Cold weather and regularly dipping your hands in soapy water are common causes of dry, cracked hands. But you can also get dry skin because of a vitamin deficiency or a generally poor diet. Having someone else wash the dishes will make a big difference, but changing up your diet could help too.
Nutrients That Nourish Dry Skin
Hands aren’t cracked up to what they used to be? You can rescue them with healthy foods.
Vitamin A, biotin, collagen, omega-3 fatty acids, and probiotics all help to maintain healthy skin, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association. Vitamin C also helps make the collagen that helps with healing wounds, which include the cracks that can develop in dry skin. Additionally, the Harvard T.H. School of Public Health notes that the mineral zinc is necessary to create new skin cells and repair damaged ones.
Skin, hair, and nail supplements may seem like an easy fix, but nutrition experts say that eating healthy foods should be your first priority. “A balanced diet that includes enough nutrition and calories to support skin health is absolutely the best base,” says Maria Sylvester Terry, RDN, founder of a nutrition and wellness coaching practice in New Orleans.
“Getting vitamin C from sources like berries, bell peppers, tomatoes, and oranges, and vitamin A from foods like sweet potatoes, carrots, fish such as tuna, squash, and broccoli, means you’ll get these vitamins in combination with other skin-friendly antioxidants,” Sylvester Terry says. She also recommends whole grains and green leafy vegetables for their B vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants.
“And getting zinc from foods like lean red meat, poultry, seafood such as oysters, nuts, and beans will also provide essential protein that is the building block of strong, healthy skin,” Sylvester Terry says.
Essential Fats Lock in Moisture
Another thing you can do to help avoid dry, cracked skin on your hands — or anywhere else on your body, for that matter — is to make sure you eat enough sources of healthy fats that provide essential fatty acids, or EFAs.
Oregon State University explains that deficiencies of the EFAs linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid increase the loss of water through the skin, meaning your skin can become dry and scaly. “You’ll get plenty of these from consuming small portions of oil-rich plant foods such as vegetable and olive oils, walnuts, seeds, and avocados daily,” Sylvester Terry says.
Omega-3 fats found in oily fish can also combat skin dryness, Sylvester Terry adds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consuming 8 ounces or more per week of seafood, including oil-rich choices like salmon, mackerel, tuna, and trout.
Other Ways to Protect Your Hands
Harvard Health Publishing says that using petroleum jelly and moisturizing oils, such as mineral oil, on cracked, dry hands is an effective and inexpensive way to moisturize them. They also note these tips to avoid dry, cracked skin:
- Use a humidifier in the winter and keep indoor air at around 60 percent moisture.
- Avoid perfumed soaps and alcohol-containing products.
- Avoid taking long, hot baths and showers.
- Resist the temptation to scratch your skin (apply moisturizer to the spot instead).
Vitamin D is thought to play a role in immune system and skin barrier function. Some observational reports have suggested that the vitamin can ease itchy skin, such as the type you might get on cracked, dry hands, but it’s not so clear-cut. A review article in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology concluded that there isn’t enough research evidence to recommend using vitamin D for skin health.
