Something that all clear skin maniacs should know is that acne should be cleared from the inside out. It’s a theme we preach with religious fervour all over this website. Topical treatments are great as bonuses, with mangosteen reducing pimples by 50%, but they can’t compare to dampening the fires of inflammation inside your body and grinding the conveyor belt of pimples right to a halt.
Despite all the evidence, I can’t say that the wider acne community is more focused on diet these days. It might be incrementally better than ten years ago – it’s a background player, sure – but almost all acne social media pages discuss special lavender cleansers or the exact proportions of benzoyl peroxide to apply…
…and it’s important to know that anti-ageing is an exact parallel to this.
Generally, the focus is on special serums in stylish glass bottles, or resveratrol creams. However, it’s much wiser to feed your body the building blocks of youth proteins.
It’s a similar split to acne; a small minority focus on nutrition and collagen supplements, but most spend their hard earned cash on surface level topical treatments.
Which brings us to today’s study. It’s a fantastic experiment released in June 2019 last year, feeding women 3 anti-ageing supplements which are constantly recommended on the internet.
The anti-ageing ingredients
Hyalorunic acid – the superstar of a thousand creams, moisturisers and even eye drops. However, hyaluronic acid isn’t the latest pharmaceutical frankenchemical – it’s all natural.
It’s the chief moisture retainer of human skin. Hyaluronic acid can absorb a thousand times its own weight in water, more disproportionate than any other human substance. It declines severely in ageing so that occasionally, elderly people can have just 5% of the hyaluronic acid.
For example, there’s an obscure village in Japan called Yuzuihara. It’s an traditional place of mountains and lakes, where little has changed for 500 years, but a higher percentage of these villagers live to 85 than any location in the United States. Rumour has it that their skin is youthful like a peace-loving vampire even at 80. Why? It isn’t a fountain in the nearby forest with a mystical mist floating around it – their diet is rich in obscure tubers like satoimo and imoji which contain natural hyaluronic acid.
Carnosine – a classic reason why red meat is an underrated for health. Carnosine only occurs in animal foods (hence carno-sine); vegans have the lowest carnosine levels in their skeletons. Our bodies can manufacture carnosine, but only a feeble trickle, solely the baseline level. Carnosine is a dipeptide molecule consisting of the amino acids beta-alanine and histidine.
For ageing, it has a highly specific power. Carnosine prevents AGE free radicals from warping collagen proteins.
AGEs form when sky-high blood sugar reacts with proteins. AGEs split the fibres of collagen and make it weaker and disorganised. Even normal dietary antioxidants struggle to prevent this process, but two superior remedies are 1) the drug aminoguanidine, and 2) the natural carnosine. It’s a unique power compared to vitamin C, for example, which accelerates the collagen manufacturing process.
MSM – speaking of collagen manufacturing, that’s precisely what the ocean-originating MSM specialises in. Its full name is methylsulfonylmethane, and the sulfur component is a vital ingredient of collagen.
The link has been known since 1965. Collagen is why jump jockeys feed their horses MSM pills (probably grass-flavoured ones), to make their coat shinier and sleeker. Although more importantly, this also strengthens their joints and sends them leaping over obstacles on the race track, while recovering from injuries faster. Sulfur is also a key ingredient of glutathione, the master antioxidant, which your body is manufacturing at this very second.
Those are the theories anyway. Maybe the quantities of hyaluronic acid in the skin are fixed and unchanging except for ageing, like telomeres in DNA. Maybe the humble Yuzuihara village is full of unknowing genetic superhumans. Maybe avoiding sunlight is the real secret. According to our study, that isn’t the case….
The anti-ageing methods
Scientists gathered 50 women aged 40-65. They were lured into the laboratory with promises of youthfulness; it’s more tempting than a study testing Brussels sprouts on heavy metal poisoning.
They were divided into two groups with 25 women apiece, both taking a pill twice daily for 2 months. The first pill was the placebo. It contained transparent gelatin and microcrystalline cellulose, with no bioactive ingredients, designed solely to resemble the other pill.
The second pill, our prospective fountain of youth, contained 400mg of MSM, 200mg of hyaluronic acid, and 500mg of carnitine.
Importantly, it was a single-blind study, so none of the women knew which recipe they were taking. They understood the nature of the experiment, but not the contents of their own pill.
The mean age was 47.8 for the placebo group and 49.3 for the experimental. This is a good age for testing; it’s when the ageing buffer of youth has disappeared, but you’re still young enough where nutrition might revitalise you.
They were measured only twice: at day 0 and day 60. It was a strict experiment, with women banned from using pharmaceutical acne remedies, cancer medication, and drugs known to affect the skin as a side effect (corticoids, anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics). BMI and skin phototype barely differed between the groups. The women were even educated about lifestyle and food choices that could blur the experiment.
The women were all affected by photoageing – steady exposure to the sun which damages your youth proteins over time (collagen, elastin).
On the final day of measurement, the women were banned from applying make up. Each measurement was performed three times, and the median became the final score. Digital photos were taken and stored away.
Then, the exact same investigator examined all the photos, which is great for reliability, because the instincts for what constitutes wrinkles will always be the same.
