When you’re young, it’s easy to ignore what’s happening to your skin as sunlight and advancing years slowly, surreptitiously work their mischief. Then one day as you study your face in the bathroom mirror, you notice the faint lines—most likely around your eyes, maybe on your cheeks or around your mouth. With a twinge of horror, you wonder: Where did they come from? And how do I get rid of them?
Using moisturizer and sunscreen is a good first step to help smooth out your skin and prevent further damage from the sun’s UVA and UVB rays. But you may not realize that what you put in your body also can make a significant difference in how quickly your skin ages from here on out. It can even undo some of the damage that’s already been done.
“Hope in a bottle: There is such a thing,” affirms dermatologist Helen Torok, MD, who has witnesses again and again the positive effects of nutrients—both in supplement form and applied topically—on the skin of her many patients through the years. Dr. Torok is medical director of the Dermatology and Surgery Center at Trillium Creek in Medina, Ohio, and vice president of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery. She notes that while dryness and sun exposure contribute to wrinkling, so do all of the other things that feed the aging process generally.
Before homing in on individual nutrients that might improve the health and appearance of your skin, Dr. Torok urges you to step back for a larger view. For instance, both overweight and high blood pressure take a toll on your skin, so losing any extra pounds and maintaining a healthy blood pressure reading can work in your skin’s favor. The same is true for keeping stress in check. “Stress is the number one ager in females,” Dr. Torok notes.
You can nourish your skin along with the rest of your body by eating a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Dr. Torok also recommends a daily multivitamin to help cover your nutritional bases. In addition, certain individual nutrients are major players in the quest for smooth, youthful-looking skin. “I look at anti-inflammatories and antioxidants,” says Dr. Torok, who places great emphasis on nutrition in her dermatology practice. “They are key to how well your skin and body age.”
Dr. Torok likes to talk about all of the antioxidants together, because they enhance each other and because all of them make vitamin A work better. And vitamin A, of course, is at or near the top of the list for beautiful skin.
Antioxidants are substances that defend the body’s cells against free radicals, highly reactive molecules that damage all of the body’s tissues, not just the skin. Free radicals form naturally as we metabolize our food. But their production shifts into overdrive when we’re exposed to toxic substances like air pollution and cigarette smoke. (So if you want beautiful skin, don’t smoke and do your best to avoid secondhand smoke.)
One of the current theories of aging holds that a lifetime of free radical damage is at least partially responsible for the decline that comes as we get older. No one questions that free radicals harm the skin and contribute to the wrinkling, sagging, and other ravages that ultimately rob our skin of its youthful glow and smoothness.
Antioxidants not only help repair skin cells, they also improve cell turnover. Our skin cells are constantly being replaced, Dr. Torok explains. As new cells form, dying cells are pushed to the surface and slough off. In children, cells are replaced fairly quickly. But the process slows considerably as we get older. Once we reach our middle years, cell turnover becomes so sluggish that our skin loses its luster and develops what Dr. Torok describes as a coarse look. Antioxidants help by enhancing the cell turnover process.
Antioxidant nutrients work both orally and topically, Dr. Torok says. Actually, they’re most effective at healing and protecting the skin if you use them both ways at the same time. So which antioxidants should you focus on? Dr. Torok recommends several: vitamin C (1,000 milligrams, as ascorbic acid, per day) and vitamin E (400 IU per day).
Vitamin C, by the way, got a huge thumbs-up in a 2007 study conducted by British researchers who analyzed data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. When the researchers compared nutritional data gathered from 4,025 women ages 40 to 74 with reports from dermatological exams of the women, they concluded that the women with the highest vitamin C intakes had the fewest wrinkles.
Another antioxidant that is beneficial for your skin is alpha-lipoic acid. You can use it both topically and orally, though the topical formulations tend to be fairly expensive. Dr. Torok suggests taking 50 milligrams a day in supplement form, regardless of whether you use a topical product.
Dr. Torok also recommends drinking green tea daily. It’s “phenomenal as an antioxidant,” she says.
Nutrients that subdue inflammation are great anti-agers, both for your body generally and for your skin in particular, Dr. Torok says. She touts the skin benefits of the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil. Among the best food sources of omega-3s is wild-caught salmon; it’s a great addition to your diet, Dr. Torok says. You also might try taking one fish oil capsule three times a day, with meals. That’s about 1½ to 2 grams of fish oil a day.
Good vegetarian alternatives to fish oil include evening primrose oil and flaxseed oil, Dr. Torok adds. Follow the package instructions or proper dosage.
You know the importance of getting the right nutrients in your body. But does putting them on your body really do any good? Can your skin sip the vitamin cocktails found in so many over-the-counter and prescription preparations aimed at erasing wrinkles and restoring a youthful glow?
The answer to both questions is yes. A number of topical products contain vitamins and minerals that can help undo damage both from sun exposure and chronological aging, according to dermatologist Helen Torok, MD, medical director of the Dermatology and Surgery Center at Trillium Creek in Medina, Ohio, and vice president of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery. The best results come from using both oral and topical nutrients at the same time.
With topical preparations, the key is to stick with established, reputable companies, since their products are most likely to be formulated with bioavailability in mind. As Dr. Torok notes, the nutrients won’t do your skin any good unless they’re in an absorbable form.
Vitamins A, C, and E all act as topical antioxidants. So does alpha-lipoic acid. Of these, vitamin A—also known as retinol—is the star performer, Dr. Torok says. Both over-the-counter and prescription skin-care preparations containing retinol help repair damaged skin. The OTC products take longer to produce results, “but you do get results,” Dr. Torok says.
Topical vitamin C can work a little skin magic of its own by acting as a natural sunblock and potentiating your regular sunblock. This means if you apply your regular sunblock in combination with a vitamin C product, your sunblock will do a better job.
Beyond the antioxidants, both copper and niacin contribute to healthy, vibrant skin. Products containing copper, for example, restore elasticity and firmness, Dr. Torok says. And products made from niacin lighten and brighten the skin.
In a 2004 study, topical niacinamide—a component of niacin—helped to reduce the appearance of fine wrinkles in just 12 weeks. The researchers compared the skin of women ages 40 to 60, some of whom used a moisturizer containing niacinamide. The rest used a plain moisturizer. The women treated with the niacinamide showed better skin texture, less redness, and improvement in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
According to Dr. Torok, the B vitamin biotin is “terrific as a skin plumper,” helping the skin to look more youthful. She recommends taking 2,500 micrograms daily.
Consider taking a multivitamin—in the form of a powder, gel cap, or liquid solution—to compensate for any nutrients that may be missing from your normal diet.
Alpha-lipoic acid |
50 milligrams |
Biotin |
2,500 micrograms |
Fish oil |
1½ to 2 grams, as divided dosages, with meals |
Vitamin C |
1,000 milligrams as ascorbic acid |
Vitamin E* |
400 IU |
*Vitamin E has a blood-thinning effect. If you’re taking any kind of blood-thinning drug, talk to your doctor before taking vitamin E.