16/05/2022
While your skincare routine plays a part in your skin’s condition, a nutrient-packed diet works wonders to maintain healthy skin from the inside out. What actually helps though? Here is our guide to the 10 essential nutrients for healthy skin that looks and feels good.
Our skin is what protects our insides from potential external dangers including everything from the weather (hello sun!) and pollution, to sharp, hot and cold items. So, it only makes sense that we look after it.
One of the ways we can support our body’s largest organ (skin) is by making sure we eat and apply the vitamins it needs to stay healthy.
If our skin is unhealthy, it usually gives us certain ‘warning signs’ to let us know it’s feeling a little down in the dumps. In fact, our skin can often tell us if there is something going on inside that we need to address.
Here are the top signs of poor skin health:
Everyone’s skin is different, and we all have different skin goals. Thankfully, there are a wide range of vitamins and other nutrients that can help maintain normal skin health.
Dry skin has multiple potential causes, including aging, dehydration, allergies, seasonal changes, and micronutrient deficiencies.
A few of these causes unfortunately cannot be avoided, but when it comes to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, you can take control.
Some of these micronutrients need to be eaten within your diet, and some when you apply them directly to the skin (but we’ll go into that more below).
Here are the best vitamins for dry skin:
Blemishes and pimples have many different causes, some of which can be hard to put your finger on.
Thankfully, there are certain vitamins and minerals that can help clear up your skin like:
One of the most obvious (and feared) signs of ageing is the changing of our skin.
Fine lines, dehydration, reddening and hyperpigmentation are all common and inevitable signs of getting older, but it doesn’t have to be so dramatic (or premature).
Keep topped up on the following vitamins to help maintain and support normal skin health, even as you get older:
Glowing skin = healthy skin. That’s why you automatically assume someone is healthy if they have that dewy, glowing skin we all desire.
Here are some of the vitamins that help keep our skin in good overall health:
Vitamin E is an important fat-soluble antioxidant that has been used for more than 50 years in dermatology.14
It contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress, which can help protect against the effects of premature ageing and wrinkles as well as improve the appearance of blemishes and imperfections.
Vitamin E is made by plants and must be obtained through the diet. Some of the richest sources include nuts, spinach, olive oil, sunflower oils.
You can also find it in many skincare products on the market, including serums, moisturisers and body lotions. It is most popular in anti-ageing skincare, but the majority of its skin benefits come from consuming it via your diet.
Biotin is part of the B vitamin family and performs multiple important functions in our bodies, including supporting healthy skin, hair and mucous membranes.
Signs of biotin deficiency include skin rashes, hair loss and brittle nails, which is why it is recommended for healthy skin.15
You can find it in a wide range of foods including eggs, nuts and wholegrains.
Vitamin B3 is a fat-soluble vitamin we must get through our diet. Studies have shown that niacin could potentially help improve the appearance of ageing facial skin, namely the reduction of red blotchiness and hyperpigmented spots.16
Niacin not only plays a part in healthy skin, it also helps to release energy from the foods we eat.
A vitamin B3 deficiency can result in dry skin, or in very severe cases it can develop into pellagra – a condition that produces sore, ‘raw’-feeling skin similar to sunburn.
Meat, fish, eggs and milk are all good sources of this essential nutrient.
Necessary for keeping the skin, eyes and nervous system healthy17, riboflavin is found in dairy products like milk and eggs along with fortified breakfast cereals and rice.
Particularly useful for skin, vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation which supports skin structure.
Without it, our bodies simply would not be able to make enough collagen, which is key for keeping our skin’s elasticity and plumpness. If we don’t have enough vitamin C, this can lead to premature ageing of the skin, like fine lines and wrinkles.
This essential vitamin is found in a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, including oranges, strawberries, broccoli and potatoes.
You can also find it in lots of topical products like moisturisers and serums where it can help tackle blemishes and brown spots.
A collective term for a group of fat-soluble nutrients, vitamin A is used by our bodies to reproduce and grow cells. This is particularly important for our skin as it has a high turnover of cells.19
Vitamin A can be sourced from foods like oily fish, eggs and liver. If you’re not a fan of offal, include spinach, carrots and sweet potatoes in your diet instead. These are all good sources of beta-carotene which our bodies convert into vitamin A.
Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins for our overall health, helping to support our bones, muscles, immune system and skin.20
The NHS recommends that everyone needs 10mcg of vitamin D a day, which is relatively easy to obtain if you spend time outdoors soaking up the sunshine. But on cloudy days and wintery months, it’s recommended that you take a supplement.
Vitamin B5 is another healthy B vitamin we need to stay at our best.
It is essential for maintaining good health and is known for its role in maintaining healthy skin,
contributing to normal mental performance and a reducing tiredness and fatigue.21
You can find it in lots of natural foods like eggs, meat, lentils, broccoli, cabbage dairy, nuts, beans, cabbage, and more.
Along with helping to maintain normal hair and nails, zinc also helps keep skin healthy.22
Increase your intake of zinc by eating meat, shellfish, dairy products and wheat germ.
Iodine is an essential mineral that helps our thyroid to make thyroid hormones, which in turn help to control growth, support a healthy metabolism and repair damaged cells.
Dry, flaky skin may affect those with an iodine deficiency. One study found that up to 77% of people with low thyroid hormone levels may experience flaky and dry skin.23
This is thought to be because thyroid hormones help your skin cells to regenerate. If your skin doesn’t regenerate as often as it should, it can result in dry, flaky skin.
This trace element is found naturally in seawater, rocks and some types of soil. If dining on a plate of soil doesn’t appeal to you, go for Iodine-rich foods like fish, shellfish and kelp. However, if you are vegan or vegetarian, you may wish to take a supplement.
As you can see, there are quite a few vitamins that help keep your skin nice and healthy.
If you are considering supplementing more than one of them, it may be worth considering a multivitamin.
All multivitamins contain differing amounts of vitamins and minerals, so always check the product details or labels to make sure it has what you want in it.
You could even look out for multivitamins with a skin-health focus.