What are good food sources of vitamin A?
Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of vitamin A because they’re rich in beta-carotene, particularly the oranges and yellow ones and leafy greens. You’re also likely to get a fair amount of preformed vitamin A from fortified milk and cereals. Liver (from beef, veal, or chicken, for example) contains the highest amounts of preformed vitamin A — so much, in fact, that you may want to avoid it altogether during pregnancy to be sure that you don’t get too much at once. A 3-ounce serving of beef liver can contain more than eight times the recommended daily amount of vitamin A (twice the amount that’s safe to consume in one day!). Here’s a look at some good sources of A: • 1 baked sweet potato: 1,403 mcg RAE (28,058 IU) • 1 cup cooked carrots: 1,342 mcg RAE (26,835 IU) • 1 cup boiled spinach: 1,146 mcg RAE (22,916 IU) • 1 piece pumpkin pie: 660 mcg RAE (12,431 IU) • 1 raw carrot: 433 mcg RAE (8,666 IU) • 1 cup boiled butternut squash: 401 mcg RAE (8,014 IU) • 1 packet instant oatmeal:
