Posted: May 22nd, 2023

Retinol is beneficial to humans

Although retinol is beneficial to humans, excessive intake causes toxicity in the body. Zhong, Kawaguchi, Kassai, and Sun (2012) state that excessive intake of retinol overwhelms and bypasses metabolic pathways, and thus causes toxicity. The excess retinol in the body accumulates and causes adverse reactions, which affects physiological and metabolic functions of the body. In the body, retinol dehydrogenase oxidizes retinol into retinal and retinoic acid, which have a detrimental effect on metabolic processes and physiological mechanisms. Common symptoms associated with retinol toxicity are irritability, anorexia, hair loss, headaches, blurry vision, altered mental status, and abdominal pain amongst others. In essence, retinol toxicity causes osteoporosis, congenital defects, cancer, hepatic injury, and hormonal imbalance.