Essential Vitamins & Minerals for Acne Recovery
Acne is not a new topic in the beauty industry. Women and men alike have been struggling with this common skin condition throughout their lives.
In the beauty industry, we see that companies like Proactiv and Clean and Clear shove as many products as possible in the faces of those who struggle with acne. These brands try to sell this magical “cure” that rarely works, and when it does it’s usually at the expense of something else.
Although acne is a condition that shows up on the skin the root causes are usually far more internal than we imagine them to be. Far too many people fall for the advertisements these big cosmetic brands create about their products and are blinded to the actual causes of the condition: in short; how you are caring for your body.
Acne is a skin condition that holds several causes to those annoying (and sometimes painful) breakouts.
Some being:
Hormonal changes and cycles
Diet and food behaviors
Stress
Specific medications
There are so many variables that go into acne’s root causes that shouldn’t be overlooked when trying to cure or lessen the impact of one such condition. Without going into an overwhelming amount of detail about causes, we should talk about some of the vital vitamins and minerals you should strongly consider when trying to cure acne. Each of these performs a different role in helping to naturally remedy this harsh skin condition.
VITAMIN A
Vitamin A is a very important vitamin to remember when considering acne. Experts warn against taking too much of this vitamin orally because it’s fat-soluble and could potentially build up in your body and become toxic. Instead, use a topical vitamin A, or “retinol”, to help regenerate and heal your sensitive skin during or after an acne breakout.
Biossance makes the Squalane + Phyto-Retinol Serum that helps with a wide range of skin conditions including acne and oily skin. It contains bakuchiol, a plant-derived retinol alternative, that helps to regenerate and protect damaged skin. It’s vegan and gluten-free coming in recyclable packaging.
VITAMIN D
Vitamin D taken orally is a good vitamin to use for fighting the effects that acne bacteria has on your skin. It boosts your immune system as well to reduce the amount of time those mini infections (pimples) stay on your skin.
Naturewise makes a vitamin D supplement that is bioavailable capsuled with olive oil so that your body better recognizes and absorbs it. This particular vitamin doesn’t contain any GMOs or any additives, fillers, and binders.
ZINC
Zinc, taken orally or topically, is another big player in acne healing. Zinc reduces the amount of oils on your face (to healthy levels) to reduce the levels of potential bacteria and their ability to block pores causing breakouts.
A great zinc supplement that we recommend is the Zinc Picolinate 30 mg from Thorne. The vitamin is bound to the organic picolinic acid to help the body absorb it more efficiently.
Although you may have already seen a doctor and walked out with a steroid prescription, these vitamins and minerals are certainly worth looking into. If your acne condition is caused by hormonal imbalances or fluctuations in your body these vitamins and minerals could still greatly reduce your condition or at least reduce your symptoms exponentially.
Perhaps you’re still waiting for your appointment but want to start doing something immediately to begin your healing journey? We recommend starting a food journal!
Keep track of your food intake and take note of what specific foods cause (or reduce) breakouts during this time. Chances are you’ll be able to pinpoint a major culprit!
We’ve linked a template for you to use on your device or even print out to make things even easier for you.