title: The contribution of β-carotene to vitamin A supply of humans.
abstract: Populations that administer highly restrictive diets using a strong dietary regime, excluding certain types of food, might be at risk of vitamin A insufficiency, even in developed countries. Thus, provitamin A carotenoids from plants represent an additional major dietary source of vitamin A for most of the world's population. Our aim was to estimate the contribution of β-carotene to vitamin A supply in industrialized countries using available data from the literature. A total of 11 studies from 8 countries were used, representing data of 121,256 participants. Intakes of total vitamin A, provitamin A carotenoids, including β-carotene were retrieved and used to calculate the retinol activity equivalents (RAE) utilizing current conversion factors. Mean total daily dietary intake of RAE was 1083±175. The mean β-carotene intake was 3.9 mg/day. Preformed vitamin A accounts for nearly 65% of total vitamin A intake, carotenoids make up 35%. No statistical differences between men and women in total intake of retinol were observed. We conclude that a safe vitamin A intake in general cannot be reached by consuming only one component (vitamin A or β-carotene) alone, even in Western countries where animal products are commonly available.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nutrition, Department of Nutritional Toxicology, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Tilman
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grune
mesh_terms: D002338:Carotenoids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004032:Diet; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000517:prevention & control; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D019207:beta Carotene; D014801:Vitamin A; D002338:Carotenoids