Here’s what happened…
The anti-ageing results
After 60 days, the MSM/hyaluronic acid/carnitine combo defeated the placebo for all elements of ageing tested.
The improvements were statistically significant in all areas. In the glabella region, the area just above the nose between the eyes, hydration and elasticity rose by 15.2% and 22.6% respectively. The placebo? Nothing decent. It actually fell, by 17%, although this was probably just a blip, while elasticity fell by 9%.
Around the eyes (the periocular region), skin hydration and elasticity rose by 12.6% and 15.9%. Around the mouth, in the “commissural” area, hydration rose by 17.6% and elasticity rose by 15%. The placebo achieved “no statistically significant variation” for either areas.
The figures are pretty similar for all areas of the face. The pill was a consistent blanket of youth. Sebum (oil) production was also tested, and it fell by 24.2% in the glabella area after 60 days. The placebo? Sebum also fell, but only by 12%.
The most enticing power of all is wrinkle reduction. Sadly, it was the weakest, but still very promising. Using the photos from storage, the women were graded from 0.5, for no visible wrinkles, to 3, for multiple wrinkles deeper than 3mm. The wrinkle depth score decreased uniformally, but was only “statistically significant” for the eye area, falling from approximately 1.6 to 1.48. However the periocular region was still strong, falling from 1.6 to 1.52, although the commissural mouth region was slightly feeble at 1.64 to 1.63.
What did the placebo achieve? Nothing, that’s what. The wrinkle scores actually rose, although that might hint at an inaccuracy – did they really age in just 2 months?
Nevertheless, the scientists reached a fantastic conclusion: “We believe the MCN product could potentially be a beneficial option for those seeking rejuvenation“.
Results from the questionnaire
A parallel element of this great study was that the women reported their own personal opinions.
Again, remember that they had no idea which treatment they were taking. They were purely relying on their own observations, which is cutting right to the chase.
Testing proteins like elastin are vital of course, but here we have the view in your bedroom mirror, the wrinkles or dryness that make you worry. The average woman experimenting with youth creams doesn’t have access to a scientific instrument that determines her elastin levels (unless she works in the lab and is sneaking in sessions when nobody’s looking).
The questions were looser, more subjective ones. Each category was assigned a score of 1 for very unsatisfied, 2 for unsatisfied, 3 for satisfied, and 4 for fully satisfied.
Again, the youth pill (left) dominated the placebo (right). The categories were…
ONE: Wrinkle improvement – 1.98 versus 0.96.
TWO: Younger-looking face – 2.83 versus 1.88.
THREE: Improvement of hair/joints/mucosae/nails – 2.92 versus 0.92.
FOUR: Family judgement of outcomes – 2.76 versus 1.73.
FIVE: Beneficial change in facial skin – 2.83 versus 1.73.
SIX: Continuation of tablet intake – 3.25 versus 2.19.
SEVEN: Recommendation of the product to a friend – 3.23 versus 2.34.
This was wrapped up neatly into an overall summary, where the youth pill patients gave a score of 2.83–3.25. The placebo were languishing in 1.73-2.34 territory. The decent but unexceptional wrinkling results also match the scientific portion well.
A great study for acne sufferers everywhere
This study perfectly demonstrates one of the classic themes of curing acne naturally – combining smaller strategies. There are many topical treatments or supplements out there which show an anti-inflammatory power, or quench chains of free radicals, but only do it mildly.
Technical studies might conclude by saying “aloe vera shows X properties, but the magnitude is insignificant”. Dermatologists might argue that such moderate powers pale in comparison to the unquestionable glory of accutane.
Ignoring the fact that some natural supplements like zinc can create wipe out vast swatches of acne on their own (49.8% in one study), the point is that when you combine multiple smaller strategies, they add up to be very significant. Dismissing each remedy in isolation ignores this. It’s actually surprising how many scientists forget this simple point.
An example would be ginger‘s anti-inflammatory gingerols. They won’t soothe your pimples alone, but apply aloe vera and dodge air pollution, and the reduction will graduate from invisible magnifying glass material to a visible change in the mirror.
Natural remedies do this without side effects; instead, they might prevent Alzheimer’s by dissolving amyloid plagues (cinnamon), or enhance your vision by protecting retinal cells (kale).
This study supports what we’ve been ranting about for years, and will rant about for many more years.
Why were wrinkles improved less?
In theory, this youthfulness recipe should have smoothed out wrinkles just as effectively.
Carnitine and MSM both increase collagen, while MSM is the plumpness player. So why were the results merely decent?
Firstly, 60 days isn’t enough to get a full picture. Calming down an angry pimple is one thing – the redness fades just hours after inflammatory chemicals like TNF-a decrease – but smoothing out wrinkles and remorphing the proteins involved is a long term project. Street wisdom says that every cell in your skin is replaced over the course of two years, and that’s relevant here. The scientists confessed to it themselves: “The short duration… might have limited our results, especially in terms of wrinkle changes“.
