10 best vitamins for healthy skin
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 helps though? Here is our guide to the 10 essential nutrients for healthy skin that looks and feels good.
Importance of skin health
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.
Signs of poor skin health
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:
- Uneven texture
- Blotchiness
- Dark circles
- Lack of lustre / dreary complexion
- Dark spots / hyperpigmentation
- Dry, flaky patches
- Chapped / dry lips
- Premature ageing
Summary
There are many signs of poor skin health, including dry patches, hyperpigmentation, and an uneven texture.
Which vitamins are good for the skin?
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.
Best vitamins for dry skin
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:
- Vitamin D1
- Vitamin C2
Best vitamins for clear 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:
- Vitamin E4
- Vitamin B35
Best vitamins for ageing skin
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:
- Vitamin A6
- Vitamin C7
- Vitamin E8
- Vitamin B39
Best vitamins for glowing skin
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 C10
- Vitamin A11
- Vitamin E12
- Vitamin B313
10 best vitamins for healthy skin (+ other nutrients)
- Vitamin E
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 most of its skin benefits come from consuming it via your diet.
- Vitamin B7
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
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, but 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 like sunburn.
Meat, fish, eggs, and milk are all good sources of this essential nutrient.
- Vitamin B2
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.
- Vitamin C
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.18
- Vitamin A
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
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
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.
- Zinc
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.
Summary
- There are many vitamins and minerals that can help your skin stay healthy
- Each plays a different function in skin health, so you need to make sure you’re getting them all one way or another
Multivitamins for skin health
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.
The final says
- There are lots of vitamins and minerals that can contribute to your skin health, including vitamin C, B vitamins and zinc
- You can obtain most of them from your diet or turn to supplements to make sure you’re getting enough daily
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