Your skin is your body's largest and most visible organ, announcing your health and vitality to the world. Following a nutritious diet can help you improve the condition of your skin and lessen signs of aging. A supplement with certain skin-boosting vitamins and minerals can complement your healthy eating program and help improve your skin's elasticity.
Skin Nutrition
Nutrients in the foods you eat can help maintain, rebuild and rejuvenate your skin. Vitamins such as A, C and E offer skin-boosting benefits, and minerals such as copper and selenium can also improve your skin's elasticity and suppleness. If you do not get enough of these nutrients from your diet, taking a supplement can help improve your skin's health and elasticity.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants help your body fight the harmful effects of free radicals such as pollution, smoke and sun exposure. Free radicals drain your skin of elastin and collagen, making it lose elasticity and appear older. Make sure your supplement has antioxidant vitamins A, C and E to help improve your skin health. Vitamin A helps your skin cells maintain and repair themselves. Vitamin C can help reduce sun damage such as wrinkles and sun spots. Vitamin E helps protect your skin from the drying and damaging effects of free radicals.
Minerals
Some minerals have antioxidant properties as well. Choose a supplement with copper and selenium, as they can help add elasticity to your skin. Copper helps your skin produce elastin, which allows it to be more flexible and retain its shape, reducing signs of aging such as wrinkles and thin skin. Selenium helps combat the aging effects of free radicals on your skin, according to the National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements. Selenium can help your skin stay supple and healthy.
Warning
Do not take supplements with more than the recommended daily allowance of nutrients as certain nutrients can be dangerous in large doses. The Mayo Clinic warns against consuming more than the recommended daily amount of vitamin E, which can be fatal in high amounts. When choosing a supplement with vitamin A, go for the beta-carotene form of it and not retinol or preformed vitamin A, Harvard School of Public Health advises, as beta-carotene is not toxic in large doses but retinol can be. High levels of selenium in the blood can also pose a health risk, although the condition is rare, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements.
References
- National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin E
- MayoClinic.com; Vitamin E; April 2011
- Harvard School of Public Health: Vitamin A
- American Academy of Dermatology: Skin Care on a Budget
- National Institutes of Health: Office of Department of Supplements: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Selenium
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