Skin problem is common in cold and dry season. Itchy skin, rough skin, rashes, psoriasis, allergy and chillblains can go on through autumn and winter. Even more annoying, people have to try their utmost to avoid scratching or touching the area and bear the fact that the skin problems may occur repeatedly.
Why Skin Irritation Usually Happens in Dry and Cold Weather?
To learn why skin irritation flares up during cold and dry weather, we first need to understand the structure of our skin. Epidermis is the outmost layer of our skin and it wears a protection coating called the stratum corneum which is formed by a series of lipid and dead or dying skin cells. The stratum corneum is commonly known as the skin barrier that blocks toxic substance, bacteria and virus, and allergen out of our skin.
Moisture is important to keep lipid stable in the skin barrier. Meanwhile, the lipid builds a surface to reduce evaporation and lock moisture in skin. When autumn and winter arrives, people sweat less in the cooler temperature and thus secrete less lipid over the skin barrier. Added with the dry and windy weather, more moisture loses in the air, further weakening the lipid function. As a consequence, the skin barrier go malfunctioning without adequate lipid and bacteria and virus make their way to permeate through skin, causing the redness, irritation, infection and other skin problems.
How to Prevent Skin Problems in Dry and Cold Weather?
The strategy is to retain water and nutrition in the skin and maintain the normal function of lipid in order to strengthen the skin barrier. Drinking plenty of water is for sure an advisable thing to do in dry season. But when water goes in from the mouth, through the digestive track and other organs and eventually excrete out of our body, the skin may still not get enough water. That is to say, even if you drink plenty of water, for instance 1500-2000cc each day, your skin irritation may not improve. So we need extra supplement to support skin health.
Supplements that Supports Better Skin Health
Collagen-rich Food
Collagen supports capillary wall and many connective tissue in the human body. A research showed that collagen binds to moisture and can hold one thousand times its weigh in water. Supplementing collagen retains more water in the skin, not only giving a supple and moisturized look, but also keeping lipid stable to strengthen skin barrier.
Fish Oil
Omega-3 fatty acid, the primary component in fish oil, helps support the skin overall health. The benefit of fish oil for skin includes promoting skin healing, inhibiting inflammation(especially UV light damage) and restoring skin barrier function. Fish oil helps maintain homeostasis in the body and reduce the risk of developing chronic skin problems.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects skin against damage of free radicals and UV lights. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin, it can moisturize dry and flaky skin, retain water as well as sooth irritation and itchiness. You can find vitamin E in most moisturizing cream. From a cosmetic perspective, it’s recommended to apply toner then lotion and then cream or oil as the final step to achieve the water&oil balance, aiming to lock water in skin. The same logic applies for Vitamin E supplements. Vitamin E taken orally or applied onto skin will help build a complete lipid layer to reduce moisture loss. At the same time, the lipid layer blocks allergens and source of infection.
Winter Skin Supplement Recommendations
GNC Omega-3 Supplement-GNC Triple Strength Fish Oil Mini
This Triple-strength fish oil is sourced from wild deep-sea fish and processed with certified purification procedure to reduce possible contaminants. The Mini size soft-gels is easy to swallow. Enteric-coated technique reduces fishy odour. The soft-gel only dissolve when it reaches the intestine for better absorption. GNC Triple Strength Fish Oil Minicontains 1000mg of EPA/DHA omega-3, good for maintaining overall skin health, eyesight and relieving dry eyes, promoting skin health, reducing inflammatory response and supporting cardiovascular and brain function.
Collagen Supplements-ResVitále™ Ultra Collagen Enhance™ 90 Capsules
Ultra collagen synergized with highly bio-available hyaluronic acid to conduct moisture into cellular gap and retain water in the skin, supporting the normal metabolism of cell. Dermaval™ with resveratrol is a group of antioxidant extracted from vegetable and fruit source to improve water retention and pump up skin. ResVitále™ Ultra Collagen Enhance™ 90 Capsules supports younger and moisturized skin state, restores the water&oil balance of skin barrier and smooths wrinkles.
GNC is an Australia-based health product company. For decades we’ve been developing breakthrough solutions to cope with the damage of the environment and natural aging. Here You can find a more effective and simpler way to ease dry and cold weather related skin problem and even prevent it from the beginning, with help of natural and high-potency GNC supplement. Join GNC, make small efforts for your overall well-being.