Dietary vitamin A (beta carotene) is not the active form of vitamin A (retinoic acid), it needs to be converted into the active form by the body’s enzymes.
It is possible to eat the active form of vitamin A, for example through animal sources like liver.
When I said vitamin A, I meant vitamin A (not the compound in plants that can be lossily converted into vitamin A).
The highly active form of vitamin A is isotretinoin, which you can take orally. It has substantial side effects though, meaning it’s generally only used for severe (cystic) acne.
If you want to think of it as a kind of deficiency you can, but then only your skin is deficient in vitamin A (not the rest of your body).
Hi, thanks for responding. You say:
It is possible to eat the active form of vitamin A, for example through animal sources like liver.
When I said vitamin A, I meant vitamin A (not the compound in plants that can be lossily converted into vitamin A).
So this doesn’t answer the question IMO
The highly active form of vitamin A is isotretinoin, which you can take orally. It has substantial side effects though, meaning it’s generally only used for severe (cystic) acne.
If you want to think of it as a kind of deficiency you can, but then only your skin is deficient in vitamin A (not the rest of your body).
How do we know?