👁️ Foods Highest in Vitamin A — TOP 30(per 100g)
Supports vision, immune function, and skin health. Found in orange and green vegetables. FDA Daily Value: 900μg.
1–30 of 4,585 foods
What Vitamin A Does
Vitamin A is essential for vision — particularly in low light — as well as immune function, cell differentiation, and skin and mucosal integrity. It arrives in two forms: preformed retinol from animal foods, and provitamin A carotenoids from plants.
The ranking is dominated by liver and cod liver oil: cod liver oil at 30,000μg RAE per 100g, imported beef liver at 28,319μg, veal liver at 21,145μg. A single 100g serving of liver exceeds the Daily Value more than twentyfold.
For everyday intake without that risk, orange and dark green vegetables carry beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A only as needed — sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin, spinach, and kale.
Daily intake reference (FDA Daily Value)
FDA Daily Value: 900μg RAE per day. RAE (retinol activity equivalents) accounts for the fact that beta-carotene converts to retinol at roughly 12:1, so plant sources contribute less than their raw carotenoid figures suggest.
Getting Enough Vitamin A
Eat carotenoids with fat
Beta-carotene is fat-soluble and poorly absorbed from raw vegetables eaten alone. Roasting carrots in oil, dressing a spinach salad, or adding butter to sweet potato materially increases uptake.
Cooking helps here
Unlike vitamin C, carotenoids become more available when vegetables are cooked, because heat breaks down the cell walls trapping them. Cooked carrots beat raw ones for vitamin A.
Preformed vitamin A has a ceiling
Retinol from liver and supplements accumulates and is toxic in excess; beta-carotene does not, because conversion is regulated. This is why liver should be occasional rather than weekly, and why plant sources carry no such caution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can you get too much vitamin A?
A. Yes, from preformed retinol. Liver and high-dose supplements can cause toxicity, and excess is particularly dangerous in pregnancy. Beta-carotene from vegetables does not carry this risk since the body converts only what it needs.
Q. What are the best plant sources?
A. Sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin, butternut squash, spinach, kale, and red bell pepper. Their deep orange or dark green color comes from the carotenoids themselves.
Q. What does "RAE" mean on the ranking?
A. Retinol Activity Equivalents — a common unit that converts both preformed retinol and provitamin A carotenoids to a single comparable scale, accounting for the roughly 12:1 conversion ratio of beta-carotene.
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Data source: USDA FoodData Central (Public Domain) — fdc.nal.usda.gov