What can I consume to improve my skin and hair?

July 23, 2018 6:58 AM

I am interested in food, drinks, vitamins and supplements that will improve my skin and hair.

Clear and glowing skin has been an illusive goal all my life. I have combination oily skin that's prone to adult acne and well as dry hair paired with a greasy scalp. I have spent a lot of money on dermatologists to no avail. I noticed that if I am diligent enough to juice and consume vegetable juices 2-3 days in a row, my skin clears up and gets glowy.

Do those "Hair, Skin and Nail" multivitamins work? Should I take biotin and collagen supplements? What else can I take? I took fish oil and evening primrose oil in the past but I didn't notice a difference.

How do I get more raw vegetables, especially leafy and cruciferous ones into my diet? Raw vegetables like in salads tend to upset my stomach and how should I clean them so that I don't get E.coli before juicing?

What other things should I eat? Assume I have a reasonable skincare routine going. I am taking a zinc, magnesium and Vit B6 complex before bedtime (for my insomnia) everyday.

posted by whitelotus to Health & Fitness (23 answers total)

The traditional Polish herbal supplement for better hair (and nails) is horsetail. Anectdotally, my family members have noted the efficacy, mostly for hair loss and bad fingernails after illness. Can't hurt, unless you have a condition where you shouldn't take diuretics, since horsetail is a mild one.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 7:21 AM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Definitely keep hydrated by drinking plenty of water and eating fruit and veggies. Have a balanced diet with adequate protein and healthy fats (olive oil, fatty fish, nuts, etc.) Those hair skin vitamins are a waste IMO, especially if you eat eggs, meat, grains, which are the primary source of biotin and B vitamins. The rest of the vitamin you will excrete, the body can only absorb so much.

Here is a link from the FDA on how to properly wash your produce.
posted by socky bottoms at 7:22 AM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

I have a friend who eliminated dairy and it got rid of her acne.
posted by bq at 7:23 AM on July 23, 2018 [4 favorites]

though a bit rough, cutting sugar, gluten (or at least white flour) and dairy can do wonders for your skin. ymmv tho - for some people its oily foods etc. i get a zit on my jawline if im eating too much rich food.

eating whole foods is your best bet. fish, eggs, nuts, seeds and legumes are dope. and veggies are just as good steamed, grilled or baked in the oven - you dont need to eat 'em raw. lots of water! sea-buckthorn oil makes my skin super happy. some peeps swear by spearmint for hormonal acne.

I'd also check out this link if you have a lot of cc's, Cassandra Bankson on YouTube [a derm student who's battled really bad acne],
and, generally, reddit's skincareaddiction page is amazing for skin related questions.
posted by speakeasy at 7:27 AM on July 23, 2018

I have a friend who eliminated dairy and it got rid of her acne.

This happened to me as well. I was in my late 50s and still had acne. But giving up dairy made it go away.
posted by FencingGal at 7:27 AM on July 23, 2018

It surprised me, but I found that just switching to organic milk (and organic half-and-half) dramatically improved my cystic acne. I don't tend to think about organics the rest of the time, but that one's been a pretty one-to-one effect.
posted by alycoop at 7:31 AM on July 23, 2018

Response by poster: One of my ex-dermatologists told me to try giving up dairy and I did try it for a couple of weeks but no improvements.

Anyway, the only dairy I consume is yogurt and cheese(once in a while). I don't drink milk at all. I worry about my calcium intake.
posted by whitelotus at 7:31 AM on July 23, 2018

My adult acne cleared right up when I lowered my salt intake for blood pressure reasons a few years ago. You may want to give it a try unless there's some medical reason not to. I've always wondered if other people might find it similarly helpful. It didn't do anything for oiliness of skin or hair though.
posted by DarkForest at 7:49 AM on July 23, 2018

Biotin supplements can help, though most of those pills contain way more than necessary, and they can also make some people break out more. An "anti-inflammatory" diet will help (avoid refined carbs, eat low glycemic index foods like almonds, salmon, vegetables, etc,) and lots of water.
posted by pinochiette at 8:12 AM on July 23, 2018

*sits down*

This pertains to my interests. So there's anecdata like Bekah Martinez of Bachelor fame (1, 2) who uses a combination of Gut Shots, Bio-K shots, kimchi, kefir and tempeh to diminish her acne. Based on the photos, it's working for her.

