By now, we all know that healthy skin comes from within and that our lifestyle and food have a direct effect on our skin health. Which is why when we eat and drink without being cautious, our skin shows signs of neglect – dullness, dehydration, and for combination skin, zits pop up as unfriendly reminders of a careless diet.
What do these signs tell us? Gut health is super important for healthy skin. Skin is the largest organ in our body, and just like any other organ, its proper function depends on what nutrients we are providing it.
Do We Need Supplements For Healthy Skin?
Are we getting enough nutrients from the food we eat? And do we need supplements for a healthier skin? Our skin, hair, and nails are the last parts of our body to receive nutrients, and basically get what’s leftover – brittle nails, dry skin, or thin hair speak volumes about the deficiency in our body.
While consuming a balanced and healthy diet is important, it can be helpful to supplement your meals with a skin supplement.
What Supplements Help With Healthy Skin?
- Vitamin C is found at high levels in the epidermis (outer layer of skin) as well as the dermis (inner layer of skin) and plays a huge role in collagen production which helps keep your skin healthy. A deficiency of Vitamin C can cause bruising, loss of skin elasticity, poor healing.
- Vitamin B or the popular Niacinamide on every skin care enthusiast’s shelf, which helps with faster skin healing and prevents dry, flaky skin.
- Vitamin A, or Retinol, another staple which helps prevent premature wrinkles.
- Antioxidants decrease free-radical damage to the skin. Free radicals generated by sun exposure damages the genetic structure of skin cells, which contributes to the development of premature aging with fine lines, wrinkles, and loss of elasticity to follow.
Meet Your Skinemies
There are many factors that most of us likely already know are not good for our skin. The sun is public enemy number one, of course, pollution and radiation are equally damaging to the skin.
There are basically 2 kinds of skin enemies, or skinemies.
- Intrinsic (eg. Aging) depletion of collagen.
- Extrinsic (eg. UV light) DNA damage in skin cells.
Skin aging manifests as wrinkles, degradation of elasticity, and age spots (liver spots). Anyone who is aging – ( everyone) or exposed to UVA, UVB and other harmful rays needs supplements and sunscreen to protect themselves from these skinemies.
Aging is inevitable but has been proven to be delayed with proper skin nutrition and care. Supplements like Collagen, Astaxanthin, resveratrol Hyaluronic acid, Vitamin A, B, C, D, E and Omega-3s promote anti-aging effects.
Out of all the nutrients mentioned above, the one that caught my eye is Astaxanthin which is a carotenoid and the most powerful antioxidant known to science. Primarily a powerhouse of immunity, it is 6000 times stronger than Vitamin C and it’s antioxidant property is 550 times more than in Green tea catechins.
So instead of drinking gallons of green tea for better skin this might just be a more effective way to get those antioxidants in our skin to fight free radicals that cause skin damage and get a healthier skin.
Astaxanthin works physiologically (it protects the collagen network) and extrinsically (it inhibits photoaging) Carotenoids protect skin from UV-induced photodamage, while collagen promotes skin elasticity decreasing the appearance of wrinkles.
As an antioxidant primarily it’s been linked to healthier skin, muscle performance and endurance, as well for its immunity and anti-inflammatory effect.
The most important thing to remember when starting your ingestible beauty journey is that supplements are not miracle solutions. Supplements, and skin supplements especially work to fix the root of the problem to prevent long term skin issues.
So, don’t expect to see results overnight and don’t try to replace a healthy, balanced meal with a skin supplement. Both should work in tandem.
