Vitamin A

Vitamin A

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

While all nutrients play important and unique roles, in the world of nutrition one vitamin stands out like a diamond among ordinary gemstones.  In a nutritional world of betas this stuff is truly vitamin version of an alpha male.  In fact, it’s actually called Vitamin Alpha or more simply, as most people refer to it, as Vitamin A.

Actually there’s really no such thing as Vitamin A.  Instead, the term is an umbrella designation for a family of compounds called retinoids that are found through the plant and animal kingdoms.  These ubiquitous chemical structures exist in a variety of forms and perform multiple functions in a healthy biological system.The three most common forms of retinoids are called retinyl palmitate, retinol and retinoic acid.

Vitamin A Alpha
Perhaps the most important retinoid role involves the division of parent cells and the development of resultant offspring, so-called “daughter cells”. These processes, known as mitosis and differentiation are the most important of cellular events.Mitosis involves a cell splitting in two and forming a parent and an offspring.  Via this process one cell, made up of the combined female egg cell and male sperm cell (it’s called a zygote from the Greek word for combined) turns into the 100 trillion cells or so of the human body.  Obviously, the division is critical to formation of an animal body and this most fundamental of all biological phenomena is initiated and regulated by Vitamin A.

Differentiation is even more critical.  Once a cell it divides it may need to shape up, so to speak.  Daughter cells have to develop to become mature liver, muscle, bone, heart or “whatever”cells.  They have to shape up and take on a certain form.  Offspring lung cells have to mature to do the things that a parent lung cells can do and the same is true for heart cells or muscle or bone cells any other cells that divide. This maturation processes is what is called differentiation and it is a sophisticated affair that requires a tightly choreographed chemistry, and biological precision.And, much like the maturation of human being from baby to teenager to adult, the process is fraught with danger.  Anytime a system is growing and maturing and developing it reaches critical points where its survival is threatened. These tumultuous juncture points can be a matter of life or death for any system including a cell.  Fortunately nature has provided support to sustain the cell in its stressful differentiation periods…it’s called nutrition!  In fact one of the most important roles for nutrients is to assure healthy differentiation and of the entire support nutrient the most important bar none, the most powerful maturation nutrient is none other than the biochemical family known as Vitamin A.

Under conditions of vitamin A deficiency cell division is accelerated and cell differentiation is suppressed.  The net result is the production of lots of un-differentiated.,immature cells.   This can show up as various health issues ranging from to asthma to cancer to birth defects to skin conditions like psoriasis and acne all of which involve the appearance of large numbers of rapidly dividing immature cells that can muck up ordinarily organized chemistry.  In all these conditions relatively high doses of Vitamin A (we’ll get to those in a moment) can provide effective therapeutic treatment.

Vitamin A plays another important role in the biochemical play of life.  It turns on the production of meat.  Not the kind of meat you get at McDonalds, but rather the kind of meat of that makes up the mass of the body.  Technically the meat is called collagen and connective tissue and muscle protein and it gets pumped out cells called fibroblasts when commanded to do so by the alpha vitamin, Vitamin A.  Breakdowns in connective tissue are behind degenerative disease and that means Vitamin A can be used to help prevent diverse and distinct disorders including osteoporosis, heart disease, aneurysms and circulatory issues.  It can accelerate the healing of tissue after surgery or burns or wounds or other physical trauma. It can reduce the development of fine lines and wrinkle saggy skin and plain old regular aging.   And, it’s not just sick or old folks that benefit from the body building benefits Vitamin A.  Kids need it too. The most important sign of Vitamin A deficiency in children which 100 million kids worldwide is suboptimal growth and development.  Without enough Vitamin A children will stop growing and eventually die. [Vitamin A Part 2]

Posted by Ben Fuchs in Nutrition

Adult Persistent Acne or APA

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

SUMMARY

  • Millions of Americans have Adult Persistent Acne
  • APA? Think adrenal and ovary/testes hormones
  • Causes as always: digestive, insulin, blood sugar, adrenal stress
  • Ovarian involvement sometimes results in cysts in the ovaries.  This condition is called Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome
  • Symptoms include obesity, blood pressure issues fertility development of body hair, loss of head hair and oily skin and blemishes
  • For all APA use nutrition, diet and lifestyle strategies, they work!