Then there's nutrition books. The most gut-focused ones I've read (Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health through Diet, by Elaine Gottschall, Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food, by Catherine Shanahan), advise a sliding scale of avoiding refined sugars (which are in everything), processed vegetable oils (which are in everything), grains, and *some* dairy. Breaking specifically cautions against drinking milk. Having delved into these, my advice is that the clearest skin I've ever had involved totally eliminating refined sugars and also avoiding all grains and certain ultra-processed vegetable oils (the list), which has been helpful for my gut health. The third thing is adding a lot of fermented foods like kefir and kimchi to my diet.

Sidenote: what else do I end up eating? Unprocessed grass-fed meats, raw and cooked fruits and vegetables, whole fat raw grass-fed cheese and yogurt, beef/chicken/lamb/turkey homemade broth, nuts, liver (insanely good for vitamin levels), other organ meats, butter, olive oil. What I don't eat: sweets, chocolate, processed snacks, everything else.

Then there's taking the step of finding raw cheese and yogurt from a farmer co-op, which I do though I'm not sure how helpful it is. I recommend you pick up one or both of the above books and see what you think. Skin reflects what's going on inside the body, and inflammation like acne can be treated through diet.
posted by tooloudinhere at 8:22 AM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

Head to the library for The Beauty Of Dirty Skin by Dr. Whitney Bowe. She’s a dermatologist whose whole schtick is “glow”. She strongly believes gut flora is key to great skin and explains how to improve and maintain that.
posted by padraigin at 8:27 AM on July 23, 2018 [4 favorites]

People seem to think prenatal vitamins are good for hair and skin.

There isn't really conclusive scientific evidence for any of this, though, nor is there likely to be one dietary habit or supplement (or skincare regimen) that works well for everyone.

Revising your topical skincare routine, especially sunscreen and exfoliation habits, is far more likely to produce meaningful results. Peruse the archives of skincare and Asian beauty subreddits if you haven't - a lot of the conversation there is premised on a distinction between "reasonable" skincare routine and magical custom glowy perfection skincare routine - and be prepared for a trial-and-error approach with dietary or topical routine changes.
posted by adiabatic at 9:06 AM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Things that have helped my acne: changing my pillowcase frequently, washing my face with antibacterial soap frequently, washing my hands frequently, DIY antibiotic lotion. I had some leftover broad-spectrum antibiotic, added tiny bit of tablet to 1 Tb water. Apply to acne; this works quite well. My doctor thinks it's odd but okay.
posted by theora55 at 9:17 AM on July 23, 2018

Best answer: I take the hair/skin/nails vitamins and they seem to work pretty well, but collagen peptide powder (like Vital Proteins) in my coffee every morning seems to really have had a major impact on the health and strength of my hair and nails, and my skin seems to be more resilient when faced with the occasional breakout -- I still get blemishes at certain points in my hormonal cycle, but they aren't as troublesome and seem to heal up faster. As for hair/nails, both are growing like weeds, and my usually weak and flaky nails are not flaking and seem to be getting stronger.

I also have a Curology subscription for my skin, so that may be doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
posted by palomar at 9:28 AM on July 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Re: cleaning vegetables. "...the cleaning method that worked the best was the dilute vinegar rinse. It removed 98 percent of the bacteria." Works for fruit, too.

Horsetail (as mentioned above) gets recommended as this herb is rich in silica; some silica supplements use other sources (like bamboo).

