Vitamin A, Food and Your Skin

Remember the movie Inside Out? Well, most nutrients work that way - inside your body as well as on your skin. Let’s look at Vitamin A for example.

Inside:

• Eye health - you might try increasing your Vitamin A if you have:

  • Eye strain from the computer

  • Trouble with night vision

• Immune health - it boosts and supports our immune system

Outside:

• UV protection - it helps reduce the risk of skin cancer and sunburn

• Skin glow - it assists with quick surface cell turnover rate

• Acne treatment - it treats acne on the skin’s surface topically (in the form of Retin A)

• Oily skin - it helps lower the activity of Sebaceous oil glands

Luckily, Vitamin A is readily available in many food sources - often in the form of the brightly colored vegetables. If you eat a varied and healthy diet, you will not need a Vitamin A supplement. (Note of caution: I’ve had patients who risked “overdosing” by taking too many Vitamin A supplements. This can cause liver toxicity and hip fractures, bone thinning, diarrhea, pain in the bones and joints, skin irritation and even birth defects).

Food sources:

Salmon - 10x more by volume than any other source!

Butternut squash

Sweet potatoes

Dark leafy greens (kale, spinach)

Pumpkin

Carrots

Beet greens

Red peppers (sweet)

Liver

Cantaloupe

Skin care products containing Vitamin A:

Olay Regenerist Night Recovery Cream

Paula’s Choice Resist 1% Retinol Booster

Wild Carrot Soulshine Day Cream I use this cream daily

Retin A (RX needed here) this helps with acne treatment and surface skin cell peeling for a smoother surface look

Hope you enjoy this fun video above featuring skin hints, real food and Vitamin A.

Ciao,

Jamie

Next post: Vitamin C and your skin

Resources for this Blog:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods-high-in-vitamin-a

For media contact information

Contact Info

Linus Pauling Institute | Oregon State University

307 Linus Pauling Science Center

Corvallis, Oregon 97331

phone: 541-737-5075 | fax: 541-737-5077

https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/health-disease/skin-health#skin-structure

"This link leads to a website provided by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Jamie Brown is not affiliated or endorsed by the Linus Pauling Institute or Oregon State University."