-
Supplements and beauty benefits
I’m a skeptical sort by nature and am thus far unconvinced that the ingestion of herbs, vitamins or other botanicals has a significant impact on skin or hair aging.
But I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
What is your best scientific evidence that convinces you that “beauty from within” products are effective?
This paper is a review of Vitamin C and it’s effect on skin.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5579659/If you dig deep into it, you’ll see that no one has done a double blind, controlled study comparing Vitamin C supplements to a placebo. This would be such a simple test to do which suggests to me that it has been done & the results were not compelling.
What do you think?
-
12 Replies
-
Maybe so, but the reverse type of “test” - lack of vitamin C - has been extensively studied in the past and the results were very evident: scurvy. It’s the reason behind the old American nickname for the British: “Limeys” because the British navy discovered that the dreadful symptoms of scurvy could be prevented by eating limes.
-
Indeed.
Sorry if I didn’t qualify it. My question assumes that the people who would be taking the beauty from within supplement are not malnourished.
-
Just the results from the start of a study to the end of a washout period (diet prescribed by a dietician containing ‘normal’ vitamin C requirements and no topical Vitamin C) would be interesting Perry.
Then followed by addition of supplements or topical Vitamin C to see whether there is further improvement. -
@Biochemist - Yes, that would be interesting. Nothing like that thus far.
-
I agree, people are buying a very expensive pee. I guess the reason no authority has stepped in is because most of it is harmless. I guess a little vitamin C or fish oil won’t do any harm. Now reading about the vitamin A example I would expect a reaction.
IMO a double blind is useless, to many variables and you would need too many people to get significant data.
Anyway, I rather eat my veggies…
-
I’m reading the book Bad Pharma. I’m losing faith in most health studies!
-
I agree, people are buying a very expensive pee.
Now you’ve got me thinking about that camel urine shampoo again.
Maybe dog pee would work. I could install a fake lamp post just outside the lab… -
@das I agree, huge numbers of patients needed, variables to consider and relevant end points to measure!?
@Perry don’t loose faith in pharma, the research is significant and doctors are trained to interpret it and look for statistical significance .. unlike many consumers reading cosmetics claims and blogs. -
@Biochemist have you read https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Pharma-Companies-Mislead-Patients/dp/0865478007 ?
it goes through some of the significant problems with the way research is done & the influence of companies on the science that gets communicated. He gives specific examples where evidence of harmful side effects were left unpublished which likely lead to the death of thousands of patients. It’s quite troubling.
-
Thanks @Perry sounds interesting, will add that to my reading list. I hope the view is also balanced as the R&D, clinical trials programs and commercialisation of drugs by pharma companies have and continue to give many patients access to life changing and saving medications.
-
I’d be curious to see what you think after reading.
Log in to reply.
