Vitamin A. Studies suggest vitamin A is important to melanin production and is essential to having healthy skin. You get vitamin A from the food you eat, especially vegetables that contain beta carotene, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, and peas.
What does seem to be the general consensus though in answer to the question, does taking vitamin D help you tan, is that whilst it's probably unlikely that vitamin D supplements darken the skin, being exposed to sunlight helps us to manufacture vitamin D, and in this process, we may also get a tan.
During the long-ranging human exodus from Africa, says anthropologist Nina Jablonski, Vitamin D levels in the body played a key role: driving the evolution of our species' skin color.
Type of Vitamin A
This is why eating excessive amounts of beta-carotene-rich foods or taking high amounts of beta carotene supplements can give your skin a yellow color.
Ascorbic acid oxidation
As you may already know, vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid (specifically L-ascorbic acid) oxidises easily. This is when it decomposes and turns into a number of other substances that likely have much less benefits for skin, and it gradually darkens in colour during this process.
If your body makes too much melanin, your skin gets darker. Pregnancy, Addison's disease, and sun exposure all can make your skin darker. If your body makes too little melanin, your skin gets lighter.
Vitamin C-based skin care products may lighten patches that are darker than the rest of your skin, called hyperpigmentation. In one study, vitamin C applied to the skin for 16 weeks significantly cut down on these spots.
The hyperpigmentation related to vitamin B12 deficiency is more common in darker-skinned patients. Few other cases of skin hyperpigmentation due to vitamin B12 deficiency have been reported in the literature.
What Causes Increased Melanin Production? UV-A rays from the sunlight penetrate into the lower layers of the epidermis and trigger the melanocytes to produce more melanin. Melanin is produced as a defence mechanism. Sunlight is the major cause of increased melanin production.
Vitamin C preparations can also discolor on the skin surface as they contact oxygen in the environment. This accounts for the orange color that may emerge on the skin in the morning after wearing a vitamin C preparation overnight.
Vitamin D is known to enhance the rate of melanin synthesis; and this may concurrently regulate the expression of furin expression.
4) Does vitamin D brighten skin? A. The cholesterol in your skin converts to vitamin D when it absorbs sunlight, and further helps make your skin and cells healthy and happy. This way, vitamin D helps in determining your skin tone and in turn, make it radiant and bright when exposed correctly.
Concerning skin color, our results concur with previous data [30,32,33,34] showing that vitamin D deficiency varies by light and dark skin phototypes, i.e., dark skin color was significantly associated with vitamin D deficiency.
A person's vitamin D level is also determined by the amount of melanin in their skin, the pigment that influences skin tone. The more melanin, the darker the skin tone. The less melanin, the lighter the skin.
People of any skin type can try increasing melanin to reduce skin cancer risk. Studies suggest that upping your intake of certain nutrients could increase melanin levels. It might even increase the amount of melanin in people with fair skin types. There are no studies directly proving ways to increase melanin.
Consider taking a supplement
Whether you are planning a lavish beach holiday or you simply intend to catch some rays in your back garden, taking a supplement that contains beta carotene, selenium and vitamin E will help boost your skin's resilience to the sun and allow you to tan more easily.
Have you ever wondered which hormone causes pigmentation? The underlying hormone responsible for triggering the melanocytes is melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH). This hormone increases the production of melanin, which is responsible for darkening your skin.
Melanin is a substance in your body that produces hair, eye and skin pigmentation. The more melanin you produce, the darker your eyes, hair and skin will be. The amount of melanin in your body depends on a few different factors, including genetics and how much sun exposure your ancestral population had.
Deficiency of vitamin B-9 (folic acid) and B-12 (cobalamin) can cause pigmentation problems leading to patchy skin. Deficiencies of vitamins that occurs due to reduced intake of vegetables and fresh fruits can therefore make you skin appear dull and dark.
8. Brightens skin. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin): B12 encourages cells to reproduce, evening skin tone, and brightening dull and dark spots. It also helps reduce inflammation, acne and can treat skin conditions like eczema.
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is used as a treatment modality in depigmentation of hyperpigmented spots on the skin and gingiva.