Thursday, May 28, 2009

Does Vitamin B5 work for acne?

There are lots of home remedies around which can be used to treat acne. One of them involves using large dosage of vitamin B5 which is also known as pantothenic acid to treat acne.

But does vitamin B5 really work in treating acne? According to a study conducted by Dr. Lit-Hung, not only high doses of Vitamin B5 (10 to 20 g ) was effective in treating acne but it also decreased pore size. I guess you already knew that one of the factors that causes acne is the overactive sebaceous glands that excrete an abnormally high amount of sebum/oil and when the P. acnes bacteria feed on it, acne lesions are developed. As most acne sufferers have a low level of fats metabolism, these fats are deposited in our sebaceous glands. As it takes Coenzyme-A to break down these fats, consuming mega doses of Vitamin B5 will provide our bodies with lots of Coenzyme-A.

Now, before you decide to take such a high doses of Vitamin B5 immediately, I would advise you to increase the intake of B5 gradually as your body need some times to adapt to such a high doses of B5 intake.

For the first 3 days, take 5 grams of B5 every day. And do remember to spread out your daily intake; say 3 to 4 times a day so that the level of B5 in your body can be more stable. Some people resort to time released B5 supplements but they are usually more difficult to procure. Then go for a B5 10 gram daily intake for 3 months. A tip that I like to share with you is to take B5 15 minutes before or during meals as doing so will minimize stomach or diarrhea problems.

How fast acne disappear from one's skin will vary from individual to individual. Some people reported that they have a clearer skin after a week while for others, they need a month for it to be effective. For me, it took around 2 weeks to have some noticeable improvements in many acne condition. For acne sufferers with severe acne condition, it might take 2 months for their acne to start diminishing and a total of 6 months for a flawless complexion. I know this news would be a BIG deterrent for many people but if you have tried almost everything under the sun to clear your acne, what do you have to lose in seeking this solution to your stubborn acne condition?

The key here is to be consistent in your intake of B5 and that means you must take the mega doses of B5 everyday in the 3 months period or until your skin is clear of pimples. Don't be alarmed if you notice that you have more pimples or zits after starting your acne B5 treatment as it only shows that vitamin B5 is working in pushing your existing pimples to the surface of your skin.

I also noticed that after a few days of taking B5, my skin became less oily. I guess B5 was lowering the amount of sebum that was produced in my skin follicles units and making my skin drier.

As taking mega doses of Vitamin B5 will cause deficiencies in other classes of vitamin B, I would advise you to take a supplement of vitamin B-complex (B50 or B100 complex would do). If possible, aim for a B complex which contain a low level of B6 or pyridoxine (less than 50 mg) as there were some study out there B6 increases acne breakout if taken alone.

You might experience chapped lips, stomach irritation, diarrhea or hair thinning during the course of your acne B5 treatment. For minimizing hair thinning problem, take more biotin ( a certain class of B complex vitamin). You can use the following guideline : 1 mg bitoin for every 2.5 g of B5 that you take.

Even though it is next to impossible to have an overdose of B5 as it is water soluble, somehow I would not recommend women who are breastfeeding or pregnant to take it as there is not much studies on its safety on such cases. Since B5 is water soluble, it is wist to drink plenty of water during your acne B5 treatment to lessen the above mentioned side effects.

Lastly, did I say that you can also apply B5 to your acne prone skin? Using B5 topically to complement its oral intake will make you having a higher success in treating acne with B5.

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