Best Vitamins for Healthy and Beautiful Skin: What Foods Should You Eat?

Skin is our largest organ and doctors agree that in many ways our skin reflects what is happening inside our body.

Our skin is an indicator not just of our skin health but our health in general.

“While the right skincare products definitely help to keep your skin healthy, it is important to educate ourselves on ways to feed it the right nutrients also from the inside.”
– Tanya Moss, President of Nayelle Skincare

Let’s take a look at the best vitamins you can feed your body to nourish your skin from the inside.

The most beneficial vitamins – also known as beauty vitamins – that will help make your skin healthy and radiant are vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K.

You can get them from the right foods or take them in as supplements. We recommend getting them from natural foods as much as possible.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is essential for good skin care as it repairs our skin, reducing wrinkles, acne and unwanted skin lines.

At the same time, if there is a lack of vitamin A in your body then your skin might look dry and flaky.

Scientific studies have shown that one specific form of vitamin A, called the beta-carotene, can even reduce the risk of getting psoriasis.

Vitamin A, including beta-carotene, can be typically found in sweet potatoes, dark vegetables, and carrots.

Carrots are perhaps the most famous for having high amounts of vitamin A, so make sure you nibble on them more often if you think you have been “avoiding” them in the past.

Vitamin B

When it comes to vitamin B, one of its nutrients is greatly important for skin health – biotin (vitamin B7).

Enough biotin makes your skin smooth and gives it that healthy, radiant look. It also actively reduces the aging of skin cells.

Another important nutrient is niacin (vitamin B3), which helps to keep your skin moisturized and reduces dryness.

Both of these nutrients – biotin and niacin – are found in various foods such as eggs, bananas, rice, oatmeal and milk.

The overall lack of vitamin B can cause serious health problems such as dermatitis.

Vitamin C

Thanks to its strong immunity boosting benefits, vitamin C is arguably the most known vitamin among people around the world.

Besides helping you fight colds and other illnesses, Vitamin C can also be very beneficial in boosting your skin’s health and look as it can reduce wrinkles, improve its texture and give it a smooth, silky look.

When you feel that your sunscreen is not doing the best job in protecting your skin from the sun, use vitamin C.

Vitamin C has the ability to shield your skin from UV rays that are harmful to your skin and overtime may inflict serious damage. But even if you do get burned, vitamin C helps to repair damaged and dry skin.

While vitamin C can be found primarily in citrus foods such as oranges, lemons, pineapple and grapefruit, it is also found in high amounts in strawberries, blueberries, spinach and broccoli.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is tremendously beneficial for overall strong immunity for maintaining a calcium balance in our bodies, which is most important for our bone health.

But this vitamin also plays a key role in skin health as it decreases inflammation, decreases environmental damage and normalizes cell turnover. Studies also show that it may protect from skin cancer.

To get enough vitamin D your body can easily make it from exposing your skin in the sun for just 10-15 min daily. However, we understand not everyone likes this or can do it as some parts of the world can have long periods of dark and rainy weather (like here in Vancouver, BC where Nayelle is based).

Alternatively, to get vitamin D from food sources most people choose supplements but you can also get it from eating various types of fish (salmon, tuna, sardines), egg yolk, cod liver oil, or vitamin D fortified foods (often it is added to milk, orange juice, or cereals and pastas).

Vitamin E

This vitamin helps healing and to reduce the visibility of your scars. Vitamin E also aids your body to get rid of dry skin and it will help your skin to look full and soft.

Like vitamin C, vitamin E is a powerful soldier in protecting against the negative impacts the sun can have on your skin. If you eat it before sunbathing, you will boost your skin’s ability to prevent wrinkles and dark spots. Vitamin E can also treat skin inflammation.

To make sure you get enough of vitamin E from natural sources, eat more nuts and seeds, almonds and hazelnuts.

If you opt for a supplement then there are many to choose from, just make sure you make a choice based on quality, not price.

Vitamin K

Out of all vitamins, vitamin K is the perfect choice for treating bruises and dark circles on your skin.

If you have many of these, make sure you find the lotions that contain vitamin K.

This vitamin is also used in healing other skin damages such wounds and cuts, as it promotes blood clotting – the body’s natural mechanism to heal wounds and cuts.

Although vitamin K can be found in many lotions and creams, there are many natural sources to get enough of this healing vitamin.

Vitamin K is present in spinach, lettuce, cabbage, green beans and kale, so you can easily boost your vitamin K levels through eating some of these vegetables.

Beauty Benefits of the Right Vitamins

As you can see, looking radiant and beautiful goes hand in hand with improving your overall health.

With just a little bit of effort you can regularly add the right foods into your diet and nourish your skin at the same time as making your body healthier.