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Skin Care - Vitamins for Dry Skin
How vitamins influence the skin's appearance?
It is basic knowledge that of all the food and nutrients that we
consume that vitamins have by far the greatest impact on the health
and appearance of our skins. Generally, good health is reflected in
our skins - even conventional Chinese medicines and other more
traditional practices judge our health through the appearance of our
skins.
A healthy skin is therefore reflective of a good diet. This is
especially true if you consider that greasy and oily foods tend to
aggravate the onset of acne and simple breakouts. The role of
vitamins in our diet does not go unnoticed when it relates to our
skin's appearance and likewise its health. Basically, without the
essential skin vitamins, the skin tends to take on an appearance of
dryness and dullness. Vitamin A is commonly associated with good
skin because of its abilities as a good anti-oxidant. However,
Vitamin A itself is the general term given to a group of molecules
(alcohols and aldehydes) that can exist in either form under given
circumstances. Carotenoids and retinol are other popular names for
Vitamin A. It is one form of the carotenoid structure in particular
(beta-carotene) that gives the group its anti-oxidant properties. An
anti-oxidant is simply a molecule that can remove radical scavengers
along the skin's surface and thus help in the maintenance of
youthful vibrant skin. In general, radicals are naturally produced
by the body during is metabolism, but these radicals are highly
reactive and have the tendency of attacking the skin's cells - in
particular being responsible for early signs of aging and wrinkles.
As you could probably guess from the name carotenoid, carrots are
among the food types rich in Vitamin A.
Vitamin B (in particular Vitamin B2 or riboflavin) too has the
similar function of Vitamin A in terms of healthy skin promotion,
only instead of itself being an anti-oxidant it is the catalyst for
the reaction which produces anti-oxidants within the body. As a
catalyst, its job is the speed up the rate at which the anti-oxidant
is produced by creating the ideal conditions for the reaction within
the body.
Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is also an anti-oxidant, and is in fact
one of the better known and better recognized anti-oxidants around
today. But fighting off the harmful free-radicals is not the only
function of Vitamin C - it is one of the essential components for
the production of collagen tissues. Collagen is in fact the stuff
that makes up our skin, so collagen regeneration means
younger-looking and healthier skins.
Vitamin D is quite unlike all the other vitamins involved in healthy
skin appearance, for it is one that is responsible for the healthy
tan of the skin. Vitamin D is produced naturally by the skin when
exposed to sunlight, and is the reason for the healthy glow observed
in the skin after brief exposures to the sun.
Finally, Vitamin E provides the function of an anti-oxidant. It is
however one of the most powerful anti-oxidants used by the body in
its constant battle against free-radicals.
About the Author:
David Yu writes about Makeup , Skin Care and Anti Aging for Tip4lady . He also writes about Fashion.
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