Submitted by Another-Autismo t3_11egytf in explainlikeimfive
I’ve only had a salad and some kimchi today, but I’m already 250% over my daily recommended vitamin A. Since it’s fat soluble, couldn’t this much Vitamin A cause problems eventually? If not, why is the daily recommendation so low?
virtualchoirboy t1_jady7g2 wrote
Most vegetables actually have beta carotene instead of actual Vitamin A. It's a safe version that your body only converts to Vitamin A as it needs it. Anything excess is excreted naturally. This is why vegetable sources of Vitamin A are preferred over meat sources like liver since those store the actual Vitamin A form.
Interesting side fact: This is also why polar bear liver is toxic to eat because of it's massive quantities of Vitamin A. A single liver can have as much as 9 million IU of Vitamin A and human toxicity is generally reached at 300,000 IU.