Archive for August, 2021

How Skin Conditions and Vitamin D Deficiency Affect Your Skin

August 25th, 2021

I don’t know a thing about you, but I’ll tell you if wanting to learn about skin conditions and vitamin D deficiency affects on your skin, you’ve certainly come to the right place. Those of us that are concerned about the negative affects that UV rays have on the skin’s health are in a bit of a quandary. How do we protect ourselves from wrinkles caused by sun damage and skin-cancer, without also risking vitamin D deficiencies? Here’s what I’ve learned.

There are five layers of the epidermis, the outermost of the skin’s layers. Vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, is produced in the two deepest layers, when pre-vitamin D3, found in the epidermis, is exposed to UVB rays from the sun. UVB rays do not penetrate beneath the epidermis, but UVA rays do. Most sunscreens on the market, particularly the thinner ones that are found in many skincare products designed for daily use, only block UVB rays.

Since UVA rays penetrate more deeply, they cause cancer in the dermis layer that is even more dangerous than squamous cell and basal cell carcinomas. Those types of cancers occur in the epidermis.

So, the first point, if you are concerned about skin conditions and vitamin D, is to recognize that most sunscreens inhibit the skin’s ability to produce D3, but they do not block the hazardous UVA rays from the sun. It takes a broad spectrum sun-block like zinc oxide to do that.

In light skinned individuals, it takes about 20 minutes of UV exposure to reach maximum D3 production. In darker skinned individuals, it takes 3-6 times longer. Although supplements can cause toxicity, overexposure to sunlight does not. Because, once equilibrium is reached the vitamin is degraded. In other words, the body will only produce what it needs.

There is research concerning specific skin conditions and vitamin D supplementation. Psoriasis, for example, is known to improve with cholecalciferol supplementation. A chronic like of cholecalciferol intake plays a role in chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, tuberculosis, cancer, gum disease, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, depression, heart disease and Parkinson’s. In other words, this vitamin is extremely important to our continued health and well-being.

To protect yourself from skin-cancer, without risking deficiency, use a broad spectrum sun-block when you expect to spend more than 20 minutes in the sun. Do not rely on sunscreens in cosmetics to protect you from skin-cancer. If you have very limited exposure to sunlight, take a supplement that contains D3.

As far as age-related skin conditions and vitamin D are concerned, use a daily moisturizer that contains the antioxidants coenzyme Q10 and natural vitamin E. In most be specially formulated or it will not penetrate through the epidermis and into the dermis to fight cancers that can occur in those layers. Antioxidants are our best defense against cancers of kinds, but the natural concentration in our cells is lower as we age.

Make no mistake about it. With an effective moisturizer and a reasonable amount of sunlight and/or supplementation, our worries about age-related skin conditions and vitamin D deficiencies are over. Aren’t you glad that you took the time to read this article?