Improve skin health from the inside out with flaxseed oil and borage oil

The largest organ of your body takes a terrible beating. Your skin regularly gets stretched, scorched, cut, scuffed, scratched, and cracked. And in most of these cases it does a pretty good job of healing itself.

But now, German researchers have revealed a way for you to help your poor, abused skin stay healthy, starting on the inside.

The German team recruited 45 healthy women between the ages of 18 and 65 and divided them into three groups. For 12 weeks, one group received a daily flaxseed oil supplement, one group received a daily borage oil supplement, and one group received a placebo. Before the intervention began, nicotinate was applied to each subject’s skin to prompt reddening and inflammation.

Results: Compared to baseline, flaxseed oil (which contains alpha-linolenic acid – an omega-3 fatty acid) was most successful in reducing skin reddening and blood flow, while significantly increasing hydration. Borage oil prompted similar results, but not as significant as flaxseed oil. Except for a slight improvement in hydration, there was no change in skin condition in the placebo group.

Borage oil contains gamma-linolenic acid (an omega-6 fatty acid), which has also been shown to relieve dry eye syndrome.

Talk to your doctor before adding new elements to your daily supplement regimen.

Source:
“Flax and Borage Oil May Boost Skin Health From Within” Stephen Daniells, NutraIngredients-USA, 10/3/08, nutraingredients-usa.com