Happy Sunday everybody!
I’ve had a lazy start to my day, just sleeping in and lounging around. I put in a ton of hours last week into my job as well as physician shadowing, so I’ve been trying to catch up on the zzz’s this weekend.
I also had a pretty bad diet binge (well, I consider it bad) last week, which included fries, alcohol, chocolate, cheese, and a cookie – all after I had tried to reintroduce dairy into my diet, which turned out to be a big no-no. Needless to say, I’m now paying for it and my skin is freaking out. Luckily, I got refocused on Tuesday, so things are calming down now. I’ve even started a food log to keep myself on track, so let me know if y’all would like a peek at that sometime!
One thing that I’ve been meaning to post about is treating your skin with vitamins and supplements.As I’ve talked about before, it is very important to me that whatever skincare routine I’m on, it has to be easy, simple, and accessible. I want to be able to travel without worrying about international pharmacies, go camping without a massive bag of products, fall asleep after a party at a friend’s house without having an anxiety attack about my makeup. If you’ve had skin issues for a long time, or even if you haven’t, this is probably important to you too!
For that reason, I’ve been a bit hesitant to go on a full vitamin or dietary supplement kick. Many vitamin brands will claim better quality over other brands, and I don’t want to be stuck buying super expensive, exclusive supplements that require shipping, etc. So, with that in mind, about one month ago I began searching for supplements that I could add to my routine, obtain locally, and not have to spend my entire paycheck on. And that’s when I found….
ZINC!
Zinc has quite the following when it comes to happy customers. Here are just a few examples from Makeup Alley that got me excited about trying it:
“After discontinuing birth control, my skin was never the same and I was always getting big, nasty, cystic zits. I started taking zinc and adopted other skincare changes and after about a month, my skin had improved a lot! I stopped getting the cysts, had fewer clogged pores, and even felt less oily”
“If you have struggled to manage acne, you should try zinc. I’ve had acne my whole adult life and this is the product that has given me clear skin and ended my reliance on products such a Neutrogena On-the-Spot. This decreases oiliness, GREATLY reduces blackhead, and has totally eliminated my acne.”
“I’ve been on Retin A Micro and Differin for years and have gotten maybe 85% clear – which is a major improvement for me. However, it wasn’t until I started taking a 50mg a day zinc supplement that I’ve become 100% CLEAR. As in, no oiliness (my skin is now combination as opposed to oily), no breakouts, fewer blackheads. The biggest improvement I’ve seen is in my monthly hormonal breakouts on my chin and cheeks, and also the complete clearing of my cystic acne.”
So, how does zinc work?
- Zinc helps the body heal, which is the first reason that it works great with skin problems. By repairing damaged tissues, lesions will take less time to repair themselves, which always a good thing.
- Zinc helps to alleviate inflammation in the skin. Since a big part of acne is that the lesions are inflamed and irritated, this can be a big life saver for the skin. By reducing inflammation, you’re reducing the size, redness, and number of lesions on the skin.
- Zinc keeps the skin hydrated and soft. A sign of zinc deficiency is dry, cracked skin.
In some studies, zinc has actually been shown to be as effective as antibiotics. For only $5 a bottle and with all-natural ingredients, that’s quite a deal!
If you think you’re ready to try adding a zinc supplement to your diet, here are some guidelines that can help you decide the best way to do so:
- Make sure that you’re taking a sufficient amount. Most people will buy 50mg pills and take them 1-3 times per day for up to 12 weeks. After that, you should cut down to about 15mg per day as maintenance. Here is more information about dosing for acne from the Mayo Clinic.
- Include some sort of copper supplement. Zinc can deplete copper in the body, and the last thing you need is a random copper deficiency. An easy way to do this is to take a multivitamin with copper in it every few days, or to go buy a simple and cheap copper supplement. You should take 1mg of copper for every 15mg of zinc.
- Stick with the program for at least 8-12 weeks. This is the amount of time that most changes to a routine need in order to make an improvement in your skin. Even if you’re feeling discouraged – don’t give up! Of course, if you’re having adverse side effects, discontinue use and talk with your physician.
In my experience, zinc is most effective when it comes to hormonal acne – however, it may certainly help other types of acne as well, given all of it’s skin benefits. I started taking it when I had a horrible hormonal breakout along my jawline as a result of being lazy with my birth control and forgetting to take my pills. Even though I don’t think my birth control helps my skin AT ALL, I think that taking it inconsistently makes it much worse. After taking the zinc for about a week, the breakout was gone and my skin was healing quickly. I’m continuing to take 50mg a day, but will probably bump that up to 100mg soon (I’ll update you if I do!).
How about you? Do you take zinc? Have questions about it? Shoot me a message!
sources:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/zinc/NS_patient-zinc/DSECTION=dosing
Click to access jtad71302a.pdf
http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/nutrition/zinc-benefit-skin.htm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-75093/How-I-clear-acne.html
clearly minimalist 