Vitamin E is known for its rich antioxidant properties, and claims are often made that it will promote healthy looking skin and hair.
Virtually all of the health-giving properties of the vitamin can be obtained from various food sources, and getting the recommended daily allowance of this vitamin via your diet is much preferred to attempting to get it through capsules or in oil form. Still, a lot of over-the-counter personal care products also contain vitamin E oil, such as lotions, conditioners and shampoos.
Topical vitamin E oil can be applied to the hair and skin, and some people believe that it adds luster to hair and makes their skin more supple, though it is very difficult to make objective assessments regarding these claims. According to medical findings, applying topical vitamin E can also cause allergic reactions in approximately on-third of all people who take it, so users should be aware of this.
Here are 2 reasons why using the vitamin in topical oil form is far better than taking capsules.
You can control the amount of vitamin E you use. Using the vitamin in topical form, you can control the amount of the vitamin you ingest, because you won’t actually be ingesting any. There are real concerns that when vitamin supplements are taken in high doses that they can actually cause more harm than good.
Too much vitamin E is bad over long periods. According to researchers, taking too much vitamin E over a long period of time can be bad for the health. In high doses, too much of the vitamin is known to cause the following side effects:
- Headaches
- Diarrhea
- Blurred vision
- Nausea
- Weakness and fatigue
- Unusual bleeding or bruising
- Intestinal cramping
Applying Vitamin E Oil to Skin
People sometimes apply topical vitamins to the skin, in the hope that they will gain protection from:
Sunburn
The Skin Cancer Foundation has indicated that adding vitamin E oil to sunscreen will not in itself protect the skin against the sun’s harsh ultraviolet (UV) rays. However, sunscreen is recommended and some brands of sunscreen do contain small amounts of the vitamin. Sunscreen is now once again on the FDA’s ‘recommended’ list, and the agency has said that benefits of using it outweigh any potential risks of doing so.
If you have decided that applying vitamin E oil to your skin, hair or on a scar is beneficial, just make sure that you never make the mistake of thinking that it can substitute in any way for a healthy diet full of green leafy vegetables and lot of other good things that your mother constantly told you to eat!