 

Think zits are for kids?  Think again!  According to The International Dermal Institute between 40 and 55 percent of the adult population age 20-40 have with low grade, persistent acne and oily skin.That means millions of unfortunate Americans and what’s even more disconcerting is the fact that dermatologists who refer to this condition as Adult Persistent Acne (APA) are, for the most part, impotent and clueless when it comes to addressing this difficult and unpleasant skin condition.  The accepted medical protocols for dealing with APA remain mired in the tired antiquated, decades-old saws of steroids and antibiotics or worse barbaric deep chemical peels using toxic substances and potential carcinogens  like croton oil, phenol or aminolevulenic acid.

Adult Persistent Acne APAWhen it comes to the biology of APA, no health condition screams adrenal and reproductive gland dysfunction louder. Both the adrenals as well as the ovaries/testes produce substances that regulate the skin oil production, pigmentation and skin cell growth that are the hallmark features of adult acne.

To put it simply and concisely, the symptoms of adult persistent acne are a classic case of hormone pathology.  And, hormone pathology is itself more often than not a reflection of digestive and blood sugar problems.

Food toxins and allergies can result in malabsorbtion of raw materials for hormone production In fact, one of the more poorly recognized causes of APA is food intolerance and digestive issues.  If you find that in addition to problem skin you have digestive health issues, including loose stools and/ or constipation, chronic heartburn bloating, gas, or simply general gastrointestinal discomfort and unpleasantness AND you’re breaking out, the chances are pretty good that you’re dealing with some kind of digestive related skin condition.  And once the digestive distress becomes long-term and chronic you’re very possible that you’ll end up dealing with adrenal stress which can then function as a secondary cause of problem skin.  This is especially likely if your facial blemishes appear as rashy and diffuse (spread out all over the face) and if they are showing up on the back or chest or other non-facial parts of the body.

Then there’s blood sugar connection to adult acne.  Elevations in insulin, the sugar controlling hormone are often involved in the development APA.   Once the blood sugar system become overwhelmed, the adrenal activity is unregulated. Many of the more common features of adult persistent acne, especially skin oiliness and hyper-pigmentation are a common sign of adrenal hormone activation.

Even more significant, the dermal distress of APA is more than merely an unsavory superficial skin condition.  The hormone pathology behind the appearance of blemishes, dark spots and oily patches can be the harbinger of much more serious health issues to come.  Because the gland chemicals that are involved in causing adult acne are largely cleared by the lymphatic system, it’s like likely the over the long haul APA can result in congestion in this significant circulatory conduit for biochemical waste.  Because the lymphatic system is charged with eliminating the acne-inducing toxic and old hormones over time congestion of lymph fluid is likely to occur.  Clogging of the lymphatic system may then manifest as immune activity and inflammation and causing even more adult acne, hyper-pigmentation and oiliness.  Ultimately lymphatic congestion can wreak even worse biochemical havoc; liver disease, heart disease and cancer are just some of the ways lymphatic congestion can show up.

As mentioned previously, the hormone issues associated APA may be related to blood sugar dysfunction.  And because of the close connection between blood sugar and female reproductive hormones, women are especially prone to blood sugar induced APA.  Over the course of years and decades of sugar abuse (the average American consumes nearly half a pound a day, far more than the human body is supposed to handling) chronic elevations in insulin are likely.  Insulin as growth inducing substance stimulates cell growth and division.  In the ovaries this rapid cell growth and division can cause cysts.  Ovarian cysts produce symptom hormones and this can be especially problematic for some women.   In fact, elevations ovarian hormones the resulting symptoms, collectively known as Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) include weight gain, hair loss and the oily skin and blemishes associated with adult persistent acne.

