Written by Dr. Sanjana V.B Bhms,dbrm,cdn

Founder & medical director of siahmsr wellness.in
All rights reserved with siahmsr digital healthcare[siahmsr wellness]
Reviewed by SIAHMSR medical team.

Vitamin E for ageing skin

  Ageing is associated with dryness, wrinkles and pigmentation changes arising from multiple causes. Proper nutrition , hydration and emolient application have crucial roles in maintaining the beauty, softness and health of ageing skin. Skin may lose its natural beauty also from free radical damage prematurely. These issues need to be addressed in time with proper skin care as well as nutrition.Vitamin E has a pivotal role in antiageing or in delaying the age related changes of your skin

What do you know about vitamin E?

Vitamin E is an important fat-soluble vitamin and an antioxidant. It is one of the main ingredients in many cosmetic products. Vitamin E protects the skin from the harmful effects of UV rays of the sun acting as a free-radical scavenger antioxidant. Vtamin E exists in various forms. α-tocopherol (α-Toc) is the most abundant vitamin E derivative in human tissues.

How does vitamin E help ageing skin as well as general health?

   Vitamin E plays vital roles in immune function and the regulation of inflammation.  Inflammation  persisting for a prolonged time is associated with many health issues. Vitamin E has anti-inflammatory potential also.

Ageing population needs more vitamin E than younger adults to maintain health. It is one of the effective antioxidants fighting against free radicals. Free radicals, particularly reactive oxygen species have the ability to alter the production of collagen and glycosaminoglycans in skin.  Vitamin E prevents it as it is a great antioxidant.

Many research studies  show that higher fruit and vegetable intake, along with nuts and seeds rich in vitamin E have vital  role in maintaining the beauty, glow and health of skin as their antioxidants can protect your skin from oxidative damage.

 Antiaging creams with vitamin E may help to some extent to prevent this oxidative damage to skin as these creams may contain 0.5%–1% of vitamin E which is an effective antioxidant.

 Vitamin E has some role in diminishing skin allergy or atopy. The vitamin consumption decreases serum levels of Ig E [immunoglobulin E] in atopic or skin allergy patients. Allergic reactions on the skin also impair the health of skin. Therefore vitamin E is important for better skin health also as it helps for reducing skin allergy

Natural sources of vitamin E

·       Plant oils –  sunflower, soya, corn and olive oil

·       nuts and seeds

·       Wheat germ oil

·       Sunflower, safflower, and soybean oi

·       Sunflower seeds

·       Almonds

·       Avocado

·       Peanuts, peanut butter

·       Beet greens, collard greens, spinach

·       Pumpkin

·       Red bell pepper

·       Asparagus

·       Mango

   Vitamin E as a topical agent

   Vitamin E is used mostly as a topical agent for pigmentation or melasma, particularly in women. But it has no great effectiveness in the treatment of pigmentation or melasma.

It has been shown to cause depigmentation or fading of dark brown melasma discoloration by interference with lipid peroxidation of melanocyte membranes, increasing glutathione content within cells, and inhibiting tyrosinase enzyme.

Vitamin E is available as creams, oil, lotions and gel in the market as beauty enhancing products.

 written by dr.sanjana v.b [copyright]

 References

1.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11710935/  Aging- and photoaging-dependent changes of enzymic and nonenzymic antioxidants in the epidermis and dermis of human skin in vivo
 
2.. Weller R.H., John A., Savin J., Dahl M. The Function and Structure of Skin. 5th ed. Wiley-Blackwell; Massachusetts, MA, USA: 2008. [Google Scholar]
 
3.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12522365/ Cutaneous photodamage, oxidative stress, and topical antioxidant protection
 
4.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21146730/
 
Dry skin in the elderly: complexities of a common problem
5. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminE-HealthProfessional/
6. image courtesy - https://www.freepik.com/search?format=search&last_filter=query&last_value=beautiful+skin+in+women&query=beautiful+skin+in+women