Vitamin A: Going Straight to the Source
When you search for foods high in vitamin A, most lists lump together different forms of the vitamin—mainly retinol (preformed vitamin A) and beta-carotene (a provitamin A carotenoid). That’s why you’ll often see carrots on those lists. Carrots are indeed rich in beta-carotene, but beta-carotene has to be converted into retinol before your body can use it. The conversion isn’t 100% efficient, and it can vary between individuals.
If you want to go straight to the most bioavailable form—retinol itself—animal-derived foods are the direct source.
To get a clearer picture, I pulled data from the USDA FoodData Central database. Out of more than 6,000 foods with retinol values, I ranked them from highest to lowest and selected the top 30. To keep the list practical and relevant, I:
Chose only one version of each food (for example, raw beef liver but not also the cooked version)
Left out fortified and processed items with added retinol
The result? A curated lineup of whole foods naturally rich in retinol—ready for your body to absorb and use immediately.
Here’s the interactive horizontal bar chart with those 30 foods. Have a look, hover over each bar for details, and see which ones surprise you!