth.
Fundamentally, as we observe the deficiency of Vitamin A, we should not forget about other catalysts that help in transportation, absorption and metabolic action of Vitamin A in the body without which Vitamin A wouldn’t be of any use. Such catalysts include minerals such as Zinc. Zinc is extremely vital for the metabolic success of Vitamin A.
From the above, it can be derived that retinol is a critical ingredient and should be part of your everyday skin care. If you want to live a healthy life, it is inevitable for you to be keen on your diet and of the products you use to improve and/or maintain the health of your skin. Furthermore, it is important that you take keen observation on your health for symptoms that may suggest the deficiency of Vitamin A.