That said, the second possibility is simply that the results are correct. That MSM and company aren’t great for wrinkles after all. Hydration can increase quickly, as it only requires hyaluronic acid levels to rise beneath the epidermis. However, elasticity also depends on the complex reconstructing of proteins, and that managed to rise within the 60 day timeframe while collagen didn’t.
The final possibility is that MSM, carnitine and hyaluronic acid specialise in prevention. Taking the youth trio at 45 might be too late, you might need to start when you’re 25. In that case, decades of patients will pay off: you’ll be a strangely wrinkle-free 50 year old. You’ll follow in Christopher Lee’s footsteps as the new Dracula and there’ll be disturbed murmurings among the crew about whether it’s really fictional.
There’s so many players in the collagen game. There’s AGEs mentioned above, collagen production itself, collagen-depleting enzymes like MMPs, free radicals like 8-OHdG generated by sunlight. You can’t fix these guys overnight. Over the decades, you’ll be stronger against each of these threats as they arrive. It might be a bitter pill to swallow, but at 45, the full wrinkle-fading benefits may be inaccessible.
My guess, however, is that’s inbetween one and three – it’s better to start early with these youth supplements, but there’s opportunity at any age.
Plus, wrinkles did improve slightly. When you bring in a glowing skin program like eating celery and sweet potatoes constantly, your existing wrinkles will look magically better.
A second methodological flaw
The oily skin result wasn’t cast iron either, because the youth pill group started at a much higher baseline level. Therefore, their opportunities to improve were greater too.
But on the other hand, that’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve – overactive sebum brought back to normal healthy levels, the levels which are important for nutrient delivery and the acid mantle firewall which keep out bacteria.
This is a mysterious element, because hyaluronic acid has a known connection to sebum production. The sebaceous glands contain CD44 receptors which hyaluronic acid can bind to, only confirmed in 2017. Both seboyctes, the individual oil producing cells, and the sebaceous glands, the central oil pumps which make the sebocytes, contain these receptors. The same study rubbed hyaluronic acid into 20 volunteers and found reduced oil production “in a dose-dependent manner“.
What’s unknown is precisely how significant this receptor is among the many other ones like retinoid X receptors (for vitamin A) and HCA2 (for vitamin B3). There’s also androgen receptors for testosterone. There are more pathways to oily skin than scientists could have ever imagined 50 years ago, even 5 years ago.
Sebum reduction is more of a bonus, the cherry on top of the anti-ageing cake, but time will tell of its potential.
BONUS – definitive proof that the sun ages you?
It’s the picture that sent shockwaves around the world the second the author pressed the publish button. A study from New Jersey described one of strangest cases of photoageing they’d ever seen.
It was a 69 year old man who had worked for 28 years as a trucker across America (that’s him to the left). The left hand side of his face looked his age, maybe a few years younger even. But the right half bore the signs of collagen degradation in full – premature wrinkle, looseness and crinkiliness.
The contrast was amazing. This guy had spent 10s of thousands of hours with the sun and its UVA radiation shining with full force through the driver’s-side window.
The second this picture was published, a furious debate erupted on the internet. Some were lifeguards or oil workers who worked outside for 8 hours a day and insisted that they hadn’t aged a bit. Others decried clickbait and headline grabbing 24 hour journalism. Others were videogamers who proudly declared that they’d chosen the ultimate hobby.
Some suggested that window tint companies hire the guy as a spokesman, but this ingenious business idea was never taken up – if only they’d been scanning the comment sections of random blogs. A lot of Australians or southern staters nodded and recounted all the 29 year old women they’d seen whose upper chest already looked an enchanted piece of parchment from Harry Potter.
Is it proof then? Well, sometimes there’s no need to complicate things. The picture does illustrate full well how our trusted ally the sun can age your skin. UV radiation generates free radicals like 8-OHdG and increases collagen and elastin-degrading enzymes such as MMP1 and MM12.
But at the same time, don’t be scared into avoiding the sun completely, retreating into a mountain cave and turning it into your lair (although that does sound kind of cool).
As comment sections rightfully pointed out, this 28-year trucker is as extreme an example as you can get. Dodge sunlight and you will also dodge vitamin D, vasodilating nitric oxide, and antibacterial properties from the blue light. The joys of endorphins will also be lost to you.
It’s all about moderation – your grandma may have wisely told you this every time you visited, but it’s definitely true with sunlight and skincare.
The verdict – an excellent anti-ageing study
Overall, this is one of the best anti-ageing studies to appear recently.
We have two great messages from this experiment. Firstly, that it’s possible to improve elasticity, hydration and even wrinkles through a simple, one time dietary change. We knew the truth already, but confirmation is always nice. Carnitine is found in red meat, sulphur from MSM is found in green vegetables.
Secondly, we have confirmation that these three natural secrets work specifically. It’s always possible that only hyaluronic acid or only carnitine did all the work, of course, but that’s a very niggling doubt.
Topical treatments have potential too – jut look at blackcurrants and their delphinidins.
In the olden days, tribes had to spent hundreds of years deducing these powers with folklore wisdom. With all this newly confirmed info, a dedicated, laser focussed antiager could achieve something amazing with the right combinations.
Thanks for reading!