What Vitamin is Essential for the Skin?

Getting the right vitamins and minerals is essential for healthy skin and our all-round wellbeing. So, if you want to know the secret to a gorgeous glow and healthy complexion, it's not what you put on your skin, but the vitamins you put in your body.

Vitamin A is often overlooked when it comes to skin-boosting ingredients, but it offers a huge range of benefits. Our diets play a major role in skin health, and Vitamin A is an essential addition to this. From reducing signs of ageing to calming acne scarring, Vitamin A offers an array of skin-boosting benefits.

Skincare Benefits Of Vitamin A

Vitamin A helps to preserve eyesight, lower the risk of certain cancers and support a healthy immune system, but the benefits don't stop there. It is essential for glowing, healthy skin, and while it is popular in skincare creams and lotions, many of its advantages can only be achieved when consumed as part of a balanced diet. Some of the top skin-boosting benefits of Vitamin A include;

Protects Against Sun Damage

Consuming the right amount of Vitamin A can help the skin stay protected from UV and sun damage. When you are consuming Vitamin A in your diet, you help your skin to be less sensitive to sunlight, which can help to reduce pigmentation and skin damage. However, it is still important to wear SPF to fully protect your skin.

Prevents Signs Of Ageing

The skin is often affected by signs of ageing, whether that be wrinkles, lines or loss of volume. Vitamin A has antioxidant properties which help to breakdown free radicals that are responsible for breaking down collagen levels in the skin. It is these collagen levels that lead to signs of ageing. In fact, Vitamin A can actually help the skin to generate new cells which will produce new collagen.

Promotes Cell Regeneration

Vitamin A works to promote the production of healthy cells in the skin. It contains carotenoids retinol and retinoic acid, which are essential for healthy cell production. This helps to strengthen the outer layer of skin, which is the body's first barrier to fight off bacteria, infections and pollution. Consequently, low levels of Vitamin A can result in slow healing wounds and dry skin.

Boosts Even Skin Tone

It is possible to reduce pigmentation and ensure healthy glowing skin when consuming the correct levels of Vitamin A. Damaged and dead skin cells are eliminated, and healthy, new cells rise to the skin's surface. This creates a healthy glow and even complexion.

Reduces Acne And Problem Skin

Acne is often caused by the pores becoming clogged with dead skin cells, bacteria and excess sebum. Because Vitamin A promotes healthy cell production, it works to prevent acne and leave skin clear and clean.

How To Boost Vitamin A In Your Diet?

Vitamin A can be found in a range of different foods, and making sure you are getting enough in your diet is essential to healthy skin. There are two types of Vitamin A that can be found in foods;

• Retinoids: An active form of Vitamin A is retinol, which is commonly found in dairy and meat products.
• Carotenoids: Vitamin A also comes as Carotenoids which are dark-coloured pigments and found in plant foods. These Carotenoids can turn into the active form of Vitamin A.

You will find Vitamin A and skin-boosting retinoids in eggs, prawns, salmon, beef liver, cod liver oil, milk, butter and cheddar cheese. Vitamin A and carotenoids are found in more plant-based foods, including leafy green vegetables, carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, apricots, plums, mangoes and papayas.

How To Top Up Your Vitamin A Intake

Some people can struggle to get enough Vitamin A into a healthy diet, and knowing if you have consumed enough can be difficult. Vitamin A supplements are also available and a great way of ensuring you are getting enough of the essential vitamin. Various versions of Vitamin A supplements are available, including retinyl acetate, retinyl palmitate and beta carotene.

One Nutrition Spirulina is an excellent source of Vitamin A and a healthy addition to any diet. It contains the microscopic plant organism, spirulina, which is a superfood created from nature. Not only does it provide Vitamin A for healthy skin, but it contains protein, antioxidants and Vitamin B12.

The completely natural product contains higher levels of beta carotene than is found in carrots, so it is perfect for boosting the appearance of your complexion. One Nutrition Spirulina is available in either tablet or powder form. You can add powdered spirulina to juice, water, porridge, shakes, smoothies or yoghurt for an easy addition to your diet. The tablets can be taken 3 to 6 times a day with water for a no-hassle way to give your vitamin intake a boost.