Interesting question! I hypothesize the following:
Vitamin A is distributed throughout the body, so only a small amount actually benefits the skin. The body tightly regulates how much retinol is converted into retinoic acid, meaning that even if you consume a lot of vitamin A, your skin won’t necessarily receive much retinoic acid. Topical retinoids, on the other hand, deliver a concentrated dose directly to the skin, providing targeted benefits that dietary vitamin A alone can’t achieve. Even people with sufficient vitamin A levels in their bodies can still see significant skin improvements from topical retinoids due to their localized effectiveness. Also, consuming large amounts of vitamin A for additional benefits isn’t advisable due to the risk of toxicity.
As a crude comparison, just drinking water doesn’t automatically give you well-hydrated skin, while a moisturizer directly targets your skin’s hydration.
When you say vitamin A, do you literally mean vitamin A, or the similar potential-precursor compound found in plants that is often mistaken as vitamin A? See my other comment.
Interesting question! I hypothesize the following:
Vitamin A is distributed throughout the body, so only a small amount actually benefits the skin. The body tightly regulates how much retinol is converted into retinoic acid, meaning that even if you consume a lot of vitamin A, your skin won’t necessarily receive much retinoic acid. Topical retinoids, on the other hand, deliver a concentrated dose directly to the skin, providing targeted benefits that dietary vitamin A alone can’t achieve. Even people with sufficient vitamin A levels in their bodies can still see significant skin improvements from topical retinoids due to their localized effectiveness. Also, consuming large amounts of vitamin A for additional benefits isn’t advisable due to the risk of toxicity.
As a crude comparison, just drinking water doesn’t automatically give you well-hydrated skin, while a moisturizer directly targets your skin’s hydration.
When you say vitamin A, do you literally mean vitamin A, or the similar potential-precursor compound found in plants that is often mistaken as vitamin A? See my other comment.