Most of us have had a case of acne or pimples in our life. Well, you should know that using zinc for acne treatment could change your life!
Why Is Using Zinc For Acne Scars Effective?
Using zinc for acne is a good solution to combat this condition of the skin that has given so many of us headaches for years.
Scientific research has shown that people with acne have lower levels of zinc than those who do not suffer from acne.
Research has also shown that supplementing zinc for acne can reduce the condition by about 50%.
However, before using zinc for acne, we should have a clear definition of what acne is.
Acne is a skin condition that causes spots, pimples, whiteheads, blackheads, cysts and nodules on the face, shoulders, back, neck, chest and upper arms.
It is chronic and inflammatory and can range from a mild case to a serious one.
Acne usually acts up during puberty, when the sebaceous glands activate, but it can occur at any age.
It isn’t a dangerous condition, but if not properly taken care of, it can leave scars.
Precisely seeking to avoid those scars and other fastidious side effects acne can cause, we will introduce you to the world of using zinc for acne as a treatment to diminish and eventually eliminate it.
Science Behind Using Zinc For Acne Treatment
An experiment led by Turkish researchers compared zinc levels in people with acne and people without acne.
In total, they evaluated 56 people without acne and 94 who did have acne.
The group of 94 was also divided into two groups, which cared depending on the severity of the acne: one group had mild or moderate acne and the other suffered from severe cases of acne.
The results found that zinc levels went down as the severity of the acne grew. That is to say: the more acne, the lower the zinc levels.
Most of the studies done on the effects zinc supplements had on acne show positive effects from the usage of zinc for acne treatment.
They agree in the fact that modern antibiotics remain a more powerful solution for cases of acne, but the majority encourage the use of zinc for acne treatment for patients that wish to opt for more natural solutions or who don’t wish to try heavy medicine in order to avoid possible secondary effects.
So you can have an idea, some scientific studies have concluded that zinc is about as effective in treating acne as antibiotics that were available in the 70s and 80s.
Zinc for acne treatment is similar to taking mild, more natural medicine.
Zinc: A Natural Treatment For Acne
It is so effective to use zinc for acne treatment because zinc has been proven to be a natural substance that battles and reduces almost all the known causes and effects of acne.
We will detail the most important below, so you can know exactly why taking zinc for acne can help you better this condition:
- Zinc is an anti-inflammatory for the skin, and this battles one of acne’s root causes: inflammation. Zinc helps reduce the effect of the acne-causing bacteria and the inflammatory response the skin had to it. This can help avoid pimples from turning red and painful.
- Zinc also helps to reduce inflammation by assisting with the metabolism of omega-3 fatty acids.
- Zinc is naturally antibacterial, so it can kill acne-causing bacteria and reduce its effect on the skin, according to some test-tube studies. It isn’t as effective as antibiotics in killing the bacteria, but it is useful enough to consider using zinc for acne treatment.
- Zinc aids in transporting vitamin A from the liver, which is an important anti-acne nutrient.
- Zinc can be an acne preventive, too. It aids apoptosis, which is the programmed cell death of some of your skin cells. This is a natural part of the skin renewing process. However, if zinc levels are low, instead of dying, skin cells tend to stick together and clog the pores, causing more acne. So, zinc aid in apoptosis is also an important part of zinc for acne treatment.
- Zinc reduces keratinocyte activation, which helps maintain your skin pores open and reduces the chance of acne.
- Zinc is a weak DHT blocker, which is the technical way of saying that it reduces the effect hormones have on the skin. DHT blockers have been shown to reduce the amount of sebum or oil the skin produces, which aids in the prevention of acne.
- Zinc is an antioxidant, and a powerful one, too. Studies have shown that taking antioxidants can help reduce acne.
Know Your Zinc: How It Can Help You
We’ve spoken so much about how zinc is good for acne, but… Do you even know what zinc is? Do you know which sources you can find it?
Do you know about all its benefits? We’ll do a quick recap so you can become a pro in the subject and know how zinc for acne is only the tip of the iceberg.
Zinc is an essential trace element, represented in the periodic table as Zn.
It is fundamental to plants and animals and a lack of it can be so critical that it could even make you more susceptible to illness and disease.
Zinc is responsible for many functions in the human body and it also helps stimulate the activity of many different types of enzymes: at least 100 types of them!
And you’ll be happy to know that only a small intake of zinc is necessary in order to receive all its benefits.
The recommended daily allowance of zinc in the United States is 11 milligrams a day for men and 8 milligrams a day for women.
Zinc can be found in many different foods, ranging from meats to vegetables, but it is also available as a dietary supplement.
This option had grown increasingly popular. Many different foods such as cereals are also typically fortified with zinc.
Zinc Results For Acne Treatment
Along with all the benefits zinc can have in treating acne, using zinc for acne is just the beginning.
There’s a whole world of benefits to zinc that go beyond helping acne treatment. Zinc can make your life healthier and better in many ways, like:
- Zinc helps to regulate immune function.
Zinc is essential in order for the human body to activate T lymphocytes or T cells, which control and regulate immune responses.
The European Journal of Immunology supports this. And according to a study that was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who are zinc deficient can experience “increased susceptibility to a variety of pathogens”.
That is to say, zinc deficiency can impair immune system functioning.
- Zinc has important effects on learning and memory.
According to research conducted at the University of Toronto, zinc probably has a crucial role in regulating how neurons interact with each other.
This affects how memories are formed, and this, in turn, affects how we learn.
This means that having healthy levels of zinc in your system could help you in the memory formation and storage process, influencing how you learn.
- Zinc can help in shortening colds.
Tired of being in bed, knocked out due to a common cold? Well, a study published in the Open Respiratory Medicine Journal found that taking zinc supplements in the form of lozenges could shorten the duration of common cold episodes up to even 40%.
Other studies have concluded that if you take zinc in lozenges or in syrup within the first 24 hours of common cold symptoms showing up, it can be beneficial in reducing both the duration and the severity of the cold.
- Zinc helps in healing skin wounds.
Zinc is quite the healer, using zinc for acne treatment and for helping heal colds isn’t all that can be done with the versatile substance.
Zinc helps a lot in maintaining skin integrity and structure. Because of this, it is often used in skin creams for treating various kinds of skin irritations.
Just like we mentioned when using zinc for acne treatment, zinc is known to decrease inflammation and bacterial growth.
These are the main and most important, in our opinion, benefits zinc can offer you.
There are quite a few others, like helping to treat diarrhea, decreasing the risk of age-related chronic disease, preventing age-related macular degeneration and even helping to boost male fertility.
This just goes to show that zinc is an important nutrient to consume and have in healthy doses.
Conclusion On Zinc And Zinc For Life
Zinc is a substance that can greatly improve your overall health and help you maintain yourself well. That’s why we recommend using zinc for acne treatment: it will help you deal with your case of acne, and it will also do so much more for your health!
What Form And Dosage of Zinc Should I Take For Treating Acne?
Here we will give you our advice, but please remember to consult with a doctor before starting a treatment.
Well then, zinc is available in many forms, with ranging levels of bioavailability.
Zinc picolinate and zinc methionine have better bioavailability, studies have shown. So we would recommend trying those.
Now, for the dosage, we would like to clarify that an optimal dosage of zinc for acne has not yet been established.
It would be best that you discuss that with a professional. However, many studies of the effects of zinc for acne have had good results with using 30mg a day of elemental zinc.
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