Vitamins and Minerals for Healthy Skin

Your skin is one of the best, and certainly most visible, signs of health. Dry skin, oily skin, papery skin, acne, and redness or ruddiness can all be clear signs of poor health inside your body - usually caused by consuming an unhealthy diet which doesn't include adequate skin-healthy vitamins and minerals. To attempt to treat skin issues, most people will often turn to topical cosmetics, including soaps, creams, scrubs, exfoliants, and toners. However, trying to treat skin blemishes with chemical-laden products does not address the actual, underlying cause of the problem, which is generally poor nutrition and overexposure to poisons and toxins found in food and beauty products.

Research has found that skin reacts especially well to particular vitamins, minerals and other antioxidants that help to strengthen and nourish skin, making it look more young and healthy. Following are some of the best vitamins and minerals for maintaining clear and healthy skin:

Silica is a mineral that helps to make the body's connective tissues stronger and is necessary to keep skin healthy. A deficiency of silica can cause skin to lose its elasticity and can disrupt healing.

Zinc is a vital component for maintaining healthy skin, particularly for those with acne. Acne can actually be a sign of a zinc deficiency. Zinc works by regulating the production of skin oil and hormones that contribute to acne. It is also necessary for healthy functioning of the immune system function.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids are excellent for helping to treat dry, inflamed skin and whiteheads and blackheads. Essential Fatty Acids, such as Omega-3s play a vital component in skin repair, moisture content of skin, and elasticity. The body does not make its own essential fatty acids so they have to be obtained via diet.

Selenium is a powerful antioxidant mineral which is responsible for maintaining the elasticity and flexibility of tissues. It also works to guard against cell damage caused by free radicals and has a strong correlation with a lowered risk of breast cancer. It is thought that it might have an important role in the prevention of skin cancer, as it acts to guard the skin from UV damage.

Vitamin C is particularly good for lowering damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals damage and destroy both collagen and elastin - the tissue fibers that form underlying skin structure - and can significantly contribute to the premature formation of wrinkles. It is also a nutrient that is very effective for guarding the skin from sun damage, particularly in conjunction with vitamin E.

Vitamin E is another very strong antioxidant that minimizes the damaging effects of sun to the skin. In conjunction with vitamin A, vitamin E is excellent at acting to guard against particular types of skin cancers. Vitamin E is also widely used to minimize the appearance of wrinkles, and, is good for soothing rough, dry skin.

Beta Carotene is Highly Beneficial

Beta carotene is an important nutrient that aids in the prevention of night blindness and other eye-associated problems. It also plays an important role in helping to prevent various skin disorders, to help enhance the functioning of the immune system, and it helps to guard the body against the effects of toxins and the formation of cancer. It can also help to prevent or fight common illnesses, such as colds, flu, and infections. It is a powerful antioxidant and it protects cells while inhibiting the aging process. Recent studies have shown beta carotene helps in preventing cancer. It is also integral in the formation of bones and teeth.

Beta carotene is a close relative of vitamin A, but there is one substantial difference. Large doses of vitamin A can cause serious health problems, whereas it is virtually impossible to take too large a dose of beta carotene.

Beta carotene is a very strong anti-oxidant and serves to bolster and enhance the immune system. As with many other supplements, beta carotene has some different qualities when comparing its natural and synthetic forms. Natural beta carotene is composed of two molecule types; synthetic beta carotene consists of only one of these. While most of the beneficial effects of beta-carotene can be obtained from both types, some people have argued that some of its properties, such as its antioxidant effect, are more powerful or effective in the natural type, but there is no scientific backing for this claim, at this point.

Beta carotene deficiency is generally rare, but most often occurs in people who do not ingest enough leafy, green vegetables. When supplementation is used, vitamin E supplementation is often also necessary in conjunction, as beta carotene has been shown to sometimes lower the level of vitamin E in the blood.

What is Selenium?

Selenium is a trace element which is commonly found in soil, and it is needed in tiny amounts in order to be healthy. It is required for various bodily processes and is located in virtually every cell of your body, particularly in the kidneys, liver, spleen, testes, and pancreas.

Selenium functions as an antioxidant which fights free radicals in the body which damage DNA. It is often connected with Vitamins E and C as nutrients which aid in fight against cancerous cells, heart disease and the aging process. Selenium has been widely utilized to battle viral infections and may potentially impede the progress of AIDS/HIV. Additionally, it contributes to overall good health by aiding normal liver function.

Additional health benefits associated with selenium include helping to protect against heart disease, guarding the body against the effects of toxic minerals, and neutralizing the negative effects of alcohol, cigarette smoke, and fats. It may also help to improve male potency and is integral to maintaining healthy hair, skin and eyes.

Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for Boosting Your Immune System

Providing adequate nutrition for your immune system to utilize is one of the primary ways you can help it to boost its disease-fighting powers. Immune boosting nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, work in a variety of ways to strengthen your body's defenses. They help to increase the number of white cells in the body, and help these cells to fight sickness and disease more effectively. Immune boosters can also aid in helping your body to eliminate various substances which slow the body down.

Following are four of the most highly-recommended vitamins and minerals which can help you to reduce the number of days missed from work and school due to illness.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is at the top of the list of immune boosting nutrients for a number of reasons. There has been more research regarding the immune-boosting effects of Vitamin C than any other vitamin, mineral, or nutrient. Vitamin C supplements are cheap to produce, and they are also readily available in a variety of widely-available fruits and vegetables.

Vitamin C helps to increase the body's production of infection-fighting white blood cells and to increase the level of interferon, an antibody which coats the surface of cells, preventing viruses from entering. Vitamin C also helps to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by increasing the level of HDL, or good cholesterol, while at the same time rreducing blood pressure and disrupting the process which causes fat to be converted into plaque in blood vessels.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an important antioxidant and immune system booster which doesn't get as much attention as vitamin C, yet it is still highly important.

Vitamin E aids in the stimulation of the production of natural killer cells - the cells which search out and destroy germs and cancer cells. Vitamin E also stimulates the production of B-cells, the immune system cells which create antibodies that kill bacteria. Vitamin E supplementation may also fight the reduction in the immune system's response commonly seen in the elderly. Vitamin E has been connected to lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease. In the Harvard School of Public Health study of 87,000 nurses, vitamin E was found to reduce the risk of heart attacks by 50%.

Zinc

Zinc is a valuable mineral which stimulates the production of white blood cells which fight infection, and also helps them to fight more aggressively. Zinc also increases the number of killer cells which help fight cancer and stimulates white cells to release more antibodies. Zinc has also been found to reduce the growth rate of cancer.

Zinc helps to create larger numbers of T-cells, which fight infections, particularly in the elderly, who can often be zinc deficient, and whose immune systems can often be weak from age.

For babies and children, some evidence has shown that zinc supplements may reduce the number of acute respiratory infections, but this is not proven. The best source of zinc for babies and children is cereal fortified with zinc.

Selenium

Selenium serves to increase the number of natural killer cells in the body and also helps to create cancer-fighting cells. The best dietary sources of selenium are sea food (red snapper, tuna fish, lobster, shrimp), whole grains, brown rice, eggs, cottage cheese, chicken (white meat), sunflower seeds, and garlic.