If you are one of the many unfortunate sufferers of APA don’t despair.  Because ultimately acne like all skin and health conditions is a biochemical/nutrient problem, there are many biochemical/nutrient strategies(as opposed to pharmaceutical) for dealing with APA. Below are my Top 17nutrients and strategies for addressing adult persistent acne:

1)    Zinc Picolinate ( 50mg a day) – best taken with 2mg of Copper chelate, important for blood sugar control as well as hormone production and balance

2)    Vitamin A (20,000 iu a day) – premier skin vitamin stabilized the growth of skin cells and sebum (skin oil) producing cells too

3)    Vitamin B5 (1000-200mg three times a day taking each dose with the entire B-complex) – key vitamin for skin oils and adrenal gland hormones

4)    Vitamin B3 (timed release 100-300 mg daily,taking each dose take with the entire B-complex) – anti-inflammatory, improves blood sugar control

5)    NAC (500-1000mg) a day – important liver support nutrient, improve hormone processing

6)    Selenium Monomethionine (600mcg a day) – detoxification of old hormone

7)    Glutamine (1000 mg a day) – general detoxification and anti-inflammatory properties

8)    MSM (2000mg a day) – detoxification, improve hormone elimination

9)    Vitamin C (5000-10,000 mg a day) – the “primal panacea”, good for everything.  Involved in hormone production as well as blood sugar chemistry

10)   Probiotics (80 billion units of multiple strains) – improves fat metabolism, detoxification and hormone processing

11)    Vitamin E (400 iu a day) – dramatic anti-inflammatory and healing properties

12)   Isolate and eliminate problem foods (dairy, grains eggs and legumes are BIG problem foods; ANY vegetable can be a trigger as well)

13)   Eat lots of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bok choy) – improves hormone processing and detoxification.  Steam lightly if you have any thyroid issues

14)   Reduce intake of insulin spiking foods

15)   Reduce intake of ALL foods caloric intake, fasting can have a dramatic impact

16)   Slow down and deepen breathing, deep diaphragmatic breathing techniques daily to improve adrenal function

17)   Exfoliate and cleanse daily 2% salicylic acid toners and cleanser.  Keeping excess skin oils off of the face is important.  These secretions from oil glands, technically called sebum undergo chemical when they’re exposed to air that can cause inflammation and increase zittiness.  Proper and regular exfoliation will assure that potential poor clogging dead skin cells are removed off of the skin surface.

18)   Use Retinoic Acid cream or gel!!  It is by far and away the most important topical skin product you can use.   It improves all markers of skin health including hyper-pigmentation, oily skin and blemish formation.  It’ll even prevent the formation of fine lines and wrinkles.

 

 

Posted by Ben Fuchs in Health

For Your Skin

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

The gold standard topical skin lightening ingredient is called Hydroquinone (HQ). It’ rally toxic stuff, but in small concentrations it can be an effective skin bleaching agent. If you really want to get some good effects you’re probably going to have to use 6 or 8 or even 10 percent strengths. If you want to know how effective this stuff is, just look at a picture of Michael Jackson after 2001 or so. From what I heard along the medical/dermatological grapevine, was that he was a using a super strong version of hydroquinone that was not available in the United States, and that’s where he got that white pasty look that was so striking. If you really want to lighten your skin you can probably get some good results with 4 or maybe 5 percent strength which a compounding pharmacist can prepare for you as long as you have you have a prescription Caution however, hydroquinone is toxic to the cells that make pigment, so-called melanocytes and you can actually permanently disable these very important skin components (the pigment that they make has anti aging and sun protection properties) in your attempt to lighten dark spots.

SkinAnother less toxic skin lightening choice is retinoic acid (RA) which is a form of Vitamin A. I like using retinoic acid because not only will it lighten dark spots in a more benign fashion than HQ, but you can also use it to improve the appearance and formation of wrinkles and sun damage. It does, however, like the higher strengths of hydroquinone, require a prescription. In my pharmacy we actually make several compounded products that feature RA that are available by prescription. One particularly effective product is a combination of hydroquinone at 8 per cent with retinoic acid at 0.05 per cent. We also add hydrocortisone to reduce some of the irritation that the hydroquinone can cause.

Then there’s a third topical skin lightener that is pretty effective and I have to say that it’s one of my favorite skin lightener. It’s effective for lightening the skin and it helps protect the skin from environmental assaults from the sun and it’s important for helping stimulate the production of anti-aging fibers like collagen. I’m talking about topical Vitamin C. And, if you use the fat soluble form of Vitamin C which is called ascorbyl palmitate you can also get some nice skin moisturizing properties as well. There’s another form of fat soluble Vitamin C that is super effective for skin lightening and it’s a great moisturizer too. It’s called ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate and it’s really nice. The only problem with this form of Vitamin C is that it’s really expensive and you do need pretty high concentrations for it to work as a skin lightener, at least 10 percent and there are not a lot of companies that can afford to put that much in their product. Then there’s a new form of Vitamin C called ethyl ascorbate. This stuff is expensive too, but you only need around 1 percent or so to get some good skin lightening.

