6 Health Supplements You Need for Better Skin

Every essential nutrient plays a role in your health, including the health of your skin. While some nutrients may not directly influence skin health, they affect other bodily systems – since everything in the human body is connected you need to make sure you eat a balanced diet with a wide variety of foods to ensure optimal nutrition.

Of course, even when you’re eating healthy, you can develop nutritional deficiencies that will adversely affect your skin. In such situations, it helps to focus on health supplements that give you nutrients that play a direct role in skin health and are often implicated in deficiencies.

6 Important Supplements for Healthy Skin

1. Vitamin D

Ironically, the sunshine vitamin protects your skin against the same UV radiation that is also used to create it. Vitamin D production occurs in the upper layers of the skin with UVB exposure. For most people, it’s no longer possible to get adequate sun exposure to maintain healthy vitamin D levels without risking considerable sunburn, or worse – skin cancer.

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This is why vitamin D deficiency is observed in over 40 percent of the population. However, the nutrient is essential for healthy skin aging and homeostasis, also protecting against inflammation. This is why most experts recommend vitamin D supplementation, along with a higher intake of vitamin D-containing foods such as eggs, fatty fish, mushrooms cultivated with UV exposure, and fortified dairy products.

2. Collagen

Collagen is the best-known nutrient when it comes to skin care as it is a crucial component of the skin’s connective tissues, providing structure, elasticity, and strength. It also plays a vital role in the development of new skin cells to replace older cells as they die.

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Low levels of collagen are known to increase the risk of early skin aging with the appearance of wrinkles and delayed wound healing, among other problems. You can boost your intake with increased consumption of animal-based foods, but this may not be the healthiest option, making supplementation a better choice.

Just make sure to use a dietitian-recommended collagen powder as not all supplements are equally effective.

3. Omega-3 Fats

Omega-3 fatty acids play a vital role in skin health, contributing to the skin’s lipid barrier, which is essential to maintain skin hydration. It also has strong anti-inflammatory effects and plays a protective role against a wide range of dermatological conditions.

Fatty fish and nuts are some of the best sources for these healthy fats, but supplementation can be just as effective. Studies show that Omega-3 supplementation can improve the management of inflammatory skin disease and UV photoprotection. It was shown to help with common skin conditions including acne, psoriasis, eczema, and ulceration.

4. Vitamin A

Vitamin A is most often associated with visual health and immune function, but it is also essential for healthy youthful skin. It plays a crucial role in the maintenance of differentiated epithelia, which include the specialized layers of skin cells that form the outermost layer, providing protection against environmental exposure and water loss.

Research indicates that deficiencies in this vitamin can lead to the development of hyperkeratinization, a condition in which there are fewer sebaceous glands and increased blockage of sweat glands. Vitamin A supplementation can help address such skin conditions, also protecting against other skin conditions and skin damage.

5. Zinc

Zinc deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies worldwide, affecting 12 percent of all adults in the US and roughly 40 percent of the aged population. This is problematic as zinc is an important component for skin cells, allowing for healthy cell division and growth.

In fact, the outer layer of skin has a dramatically higher concentration of zinc as compared to the lower layers. Zinc not only contributes to the stability and development of skin cells, but it also works as an antioxidant, protecting against free radical damage.

6. Probiotics

As we keep learning more about the human microbiome and the central role of probiotics in human health, it’s no surprise that dysbiosis has been implicated in various skin diseases too. Dysbiosis refers to imbalances in the microbiome.

Probiotics help by addressing problems with gut health, which has been directly implicated in a wide range of inflammatory skin conditions including acne and psoriasis. They can help to regulate skin axis interactions and suppress inflammatory responses, providing relief from symptoms.

Conclusion

In addition to the 6 nutrients listed here, other health supplements that play an important role in skin health include vitamins B, C, E, iron, and biotin. Poor protein intake is also strongly linked with poor skin health, so make sure that your diet has adequate protein from healthy sources including lean meats, fish, and plant-based sources such as legumes, nuts, and seeds.