31. Dietary Supplements for Acne

Doctor Jacob here, and we're talking today about dietary supplements for acne. Dietary supplements we're going to talk about today include zinc, as well as fish oils. These are more useful for patients not with the clogged pore type of acne, but with the more inflamed types of acne, such as papular and pustular acne, as well as the deeper seated nodular and cystic acnes. So if all you have is the clogged pore type of acne, dietary supplements won't help you. But if you have the inflamed types, such as pimples, zits or cystic acnes, they can really help you out.

So first let's talk about zinc. Zinc has many anti-inflammatory properties, and it's kind of the mineral of champions. It's highly bioavailable as zinc monomethionine, and I recommend if patients want to try this, it's three 30 mg tablets daily, and it's only when you have this inflammatory acne. Once you no longer have inflammatory acne, you should discontinue the zinc. I do not recommend it for pregnant or breastfeeding patients. So that's zinc, the mineral of champions.

I'll put a link on our website, so if you're looking to purchase this type of zinc I can show you exactly where to get it online, and it's very reasonably priced.

Next let's talk about fish oils. Fish oils have been used for decades and decades as anti-inflammatory medication. People with certain inflammatory atherosclerotic diseases, with high triglycerides get a benefit from fish oils of a slight lowering of the triglycerides, patients with autoimmune conditions and inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis sometimes take fish oils for benefits, and populations of the world that eat lots of fish have less inflammation in the body in general. So fish oils are kind of like a molecular fire extinguisher.

I will put a recommendation on our website for a link to a product which is not very fishy-smelly. Certain brands can be a little bit fishy so to speak, in terms of causing belching or a reflex, but others go down without causing stomach upset or a fishy taste. I'll put a link to a good one on the website, if it's something you're interested in.

Generally they're very safe for all patients with acne, but again they benefit mostly the inflammatory types of acne, not really the clogged pore types of acne.

So here we have dietary supplement for acne: zinc, the mineral of champions, and fish oils, a molecular fire extinguisher.

I'm Doctor Jacob, we'll see you next time.