So the best topical skin lightening ingredients are basically going to be Vitamins A and C but you have to make sure they are in the correct forms if you want effective skin lightening. Retinoic acid or retinol for Vitamin A and ethyl ascorbate or ascorbyl palmitate or ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate for Vitamin C. If course, hydroquinone is effective too, but its toxicity really makes it a less viable alternative than Vitamins A and C.

Then there are the other skin lightening ingredients that only have moderate effects. I’m only mentioning these because you will see them in many over-the counter products. Probably the best of these is niacin, Vitamin B3 which is a nice skin care ingredient for a lot of things, especially acne. One of the signs of niacin deficiency is skin rashes so clearly the skin is using niacin to maintain it’s health. And recently it was discovered that you can get some of these benefits by applying niacin topically. As mentioned, topical niacin has been shown to be effective for treating acne , and you may want to dissolve a niacin tablet in water and use it as an acne mist. There are several skin care lines that are featuring niacin, and if you have blotchy skin or dark spots associated with acne this is something you might want to try.

One of the best ways to lighten the skin is to use plain old alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs). Now most people have heard of the most famous AHA glycolic acid by now, it’s been around in the over-the-counter skin care world for over 20 years and a lot longer in the medical realm. glycolic acid is the prototype example of the AHA family of chemicals (others include citric acid, malic acid, acetic acid and lactic acid) and all of these substances have some really important, interesting and helpful roles to play in skin health. In fact I would go as far as to say that alpha hydroxy acids are among the three most important ingredients you can ever use on your skin, along with Vitamin A and Vitamin C. The literature and research that is out on these substances is absolutely overwhelming. And these are research articles that have out for decades. Medical professionals have been using glycolic Acid for 50 years. I remember when I first started out in the skin care business, I had a doctor I was working with, who loved this stuff. He had me making all kinds of glycolic acid products on a prescription basis and he swore by the stuff. Then AHA products came out as over the counter in the early 90’s and the cat was out of the bag; they basically revolutionized the skin care business. AHAs are to this day, the gold standard of active anti aging ingredients, the skin care substances that all ingredients are compared to. They basically up-regulate every single marker of skin health that you could name including improving collagen synthesis, hyaluronic acid synthesis, they improve moisture factor production helping skin stay soft and hydrated . They improve fine lines and wrinkles and they are excellent for helping remove pigmented skin.

There’s a couple of different ways you can use alpha hydroxy acids to lighten the skin. The best way is to go to an esthetician and have a skin peel done. In fact if you’re really interested in anti-aging for the skin you should find yourself a good esthetician and have regular skin peel treatments done say every 2 to 4 weeks. You can also go the slower route and get yourself a good alpha hydroxy acid product a cleanser or toner are the best and use them at home. The trick to using good alpha hydroxy acid products is you want to look for a low pH. There are a lot of these things out there, but in my experience, the acidity of most is not very satisfactory. The pH is a measurement of how acid something is and the pH scale runs from 0 to 14 where the lower numbers are acid and the higher numbers are not acid. 7 is considered neutral and skin’s normal pH is slightly acidic around 5 or 6. For an alpha hydroxy acid product to be useful for anti aging or removing pigment, it has to be lower that the skin’s normal pH. Maybe around 3 or 4. Most alpha hydroxy acid products that you buy in the department store are not going to be that low, so you probably want to go to an esthetician that you can trust to but alpha hydroxy acid products that are going to work. In any case, I like using AHA products to lighten the skin topically, because of all the extra benefits that you get. In addition to improving the tone and color of the skin alpha hydroxy acid products can soften and smooth and generally make the skin look a lot better. I personally use an AHA cleanser every day and then I do an AHA peel on my skin once every 7 to 10 days. Another benefit to using alpha hydroxy acid cleansers and toners is that they help improve the penetration of topical vitamins. The two most important topical vitamins for the skin are vitamin C and vitamin A and as we’ve said both of these are also good skin lighteners. They’re also the most effective skin vitamins for general skin health and anti-aging, and between these three ingredients, alpha hydroxy acids, vitamin A and vitamin c you have the three most important skin care ingredients you can ever use. I always tell my patients that if you are stranded on a desert island and you can only bring three ingredients with you, if you bring AHAs Vitamin A and Vitamin C, you’ll be all set!

