Little Things that Matter Your LIFE: Will eating a ‘retinol salad’ really improve your skin?

Mandy Oaklander | September 01, 2026

Retinol, a form of vitamin A, is a skin-care staple for acne and aging alike. But can you get similar benefits from eating foods loaded with vitamin A?

The so-called "retinol salad," which is packed with carrots, is huge on social media for that reason. But vitamin A works differently in your salad than it does in a serum. Erica Sweeney asked dermatologists to explain why one is more effective than the other.

TODAY’S TOPICS

When caregiving costs you
America’s drug-price markup
Young and friendless

PLEASE ADVISE

Here’s a great question we received from a reader:

How can I tell whether caregiving is merely exhausting me—or actually damaging my health? What warning signs suggest I need to make a change or seek help?

Caring for someone you love can be draining even when everything is going relatively smoothly. So how do you know when you’re merely exhausted—and when your own health is starting to pay the price?

The best clue isn’t whether you’re wiped out after a particularly brutal week. It’s whether changes to your health and habits have become “consistent or persistent,” says Diane Mariani, a licensed clinical social worker and director of Caring for Caregivers at Rush University Medical Center.

Pay attention if you’re regularly sleeping or eating differently, feeling unusually irritable, skipping the walks or other exercise you once enjoyed, or withdrawing from people because you don’t have the bandwidth to talk. Another big warning sign: Your own health keeps sliding to the bottom of the list. Maybe you’re brushing off symptoms you’d normally get checked out, postponing a mammogram or colonoscopy, or letting a chronic condition go unmanaged.

One useful gut check is to ask yourself: “If nothing about this arrangement changes, can I keep living this way for another three or six months?” If your entire body answers “absolutely not,” listen to it.

What probably won’t help is scolding yourself about “self-care.” Mariani avoids that language because, to an overwhelmed caregiver, it can sound like one more task—or like they’re still not doing enough. Instead, start smaller: What’s one thing you wish you still had time for? Maybe it’s your morning walk, reading before bed, or drinking a cup of coffee while it’s still hot. Then identify the specific obstacle and ask someone for their help in removing it: “I want to keep doing this, but I can’t sustain it exactly as it is. Could you handle the grocery shopping for the next few weeks?” Or: “Could you stay with Mom on Tuesday so I can make it to my appointment?”

If the changes to your sleep, mood, eating habits, or physical health are persisting, or you’re repeatedly postponing your own medical care, contact your primary-care doctor. You can also ask the health system treating your loved one whether it offers caregiver support, social-work services, or support groups. If researching resources feels like one responsibility too many, delegate that job to someone who keeps asking how they can help.

Needing the arrangement to change doesn’t mean you love the person you’re taking care of any less—or that you’re failing them. It means you want to keep caring for them without disappearing from your own life in the process. –Angela Haupt, Editor, Health & Wellness

Got a social dilemma of your own? Send it our way to healthmatters@time.com, and we might tackle it in a future edition.

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BIG NUMBER

278%

That’s how much higher U.S. drug prices are compared to other countries, according to a 2024 report. That’s why the Trump Administration entered into a deal with nine more pharmaceutical companies on Aug. 31.

But the so-called “most-favored-nation” deal will only lower the prices paid by Medicaid programs and probably will not have a big impact on consumers’ pocketbooks, experts told me. —Alana Semuels, Senior Correspondent

SOURCE: RAND

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WHAT WE’RE READING

The average American kid throws away about 39 pounds of school food a year. Angela Haupt at TIME shares simple ways to pack a lunch that’s more likely to actually get eaten.
Why are young people losing close friends? Denis Campbell at the Guardian reports that the share of 16- to 21-year-olds in England with none has increased fivefold since 2014.
Patients are being directed to higher-priced locations for procedures because of mergers in health care systems, driving up costs, Elisabeth Rosenthal reports for KFF Health News and CBS.

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