I personally take GNC WellBeing Be Wholesome Women’s Vitapaks every morning, with a multi-vitamin, triple-strength Omega-3 fish oil, and 1000 mcg of biotin.
With all of the skin care options on the market, it’s hard enough to choose the most effective topical treatments, much less to consider supplements for your skin. Yet, the latest research suggests that taking certain supplements can greatly benefit your skin. In fact, according to this 2007 study in The Journal of Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, oral consumption of an ingredient is more beneficial than topically applying it. However, the study further suggests that a combination of eating and topically applying ingredients to the skin may be most beneficial.
The Actual Study
In the study, conducted by Mavi Cosmetics in Italy, 40 women were split into four groups. The first group was given a supplement called FloraGlo Lutein with antioxidants (10 mg lutein and 0.6 zeaxanthin). The second group was given a topical cream with lutein and zeaxanthin. The third group was given both the supplement and the topical cream. The fourth and final group was given placebo. After 12 weeks, it was found that either the oral supplement or the cream improved skin elasticity, hydration, and protection against sun damage. However, the combination of oral and topical formulations boosted numbers the most — skin hydration by 60 percent and protection against sunburn by 20 percent.
Vitamin D
In recent years, dermatologists and other physicians have been giving vitamin D supplementation a second look. A 1985 study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation suggested that the skin contains only about half as much vitamin D at age 80 than at 8-18, and vitamin D3 supplementation may fight aging by enhancing vitamin D3 to youthful levels, fighting inflammation and preserving telomere length.
Yet the benefits of vitamin D3 may go much further than skin-deep. According to a study in the journal Cancer, cancer rates are approximately twice as high in the northeast compared with the southwest, implicating a statistically significant inverse relationship between UVB exposure and bladder, esophageal, kidney, lung, pancreatic, rectal, stomach, and corpus uteri cancers. One theory for this correlation is that UV exposure is required for proper vitamin D synthesis, and hence the higher cancer incidence may be caused by vitamin D deficiencies, which are prevalent throughout the U.S. An editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine reports that 57% of 290 patients in one study were reported to have inadequate vitamin D levels, while another alarming 2007 study from the University of Pittsburgh found that approximately half of the pregnant women residing in the northeastern U.S. are “at high risk” for vitamin D insufficiencies and deficiencies, even when taking prenatal vitamins.
Just how much vitamin D is necessary for proper nutrition is unclear. In fact, the NIH has announced that new guidelines for vitamin D consumption and supplementation are to be released in early 2010. While a 1995 Australian randomized clinical trial in Archives in Dermatology found that it was still possible to use broad-spectrum (UVA/UVB SPF 17) daily over the course of a summer and synthesize healthy vitamin D levels, many experts still recommend using a vitamin D supplement, as the body will not naturally over-synthesize vitamin D. As levels of vitamin D higher than 50 mg or 2000 IU via food and supplements can lead to toxicity, it is generally advised to keep supplements to 1000 IU or less, if one has other sources of vitamin D incorporated as a part of their healthy diet.
Sunscreen Pills
With UV light implicated as the number one cause of skin cancer and skin aging, but with so many people enjoying lifestyles out in the sun, it is no wonder that sunscreen pills have recently been gaining popularity.
One of the most popular sunscreen pills is Heliocare, which contains Polypodium leucotomos extract derived from a tropical, fern-like plant. Clinical studies on Heliocare demonstrate that Polypodium leucotomos extract protects against UV damage to the skin, decreases UVA-induced damage, prevents acute sunburn, and prevents Langerhans cell depletion upon UV exposure. One critique of these studies is given by Mayo Clinic dermatologist Lawrence Gibson, M.D., who says that “these trials were too small to have detected any possible side effects — meaning that the long-term safety of these extracts is still in question.”
It has also been proposed that the active compound in pomegranate extract (ellagic acid) can protect against UV-induced damage in human keratinocytes, both UVA and UVB in two separate studies in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology. Pomegranate extract may prevent against hyperpimgnetation as well: in this double-blind, placebo-controlled 2006 study in the Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology, it was found that 100-200 mg/day of ellagic acid has an inhibitory effect on a slight pigmentation in the human skin caused by UV irradiation. The results of the Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry study suggest that the skin-whitening effect of PE was probably due to inhibition of the proliferation of melanocytes and melanin synthesis by tyrosinase in melanocytes.
Still, although the results seem to be sound, Dr. Gibson notes, [Sunscreen]supplement[s][are] meant to be used in conjunction with — and not in place of — other sun protection measures, such as wearing sunscreen or protective clothing when outside.” If you wear sunscreen and sun-protective clothing already, there does not seem to be any harm in taking Polypodium leucotomos or pomegranate extract (ellagic acid) – and in fact only some promising research behind doing so.
Overall Opinions
With the American lifestyle ever-increasing in its daily activity, it is no wonder that the enjoyed convenience of popping a pill for everything from aches and pains to sleep deprivation has now turned to skin care. Although early research seems promising, it is worth it to keep in mind that most of the previous studies are conducted by companies who have some interest in the product. This is not to implicate that there must always be bias in business-based research, but it is suggestive that there is a need for more peer-reviewed, non-company-affiliated, independent research for skin care supplements to gain full notoriety within the scientific and dermatological communities, as such research exists for many popular topical ingredients. Furthermore, such research will lead into exciting advances as in the optimization of oral skin care, from optimal doses and times to the elimination of toxicities and the prevention of detrimental interactions or allergic reactions. As such, while the future for oral supplementation in skin care certainly looks promising, we need to keep in mind that there is still much more work to be done before we can safely prescribe effective doses for optimal skin care.