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Author:
Lee Dobbins

We’ve all seen the scaly itchy skin associated with eczema. Perhaps you’ve even had eczema at some point or suffer from it chronically. This condition, thought to be hereditary attacks about three out of every hundred people and can manifest itself as a rash with scaly, dry, itchy and/or red skin. Either way, you’ll want to do something to relive it fast!

You can get eczema medication from your doctor and if your symptoms are severe you should follow his instructions and use it as recommended. You might notice that some of this medication has Vitamin A in it. Vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant that can help to alleviate symptoms of eczema and has many health benefits for your body including its ability to fight against heart disease and other cardiovascular problems as well as cancer and many other chronic diseases.

Most importantly for eczema sufferers is the vitamins ability to boost and develop the immune system. Dietary and supplemental sources of this vitamin seem to help your body produce antibodies and lymphocytes. These are essential to a healthy immune system. In a recent study, for example, diets lacking Vitamin A were compared to ones rich in vitamin A, beta-carotene, and lycopene and the Vitamin A rich diets has better results on the immune systems of mice.

Foods that are high in Vitamin A include many of your favorite fruits and vegetables! Look for veggies and fruits that are orange in color like carrots, cantaloupe, mango, aprictos and sweet potato to get the most bang for your buck. Other foods that are good sources of Vitamin A include broccoli, turnip greens, spinach and yellow squash.

Taking a Vitamin A supplement can be a good idea for control of eczema, but if you are also taking fish oil supplements, you may want to add more vitamin A to compensate. Vitamin A is fat soluble and the fish oils are, of course, fat so the presence of fish oils can deplete the amount of vitamin A your body gets.

Good supplements, however, will provide the right combination of Vitamin A and fish oils so you can take both in one pill, provided it is a quality vitamin. Fish oil also has added benefits which stem from the omega-3 fatty acids. Along with skin problems, omega-3 is thought to help with depression, dementia, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and many other conditions.

If you suffer from eczema, think about asking your doctor if adding Vitamin A to your regime might help. It’s easy to take and can help protect you from a host of other illnesses and disease as well.

Lee Dobbins writes for Acne Articles.com where you can learn more about acne, skin problems and caring for your skin.

| Article Keywords: Nutrient Basics

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Nutrient Basics... Skin Problems? May Be A Lack Of Nutrients Vitamins and proteins are not the only things people can use in their skin care regimen. All of the nutrients can play an important part as well. Nutrients are the chemical components of food that supply the body with materials that can be transformed into energy including heat and activity; that maintain, repair and build body tissue; and that regulate all body processes. Nutrients are grouped into five classes: vitamins, proteins, (both of which have been discussed in previous articles), minerals carbohydrates, fiber, water and fats. There are some less known nutrients that can play an important part in helping with good skin care. However, it is important to know the two threats that we need to protect the skin against. Cigarette smoke and the sun are the two biggest threats to the skin. They can cause free-radical damage (damage created when cells oxides) to the skin. People who smoke can wrinkle years faster that people who don't smoke. Smokers can have premature wrinkled skin especially around the mouth. Non-smokers should cut down on their exposure to smoke as much as they can. Smokers should beef up on their intake of Vitamin C to help slow down the free-radical damage to their skin. The sun has ultraviolet rays that can erode the elastic tissues in the skin causing premature wrinkles. Regular exposure to the ultraviolet energy of the sun can promote free radical in the fats of the skin cell membranes. Years of unprotected sun exposure can cause some skin cancers. Wearing protective sunscreen can help the outside of the skin. A good, healthy diet can help the skin from the inside and reduce the free-radical damage. The less known nutrients that can help with good skin care are Silicon, Grape Seed Extract, Royal Jelly, L-Cysteine and...