Vitamins That Help Heal Sores

Vitamins are essential compounds that your body requires for healthy growth and development. There are approximately 13 vitamins you need to sustain your health, according to MedlinePlus. Of these vitamins, several are effective sources to encourage the healing of sores and associated injuries. The most simple and efficient matter of procuring vitamins is through dietary means rather than supplements.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps protect your cells from free-radical damage resulting from environmental agents and metabolism, according to MedlinePlus. These essential compounds help to produce skin, bones and connective tissue while also mandatory for the healing processing. According to Steve Hickey and Andrew Saul in the book "Vitamin C: The Real Story," the presence of this molecule enhances redox signaling in the damaged tissues to provide appropriating healing response from the body to sores, illness and other injuries. An abundant source of this vitamin is citrus fruits, which include oranges, lemons and limes.

Vitamin E

Another vitamin that is also an antioxidant and helpful in healing sores is vitamin E -- a fat-soluble compound procured through items such as avocado, olive oil and nut and seed varieties. The topical application of vitamin E helps to reduce the formation of scars by preventing adhesion formation at the injury site, according to Victor Preedy and Ronald Watson in their book "The Encyclopedia of Vitamin E." When supplemented through the diet, vitamin E acts as the major chain-breaking antioxidant, which helps in the prevention of injury and sore-related complications brought on by infection or cellular degradation, Preedy and Watson note.

Vitamin A

Oftentimes, vitamin A and vitamin E work in conjunction to enhance healing. Vitamin A helps to from and maintains skeletal and soft tissue, skin and mucous membranes, according to MedlinePlus. Vitamin A increases the inflammatory response in wounds to enhance the healing process through the stimulation of collagen synthesis, Joseph Molnar says in his book "Nutrition and Wound Healing." Eating foods rich in vitamin A, such as eggs, milk and cod fish, is essential in instances in which sores are the result of burns, fractures and surgeries, as these maladies often result in decreased levels of the vitamin, Molnar says.