Nourishing the skin from within is a hot new topic in the skin and beauty industry. There has been an explosion of new nutritional skin supplements now available to skin therapist as the industry embraces the wellness skin health concept. I have seen green powders, collagen promoters, activated vitamins and all sorts of products that are often used by therapists without a nutritional back ground that is quite disturbing.
So let's look at some of the research that does support use of nutrients in treating the skin.
Essential Fatty Acids are labelled essential as our bodies cannot produce these naturally and we must obtain them from either our diet or via supplementation. They are commonly known as omega 3 oils and our diet should be a balance of 1:1 omega 3/6. The problem is that today our diets contain more omega 6 oils (pro-inflammatory to cells and therefore skin health) than omega 3. Good sources include small fish such as sardines, wild caught salmon and trout, walnuts and chia seeds.
Vitamin A is necessary for assisting health skin replication (turnover), would healing, collagen production, fights acne and promotes skin rejuvenation. Foods containing beta-carotene (carrots, sweat potato, spinach, kale, squash and apricots) are high in provitamin A and need vitamin C as well so add in the citrus fruits. The best natural source is from Cod liver oil.
Vitamin D is essential for many chronic skin conditions as well as immune and mood support. Most people are low in vit D especially during winter when our sun exposure declines. Good food sources include fatty fish, beef liver, cheese and egg yolks. Many Cod Liver oil supplements contain vitamin D in a natural form along side Vit A and EFAs and are my choice for the optimal skin supplement.
