text: i want 2 know abt the edible sources of vitamin a? green vegetables having vitamin a in it spinach and the like.  also carrots, and better yet - meat products.   there are two sources of dietary vitamin a. active forms, which are immediately available to the body are obtained from animal products. these are known as retinoids and include retinal and retinol. precursors, also known as provitamins, which must be converted to active forms by the body, are obtained from fruits and vegetables containing yellow, orange and dark green pigments, known as carotenoids, the most well-known being beta-carotene. for this reason, amounts of vitamin a are measured in retinal equivalents (re). one re is equivalent to 0.001mg of retinal, or 0.006mg of beta-carotene, or 3.3 international units of vitamin a.