Acne at a glance
Do you struggle with acne on your face, neck, shoulders, chest, or upper arms? This condition is incredibly common, affecting up to 85% of people between the ages of 12-24 years. This inflammatory skin condition occurs when the glands that lubricate the skin become clogged, causing bacterial overgrowth.
Those who suffer from acne most commonly develop blackheads, red and tender bumps or pimples. Beyond the physical discomfort, those who struggle with chronic acne frequently experience self-esteem, anxiety and depression.
Vitamin D and skin health
Research suggests vitamin D plays an important role in skin health. That’s because vitamin D increases the production of antimicrobial peptides, which are naturally occurring antibiotics that help fend off bacteria. In addition, vitamin D receptors are located in the cells lining sebaceous glands. This suggests vitamin D may play a role in the development of acne.
With that said, until recently, no reported studies to date have directly looked at the clinical relevance of vitamin D status in acne. This led researchers to assess this topic further.
Study on vitamin D and acne severity
A few years ago, researchers conducted a study to evaluate vitamin D levels in 80 patients with acne and 80 healthy controls. Participants’ vitamin D levels were measured at baseline, with levels of <12 ng/ml considered deficient, 12-20 ng/ml defined as inadequate and >20ng/ml considered vitamin D sufficient.
After the initial observation, the vitamin D deficient patients with acne entered a subsequent blinded controlled trial. These patients were randomly assigned to receive a 1,000 IU vitamin D3 drop per day (n = 20) or a daily placebo drop (n = 19) for a period of two months. The patients were assessed by three independent, blinded dermatologists at baseline, and after weeks two, four and eight.
Study findings
A total of 48.8% of patients with acne were vitamin D deficient; whereas, only 22.5% of healthy controls were deficient. Those with lower vitamin D levels experienced greater severity of acne and inflammatory lesions.
The participants who received vitamin D supplementation experienced an improvement in clinical severity compared to the placebo group. After 8 weeks of treatment, inflammatory lesions in the vitamin D group decreased by 34.6% compared to only 5.8% in the control group.
Final thoughts
These findings suggest vitamin D supplementation may offer an affordable and simple option to help you improve your skin health. If you are concerned you may be deficient, we recommend testing your levels to find out. Use discount code “GoHealth20” for 20% off your order.
Citation
Missy Sturges. Vitamin D supplementation linked with improved acne. Go Integrative Health, 2021.