Nutrients for Your Skin in Winter

It's January, you come home from a walk through the cold, turn up the heating - and after just a few days the skin on your cheeks feels rough, the backs of your hands feel tight, your lips get chapped. Welcome to winter-skin mode. This is no coincidence and no personal failing of your skincare routine, but a completely normal reaction to an environment your skin isn't built for.

The short answer up front: In winter, your skin needs above all moisture from the outside - and from the inside a good baseline supply of the nutrients that contribute to its normal function. The most important ones here are vitamin C (collagen formation), biotin, niacin and riboflavin (maintenance of normal skin), as well as zinc and vitamin A. No nutrient makes skin flawless overnight - but a good supply is the ground on which everything else grows.

What happens to your skin in winter

In the cold, the body reduces blood flow to the outer skin layers in order to keep warmth in the body's core. At the same time the sebaceous glands work more slowly - and it is precisely this sebum that normally forms a thin protective film keeping moisture in the skin. When it's missing, the skin barrier becomes more permeable. Dry heated air, often below 30% humidity, then draws water out of the uppermost skin layer - faster than the skin can replenish it.

On top of that comes the constant switching: minus five degrees outside, a cozy twenty-two indoors. This temperature jump, several times a day, puts additional strain on the fine blood vessels and the barrier. And the hot shower, so tempting in winter, washes away the very skin lipids that protect it. No wonder that the face, lips and hands - the spots directly exposed to the air - suffer the most.

How nutrients support the skin from within

Your skin is the largest organ and continually renews itself: in the epidermis new cells constantly migrate upward, keratinize and are shed. This renewal process, the build-up of the barrier lipids and the formation of collagen in the connective tissue beneath - all of this runs via metabolic pathways that depend on certain vitamins and minerals.

Vitamin C is a key player here: it is a necessary cofactor of the enzymes that stabilize collagen. Collagen, in turn, is the structural protein that gives skin firmness and elasticity. Without enough vitamin C, collagen formation stalls - which is why the approved statement "vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of the skin" is so meaningful. Biotin and niacin play a part in the energy and fat metabolism of skin cells, zinc is involved in cell division and wound healing, and vitamin A is central to the normal renewal of skin and mucous membranes.

These nutrients contribute to normal skin

In the EU, health-related statements around the skin are approved for several vitamins and minerals. This is not an advertising claim, but officially assessed:

How biotin, zinc and selenium work together as a beauty trio, you can read in the guide Skin, Hair, Nails: Biotin, Zinc & Selenium. Specifically on biotin, the article Biotin (Vitamin B7) for Skin & Hair is worth a read - important for context: for skin and hair the biotin claim is approved, but for the fingernails it is not.

What research is investigating

Around skin nutrients there is quite a bit of well-documented textbook knowledge: that vitamin C is indispensable for collagen formation is part of this - the historical connection with scurvy, in which a massive vitamin C deficiency affects, among other things, the skin and connective tissue, already shows it. Equally established is the role of zinc in cell division.

Beyond that, research is investigating what role diet as a whole plays for the skin barrier - for example the ratio of fatty acids, the importance of antioxidants and the question of how strongly diet works compared to external care. Much of this is not yet conclusively clarified. To be honest: a good nutrient supply creates the foundation, but replaces neither moisturizing care nor protection from the cold.

Zinc and vitamin A - the classics examined more closely

Zinc is involved in numerous enzymatic processes and contributes to the maintenance of normal skin - no wonder it appears so often in beauty care. More on this in the guide Zinc: Effects, Daily Requirement & Deficiency. Vitamin A contributes to the maintenance of normal skin and mucous membranes; the body also forms it from beta-carotene, which is found in orange and green vegetables. You should not dose either of them high indiscriminately - with vitamin A, particular restraint is advised during pregnancy, so please clarify this with a doctor. For more depth: Vitamin A: Effects & Daily Requirement.

Vitamin D in winter - a topic of its own

In the dark months the sun stands so low here that the skin can barely produce vitamin D anymore. This affects less the skin itself and more the bones, muscles and immune system. Why the dark season is so relevant here is explained in Dark Season: Light & Vitamin D; how much is sensible and what the blood level means, you can read in Vitamin D: Dosage, Blood Level & Winter.

Good food sources at a glance

The nice thing: most skin nutrients are found in completely everyday foods. A colorful, vegetable-rich kitchen covers a lot.

Anyone who eats few vegetables will find concrete suggestions in the guide Nutrients When You Eat Few Vegetables. And anyone wondering how much vitamin C actually makes sense should read Vitamin C: Effects & Daily Requirement.

In practice: your winter program for the skin

From within, the baseline supply counts; from the outside, a few simple habits. In combination they bring the most:

• Richer care than in summer - in winter the cream may be greasier to support the barrier.
• Shower shorter and lukewarm instead of hot and long; afterward moisturize right away, while the skin is still slightly damp.
• Don't overheat rooms and provide some humidity (a bowl of water on the radiator, occasionally airing out with wide-open windows).
• Drink enough and eat plenty of vegetables and fruit - the basis for the supply from within.
• Remember sun protection in winter too, especially during winter sports in the snow.

Hyaluronic acid & collagen - honestly assessed

Around beautiful skin, hyaluronic acid and collagen are heavily advertised. Fair and transparent: for these substances, no health-related statements about taking them are currently approved in the EU. We therefore describe them neutrally - hyaluronic acid is a natural component of many tissues, collagen a structural protein often offered as a peptide. More on this in Hyaluronic Acid: Effects & Forms. Where approved claims are missing, we deliberately make no efficacy promises.

Honestly assessed

Established and officially approved are the skin statements on vitamin C, biotin, niacin, riboflavin, zinc and vitamin A. What you can realistically expect: a solid foundation for normal skin function - not the magicking away of every winter problem. The biggest lever against rough winter skin remains the combination of moisturizing care, gentle cleansing, drinking enough and protection from extreme cold. For persistent or pronounced skin problems, please consult a doctor.

Matching products from Scheunengut

For the supply from within, you'll find bundled preparations such as biotin, zinc and vitamin C in the category Beauty - Skin, Hair & Nails. For individual nutrients it's worth looking at Vitamin C, Zinc and - especially in the dark season - Vitamin D. All products are laboratory-tested and available in organic quality.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Which nutrients are good for the skin in winter?

Approved and well-documented are above all vitamin C (for normal collagen formation), biotin, niacin and riboflavin (for the maintenance of normal skin), as well as zinc and vitamin A. They contribute to normal skin function - you build the best foundation through a colorful, vegetable-rich diet, complemented by moisturizing care from the outside.

Why does skin get so dry in winter?

In the cold, the body throttles blood flow to the skin and sebum production, which makes the protective fatty film thinner. At the same time, dry heated air draws moisture from the skin, and hot showering washes out skin lipids. The barrier becomes more permeable - the skin dries out and feels tight.

Does drinking help against dry winter skin?

Drinking enough is a sensible basis for the moisture balance, but it doesn't act on the skin surface in a targeted way like a cream. Against dry winter skin, the combination counts: drink enough, eat a balanced diet, moisturize richly from the outside and use gentle cleansing.

Is vitamin D via the skin sufficient in winter?

In the dark months the sun stands too low in our latitudes, so the skin can barely produce vitamin D. This affects above all the bones, muscles and immune system. Whether and how much you should supplement depends on your individual status - this can be clarified by a doctor via the blood level.