Indeed, our bodies do sythesize vitamin A from beta carotene quite readily. And it is actually much safer to consume beta carotene than large dose of vitamin A because our bodies regulate how much beta carotene is converted to vitamin A as needed. Part of vitamin A's tasks is gene regulation...so you don't want too much vitamin A as one might risk with supplementation.
I am a happy omnivore, but focus on getting my beta carotene/vitamin A from my leafy greens!
Just a fun fact...beta carotene is abundant in green leafy vegetables but the green chlorophyll masks the orange color. This is why leaves turn color in autumn...they lose their ability to produce chlorophyll and the orangy color of the beta carotene presents itself in all the myriad of fall colors...isn't that neat?
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