Also, you might want to approach this problem from the side, and put a water filter in your shower.
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:38 AM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Do not use Biotin- it's notorious for causing horrible breakouts.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 10:08 AM on July 23, 2018

I have combination skin and terrible adult acne (body, and facial cystic) and I've done the science research and dietary experimentation thing. Lactose intolerant, so no dairy for years. Diet has zero effect on my acne (whereas stress and depression are highly correlated).

Calcium supplements in the winter seems to help (2,000 IU/ day). Also seems to be a prophylactic against psoriasis.

The game changer for my facial cystic acne is 'Biacna' topical gel. It's 1.2% clindamycin and 0.025% tretinoin (basically retin-A).

The tretinoin seems to break up keratinocyte hyperproliferation - in effect, it "opens up" the cyst and allows drainage of bacteria, but mostly drainage of hyper-active immune cells that trigger the cycle of inflammation leading to the terrible cysts.

It's good for established cysts (takes a couple/ few days, once it drains there's a day or two of cellulitis) as well as preventing nascent cysts from getting worse and usually calms it down in a day. It can contribute to photosensitivity and upon first use and on sensitive areas, can cause irritation.

It's not cheap, though. A tube of it costs $80 CDN and expires within 6 months. Requires a prescription in Canada, but I think there are over the counter products in the US that contain tretinoin.
posted by porpoise at 10:36 AM on July 23, 2018

Just FYI, horsetail is rich in silica and biotin so you might break out from that if you have that sensitivity.

I can’t believe no one has said this but if you drink alcohol or smoke anything, go teetotal and you’ll see an amazing improvement (also from better sleep) that will save you a lot of money on pills and creams. Add in exercise for increased blood flow and cardiopulmonary health and you’ll be glowing.
posted by cakebatter at 11:06 AM on July 23, 2018

Nina and Randa Nelson, who were vegan from birth, report curing their cystic acne by changing their diets. They've written a book about it as well, but I'm not sure it would have significantly more information than this article. Basically, they changed to a very low fat, but still vegan diet. They aren't doctors, but they're following the diet recommended by Dr. John McDougall, who has written a ton of books.
posted by FencingGal at 11:34 AM on July 23, 2018

I've heard people extol the virtues of spearmint tea for clearing their skin, but haven't tried it myself.

I take 5000mcg of biotin daily and it makes my hair grow crazy fast and have never experienced any breakouts from it.
posted by Fuego at 2:32 PM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: More info: I do not smoke or drink and I do use sunscreen. I drink peppermint tea regularly. It's harder to find spearmint tea where I live but I will try.

Have gotten myself copies of "The Beauty of Dirty Skin" and "Deep Nutrition" and am making myself a grocery list of things to buy.
posted by whitelotus at 8:46 PM on July 23, 2018

For me the best thing i've done for my skin is to switch to a keto diet. Cleared out all my acne and my skin is noticeably less oily, i've had to switch to entirely new skin products because i'm no longer so oily.
As part of my keto diet i try to focus on gut health too, lots of fermented products, minimal dairy and i'm vegetarian so processed meats are out by default.
posted by PardonMyFrench at 11:59 PM on July 23, 2018

Spearment tea apparently influences hormones, so proceed with extreme care and maybe consult a doctor.

Agreed that biotin or B vitamins break some people out. (Btw, B vitamins may also cause insomnia or weird dreams, apparently. Not sure about B6, but as long as it's working for you?) Apparently, zinc intake can throw off your copper balance - is a doctor checking that for you?

How's your vitamin D? Any hormonal imbalances? Is your skin dehydrated? If so, definitely stay away from antibacterial soaps!!

A retinol may be your best bet (use sunscreen!!!), but it seems like you're not asking for skincare solutions. Maybe your diet needs more protein and healthy fats if your hair is brittle? (I can't find any hair problems but your headline says "skin and hair".)
posted by LoonyLovegood at 5:59 AM on July 24, 2018