What’s the Point of Vitamin A?
Vitamin A is all the rage in skin care as a potent anti-oxidant, promoting new cellular development that leads to smoother, softer skin with fewer fine lines.
But skin is just the start of its miracle working!
We discuss the most vitamin A rich foods, understanding its role in protecting against cellular damage, and why you need to use gentle but increasing topical vitamin A on your skin.
Read on to discover more about this crucial nutrient for your health and longevity.
What is Vitamin A?
Vitamin A is crucial to overall health. It is a fat-soluble vitamin that supports various bodily functions, including vision, immune system function, and cell growth.
Vitamin A exists in two forms: retinoids, found in animal products like liver, dairy, and eggs, and carotenoids, found in colorful fruits and vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes and spinach.
Retinoids are essential for vision and cell differentiation, while carotenoids act as antioxidants, protecting cells from damage.
Both forms of Vitamin A are important for maintaining healthy skin, promoting immune function, and supporting overall growth and development.
Top 3 Foods that have Beta Carotene/Vitamin A and How to Best Eat Them:
Sweet Potatoes: Bake or roast sweet potatoes to enhance their natural sweetness and preserve their nutrients. Mashed sweet potatoes make a delicious and nutritious side dish, while sweet potato fries can be a healthier alternative to regular fries.
Carrots: Enjoy carrots raw as a crunchy snack, or lightly steam them to retain their nutrients. Incorporate them into salads, stir-fries, or soups for added flavor and nutritional value.
Spinach: Eat spinach raw in salads for a refreshing and nutrient-packed meal. Alternatively, sauté spinach with garlic and olive oil as a simple and delicious side dish, or add it to omelets, pasta dishes, or smoothies for an extra nutritional boost.
Benefits of Vitamin A for your Skin:
Vitamin A is incredibly beneficial for the skin. As a potent antioxidant, Vitamin A helps neutralize free radicals, which can damage skin cells and accelerate aging. It plays a crucial role in regulating cell turnover, promoting the shedding of dead skin cells and the growth of new ones, leading to smoother and more radiant skin.
Vitamin A stimulates collagen production, a key protein responsible for maintaining skin's firmness and elasticity, thereby reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. It also has anti-inflammatory properties, making it effective in treating acne and other inflammatory skin conditions.
By incorporating Vitamin A into your skincare routine through both topical treatments and dietary sources, you can enjoy healthier, more youthful-looking skin with improved texture, tone, and resilience.
Top 3 Reasons to Use Vitamin A Topically on the Skin:
Anti-aging Properties: Vitamin A, particularly in the form of retinoids like retinol and retinyl, stimulates collagen production, reduces the appearance of wrinkles, and promotes skin firmness, helping to combat signs of aging.
Acne Treatment: Vitamin A derivatives such as retinoids are effective in regulating skin cell turnover, unclogging pores, and reducing inflammation, making them valuable in treating acne and promoting clearer skin.
Skin Health and Repair: Vitamin A supports overall skin health by promoting cell turnover, enhancing skin texture, and helping to repair sun damage and other environmental stressors, resulting in smoother, healthier-looking skin.
Product Recommendation: Environ
Environ products are highly effective for your skin because they harness the power of Vitamin A.
Environ's unique approach gradually introduces Vitamin A into their products, ensuring skin tolerance without irritation. Their "Step-Up System" slowly increases the concentration of Vitamin A, allowing the skin to acclimate to higher levels of Vitamin A over time thus minimizing irritation and maximizing effectiveness.
Environ utilizes stabilized forms of Vitamin A, such as retinyl palmitate and retinyl acetate, which are less prone to oxidation and degradation. This ensures the potency and stability of Vitamin A in their products, leading to consistent results. They also combine Vitamin A with other synergistic ingredients, such as antioxidants, peptides, and moisturizers, to enhance its efficacy and overall benefits for the skin.
Environ products are typically recommended and prescribed by skincare professionals, such as physicians and aestheticians, who can provide personalized advice and treatment plans tailored to individual skin needs. This professional guidance ensures optimal results and minimizes the risk of adverse reactions.
How to maximize Vitamin A absorption into the body:
Pair with Healthy Fats: Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, so consuming it with healthy fats can enhance its absorption. For example, drizzling olive oil over roasted sweet potatoes or adding avocado slices to a spinach salad can help increase the absorption of Vitamin A.
Light Steam or Sauté: Use cooking methods like light steaming or sautéing to make nutrients more available.
Include Vitamin C: Vitamin C aids in the absorption of non-heme iron, which is found in plant-based foods like spinach. Consuming foods rich in Vitamin C, such as citrus fruits, strawberries, or bell peppers, alongside spinach or other Vitamin A-rich foods can indirectly enhance the absorption of Vitamin A as well.
Eat a Balanced Diet: Consuming a varied and balanced diet that includes a combination of Vitamin A-rich foods, along with other essential nutrients, can support overall absorption and utilization of Vitamin A in the body. Aim to eat 30 or more different plants in a week!
Consolidated Sources:
Draelos, Zoe Diana. "The latest cosmeceutical approaches for anti-aging." Journal of cosmetic dermatology vol. 14,4 (2015): 291-6. PubMed
Dreno, B et al. "Topical acne treatments in Europe and the issue of antimicrobial resistance." Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV vol. 24,12 (2010): 1370-7. PubMed
Drewnowski, Adam, and Nicole Darmon. "The economics of obesity: dietary energy density and energy cost." PubMed
Environ Skincare Official Website. Available at: https://www.environskincare.com/us/
Fisher, Gary J et al. "Mechanisms of action of topical retinoids in photodamaged skin." Dermatologic clinics vol. 23,2 (2005): 319-27, vi-vii. PubMed
Gahche, Jaime J et al. "Dietary Supplement Use among U.S. Adults Has Increased since NHANES III (1988-1994)." PubMed
Haas, Elson M. "Nutrition for Healthy Skin: Strategies for Clinical and Cosmetic Practice." PubMed
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "Vitamin A." Accessed on [insert date accessed]. Available at: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-a/.
Leyden, James et al. "Why Topical Retinoids Are Mainstay of Therapy for Acne." Dermatology and Therapy vol. 7,3 (2017): 293-304. PubMed
Mukherjee, Siddharth, et al. "Retinoids in the treatment of skin aging: an overview of clinical efficacy and safety." Clinical interventions in aging vol. 1,4 (2006): 327-48. PubMed
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements. "Vitamin A - Health Professional Fact Sheet." Accessed on [insert date accessed]. Available at: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminA-HealthProfessional/.
Ribeiro, Bruna Damasceno et al. "Effect of Cooking Methods on the Micronutrient Content of Vegetables." PubMed
Sorg, Olivier, and Jean Krutmann. "Photodamage and sequential (simultaneous) use of topical retinoids and cosmetic/treatment procedures: are we increasing the risk of adverse reactions?." International journal of cosmetic science vol. 37 Suppl 1 (2015): 48-55. PubMed
Tarladgis, B G et al. "Identification of some additional pigments in processed spinach." ACS Publications
The U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Loss of nutrients during storage." USDA
De Tullio, Mario C, and Linda Foyer. "Contribution of antioxidants to the cellular handling of reactive oxygen species." PubMed
Leung, Brenda P et al. "Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use among US Adults with Headache or Migraine: Results from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey." PubMed