Skin and hair are subject to environmental stressors every day. Sun and environmental pollutants such as smog, tobacco smoke, dirt, dust and other toxins all take their toll on skin and can make hair look dingy or unhealthy. Good personal care practices and a diet filled with vitamins known to boost properties in hair and skin can combat these outside factors.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin (meaning, it is stored in the body) that is also known as retinol. It is essential to skin health because it increases blood supply to the skin, which, in turn, increases your skin's supply of nutrients and oxygen. It also increases production of elastin and collagen, two structural components of the skin that help keep it smooth and supple. A lack of Vitamin A in your body results in dry, scaly and rough skin.
Vitamin B Complex
The B vitamins are the most important vitamins for healthy hair. This group of vitamins consists of Vitamin B6, folate and biotin, and all help slow hair loss. The other vitamins in this group--niacin and pantothenic acid--promote hair growth.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E, like Vitamin A, is also a fat-soluble vitamin. It is a powerful antioxidant that rids your body of free radicals, which is a byproduct from certain reactions that take place within the body. Excessive sun exposure can also cause your body to create free radicals. Free radicals destroy your skin cells, leading to wrinkly, dull and dry skin. The antioxidant property of Vitamin E allows it to seek out and destroy these free radicals. Vitamin E also helps your skin combat the aging effects of the sun by absorbing the rays and reducing their influence on the skin.
Vitamin C
Collagen is a structural part of the skin that keeps it wrinkle free, resilient and looking youthful. It also helps skin heal from bruising, cuts from surgery or from sun effects such as sunburn and inflammation. Vitamin C is necessary for collagen production. Like Vitamin E, it is an antioxidant. Vitamin C is not fat soluble; instead, it is water soluble, which means that the body does not store it and it must be replaced each day. Vitamin C is also similar to Vitamin E in that it destroys free radicals in your skin.
References
- "You: Being Beautiful: The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty"; Michael F. Roizen, Mehmet C. Oz; 2008
- "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vitamins and Minerals"; Alan H. Pressman, Sheila Buff; 2007.
- "Grow Hair Fast: 7 Steps to a New Head of Hair in 90 Days"; Riquette Hofstein; 2004
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