April 27, 2009

Vitamin B6, Chromium and Selenium For Acne

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The LACK of certain nutrients can contribute to the acne problem. We all know that regardless of what Granny says, chocolate doesn’t cause acne, and neither do French fries or carbonated soft drinks. It is widely accepted as fact that one the most important factors in fighting acne is complete and correct facial cleansing twice daily.

The other important factor in keeping acne at bay is eating a diet that promotes healthy skin. Sadly, the usual Western teenager diet doesn’t even come close. Pizza, hamburgers, French fries, hot dogs, potato chips, and candy bars don’t contain very few is any of the nutrients necessary to promote healthy skin.

There are many nutrients that are important to the health of the skin. Here we will discuss only three of them.

Vitamin B6: Vitamin B6 has many functions in the human body. It acts to help maintain blood sugar levels, for one thing. Foods that are high in vitamin B6 are fortified or whole grain cereals, beans, meat, poultry, fish, and some fruits and vegetables.

One result of a vitamin B6 deficiency is dermatitis. Vitamin B6 is included in multivitamin, multimineral supplement capsules, so taking a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement can help and those who have acne should probably take additional B6 supplements.

Chromium: Chromium is a nutrient that is required by the human body to maintain blood sugar levels. There is a direct correlation between sugar consumed and chromium needed. More sugar ingested = more chromium required. Research has proven beyond any doubt that people with high blood sugar levels have more severe outbreaks of acne, and that when chromium is given in sufficiently high doses, the skin clears up. Chromium can be found in brewer’s yeast and molasses but it is difficult to get enough chromium in any diet. A supplement that contains chromium is recommended.

Selenium: You’ve probably seen selenium mentioned in the news lately because selenium has been found to help prevent some cancers. Researchers have known for a long time that selenium, when given with Vitamins A and E, does reduce the severity of an acne outbreak.