Anti-Aging Skin Care: The effects of Vitamin A in retaining a Youthful Appearance

Vitamin A Vegetables

Vitamin A should definitely be used in your armory of anti-aging skin care weapons. It is well known that Vitamin A has anti-aging properties, so if you ingest it as a supplement, or in its organic form e.g. as a vegetable or fruit, it will benefit you, so long as it's used in correct quantities. Vitamin A is also sold by the cosmetic industry in the form of topical skin creams which feature Vitamin A derivatives in the form of retinoid and retinol that aids skin cell replacement.

Foods that are colored dark green, yellow, or orange are generally known to be a good source of Vitamin A which is known as beta-carotene. Foods that are rich in Vitamin A include carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, green, red, and yellow peppers, spinach, winter squash, apricots, cantaloupe, mango, liver, eggs, and broccoli.

5 000 IU (International Units) for pregnant women and 10 000 IU, on average, for all adults is the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance). Any Vitamin A derived from fresh fruits and vegetables cannot be ingested in dangerous quantities. However, it is advised that Vitamin A ingested in the form of supplements must not exceed the RDA; otherwise it can be very harmful and even fatal. Please be advised that the information supplied in this blog posting must not be construed as medical advice; intake of Vitamin A should be controlled by a medical practitioner.

As an anti-aging medium, Vitamin A used topically on the skin can increase the collagen levels, thereby making your skin feel smooth and soft. As it boosts your skin's collagen levels, the elasticity and stretchability of the skin improves. Certain topical Vitamin A creams will also reduce wrinkles, fine lines and photo aging symptoms e.g. Brown blemishes and spots that appear on your skin during your 30's and 40's, a legacy left from the tanning years.

Other benefits of Vitamin A creams which contain retinoid, retinol, or tretinoin are overall skin thickness, improved hydration, better skin tone; they also diminish wrinkles, lines, acne, and bad pigmentation.

So if you're aiming to look younger, use Vitamin A as an oral supplement, and also apply a Vitamin A skin topical cream once per day, preferably at night. Please remember not to overdo it as Vitamin A accumulates in the body and is not easily flushed out by the liver or urine like other vitamins.

Wendy Wilken is the author of “Facelift Without Surgery” and also a practitioner of natural anti-aging techniques. She spends her free time researching and writing about anti-aging and non-surgical facelifts. See her other products too.