Whether you get them from the cosmetic aisle, from your plate or from the pharmacy, certain vitamins are essential to your skin's health. Once you learn about these nutrients and how they can improve the look and feel of your skin, you can begin using them in all their forms. Talk to a trusted health care provider before experimenting with supplements.
B Vitamins
Your skin reveals your physical health and can either reveal or disguise your age. B vitamins help conceal your age by providing a host of health benefits that improve the look of facial skin. B vitamins help generate red blood cells, which brings nourishment to the tissues and color to your skin. Consume B vitamins in foods including fish, eggs, poultry, dairy and leafy green vegetables. You might also try a B-complex vitamin supplement, which contains the entire group of B vitamins in a single pill. Talk to your doctor about this supplement.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a widely used supplement, particularly around cold and flu season, as it is purported to stave off sickness. As an antioxidant, vitamin C helps counteract damaging molecules known as free radicals, which can decrease the health of your facial skin by attacking healthy skin cells. Vitamin c is also essential to healing, which might help acne sufferers who have visible acne marks from past blemishes. Vitamin C comes from fruits and vegetables. Citrus fruits, red and green peppers, broccoli and tomatoes are good sources of vitamin C. Vitamin C tablets are also accessible at your pharmacy. Talk to your doctor about the right dosages before using vitamin C for facial skin, as mega doses can cause bothersome side effects, such as nausea, diarrhea, headache, insomnia, stomach upset and kidney stones.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A, also known as retinol, is a fat soluble vitamin that is often included in expensive face creams and lotions. Because vitamin A helps increase skin shedding, revealing healthy, new skin, it is also used as an acne medication, particularly for those with severe acne conditions who have used over-the-counter products without success. Find vitamin A in foods such as dairy, eggs, leafy greens and fruits. For acne solutions, vitamin A is available by prescription.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is another antioxidant vitamin that presents a host of facial skin benefits. Find vitamin E exists in various foods including vegetable oils, whole-grain cereals, and leafy green vegetables. Because vitamin E is purported to speed wound healing and decrease the appearance of scars and burns, it is often used topically. The University of Maryland Medical Center notes that topical vitamin E, particularly in the from of alpha tocopherol cream improves skin texture, the length of facial lines and the depth of wrinkles.
References
- MedlinePlus: B Vitamins
- MedlinePlus: Vitamin C
- MayoClinic.com; Is It Possible To Take Too Much Vitamin C?; Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D; March 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Tretinoin Topical Route; Novemeber 2010
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Skin Wrinkles and BlemieshesTreatment; Harvey Simon, MD; December 2008
