For years the biggest problem with my skin has been its luminosity. More like the lack of it. That's why I've been using vitamin C serums for years without knowing that the most important thing was happening in my stomach because according to a recent study, eating more foods with vitamin C helps your skin to be radiant more than a cream does.
Scientists discovered that the vitamin C that we ingest through different foods is capable of being transported through the bloodstream, reaching each layer of the skin and there, stimulating collagen production and skin renewal. What Professor Margreet Vissers from the Otago Center for Biology and Redox Medicine and lead author of the study says is that “we have clearly shown that improving vitamin C intake, within normal dietary levels, improves skin health.” That is, beauty seems to start from within and not from the outside.
If we eat more vitamin C, we will have more radiant skin
The study, carried out by scientists at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, ensures that people who ate two kiwis rich in vitamin C a day for eight weeks increased their levels of vitamin C in their blood and skin. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and protects the skin against damage caused by UV rays, and the study associated increased vitamin C with greater skin thickness, greater collagen production and more active skin cell renewal, which made the skin look healthier.
Skin samples were collected before and after eight weeks to analyze the impact of the additional vitamin C and found that all participants improved their skin from the deepest layers where collagen is produced, all the way to the outer skin barrier. That is, the vitamin C that we consume through our diet seems to have a real effect on the skin, although more studies are still needed to provide solid evidence.
Participants in the study consumed an additional 250 mg of vitamin C each day by eating two kiwis. Although the study was partially financed by a kiwi producing company, which does not invalidate the work, it is necessary to take it into account to avoid possible biases, but we can increase vitamin C consumption in an easy way. For example, 100 grams of red pepper (raw) provides up to 140 mg of vitamin C. Two kiwis could be replaced by three and a half oranges or three servings of broccoli, but there are many foods with vitamin C that we can add to our diet such as cauliflower, kale or berries.
The Spanish Society of Dietetics and Food Sciences recommends “consuming foods rich in vitamin C raw or using less intense cooking techniques such as steaming for 2-3 minutes,” because vitamin C is lost with heat. You know, start by taking care of what you eat instead of spending a million on creams.
