By If you feel age is starting to show its toll on your skin — try these vitamins
As I head towards 44 in a few months, I’m looking for beautiful alternatives that run skin deep.
There is only so much progression your skin can make through diet, lifestyle choices and skin products. However, sometimes we all need a little boost to fight those signs of ageing.
Although I have tried botox once and was very happy with the results — the natural alternatives resonate much more with me. However, we don’t know the long-term effects of botox, so I’m not sure I want to make a habit of it regularly.
It seems like vitamins are overlooked because many of us are sceptical about the usual false claims that many pharmaceutical companies seem to get away with.
Even if you have the best skincare routine, you need something beyond nutrition and face creams. For example, how are we sure all the foods we eat are assimilated in the best way possible to provide the necessary anti-ageing results? Unfortunately, none of us knows the answer, so adding some essential vitamins might be the right step.
Here are four that will help with your anti-ageing goals.
One (my favourite) collagen
Collagen is a form of protein that helps maintain your skin, and as we age, that maintenance slows down, which causes us to produce wrinkles and lose the tightness of the skin.
Collagen begins to slow down during our early twenties.
As our bodies begin to slow the production of collagen, we should take an added supplementation to keep those levels high.
Collagen supplementation has improved your skin’s elasticity and reduced wrinkles.
Collagen is something I use daily, and I add a powdered form to my smoothie every morning.
Then, I sprinkle some after cooking to attain oats’ benefits.
So far, I believe it’s making a difference, although I’m not as consistent with it as I should be (in that I forget to put it in my smoothie some mornings!)
A study over 12 weeks with 72 women uncovered that taking a collagen supplement regularly (2.5g) significantly improved the appearance of the elasticity and softness of their skin.
If you can only afford to choose one form of supplementation, it’s recommended you take this one.
Usually, supplementation has other added vitamins that aid in the absorption of collagen.
Two: Selenium
Selenium assists in preventing deficiencies in vitamin E, and you can quickly obtain it through your diet.
Foods include spinach, broccoli, potatoes, beans, Brazil nuts, turkey, beef and eggs.
Selenium also helps our thyroid functioning and is vital for reproductive, heart and immune health.
In addition, research shows that it helps fight age, particularly cardiovascular diseases and tumours.
Telomeres — those long caps at the end of our chromosomes also benefit from selenium.
Telomeres decide how quickly our cells age, and selenium is associated with more extended caps.
Three: Vitamin D
As you may have guessed, we receive this from those beautiful rays of sunshine.
But Vitamin D isn’t all about sunshine — it’s a potent anti-ageing property that extends your lifespan and may even help reduce disease and illnesses related to ageing.
Research also shows that vitamin D helps prevent premature ageing by protecting the skin from ultraviolet light. But unfortunately, it’s one of the most common causes of wrinkles and lines.
The sun’s vitamin D power is much higher than we suspected. In a 2016 study, it was uncovered that vitamin D could extend your lifespan by 33 per cent!
That shows you should take a holiday in a friendly, sun-filled location!
Four: Vitamin A
Vitamin A is not only good for anti-ageing, but it’s also beneficial for our whole body.
Retinol is another name for Vitamin A. You may be a little more familiar with this name as it appears in many skin care products.
Our bodies don’t naturally produce vitamin A, so filling our diet with this valuable vitamin is essential.
You should add many vitamin A-rich foods like eggs, tomatoes, mango, beef, lamb liver, and tuna.
Also, eat more sweet potatoes, spinach, broccoli, and carrots if you want a plant-based solution.
This is probably the second-best vitamin to collagen because it’s very high on the list of beneficial anti-aging nutrients.
A driver of vitamin A is Tretinoin which boosts collagen production while diminishing wrinkles.
In addition, vitamin A helps break down the collagen in the skin’s dermal layer, promoting the creation of new collagen.
In terms of your whole body benefits, vitamin A helps boost your immune system and vision and slows down the ageing process of your organs.
With all these benefits, you would be silly not to take advantage of Vitamin A!
Key takeaways
I’d be lying if I said we could all get the nutrients we require from food alone.
But supplements can easily bridge the gap, so we can fight the signs of ageing and keep our organs healthy and young in the process.
If you are confused about which supplements to consume, please see your doctor first to pinpoint any underlying health conditions and risks that might involve added supplements.
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