Posted by Ben Fuchs in Skin Care

Treating Dry Skin From the Inside Out

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

Human skin is not supposed to be dry. Yet despite this biochemical fact, billions of consumer dollars are spent every year on product that are supposed to moisturize the skin.

Treating Dry SkinAs someone who has been formulating skin care products a skin products for over 25 years, I can tell you there is no possible way a topically applied product, which is typically composed of water, oil, wax and some miscellaneous chemicals, can cause any changes in skin moisture content. Miniaturization is strictly the job of nutrients that are found in foods and supplements.

If you have dry skin, you’re better off spending your hard-earned dollars on Essential Fatty Acids, Vitamin A and Vitamin C instead of topical skin care products. You’ll be helping improve your skin’s condition the way nature nature intended you to and you’ll get the additional benefits that come along with strategic nutritional supplementation.

Posted by Ben Fuchs in Skin Care

Some Thoughts on Vitamins

By Ben Fuchs | Pharmacist Ben

When the subject of nutrition comes up, oftentimes the conversational spotlight gets focused on the term vitamins, which gets tossed around as an all-inclusive, catch-all term for all nutritional supplements. In the interests of accuracy, it’s important to keep in mind that the term vitamins refers only a single component of the nutritional supplement world, which includes protein, essential fats, minerals, water, fiber, and carbohydrates, and accessory nutrients like NAC and alpha lipoic acid and probiotics.

Vitamins
The word vitamin is actually a slang term for nutritional substances that are more technically called “co-enzymes”. These being biomolecules that assist enzymes in their work of making biological chemistry happen.

The body is a seething, bubbling factory of chemical reactions. Every cell in the body, of which there are many trillions is capable of producing somewhere on the order of 10 thousand to 100 thousand chemical reactions per second!! To put it in even more dramatic, (if incomprehensible) terms there are quadrillions (!) of individual chemical reactions occurring in our bodies every minute we are alive. And each one of these chemical reactions depends on the action of enzymes and, in-turn, each one of these enzymes requires the assistance of coenzymes some of which are the vitamins. Considering most of our vitamin needs are met by foods or supplementation, in other words, they are not made by the body, the stupendous importance of making sure we are giving our body generous quantities of these critical molecules through the diet and through nutritional supplements become obvious.

There are two classes of vitamins, those that dissolve in water and those that dissolve in oil, the so-called water soluble vitamins, which are the B-complex and Vitamin C and the fat soluble vitamins, D, E, A and K. The water soluble vitamins critical as they may be are easier to work with than the fat soluble vitamins. You can and should take a lot of B-complex and vitamin C, they are multi-functional and used and excreted rapidly. The best way to make sure your getting enough of the water soluble vitamins is to take generous amounts, in water all day long, i.e. by drinking them. The fat soluble vitamins, D, E, A and K are much trickier to work with. Optimal assimilation of the substances requires a healthy and well-functioning digestive system including especially the liver and gall bladder. And, because they are transported around the body in the lymphatic system if things aren’t moving well in the lymph, fatty vitamin activity may be impaired. The same is true if you have liver problems or gall bladder problems, especially if you’ve had your gall bladder removed or if you have pancreatic health issues. If this is the case, you’re going to want to take the fatty vitamins with meals that include fatty foods. Digestive enzymes can help so can apple cider vinegar and perhaps pancreatin which contains digestive enzymes. You can also use se bile salts, maybe lecithin and you might want to consider including some choline which the body can use to make lecithin.

Take home message:

Use generous amounts of the B-complex and Vitamin C throughout the day. Put them in water or some other liquid medium and drink them down slowly for best results

Take fatty vitamin D, E, A and K supplements with meals that contain some kind of fatty foods. If you are dealing with digestive health issues i.e. those that involve the stomach, small intestine, liver, gall bladder or pancreas, you can improve the absorption of these fatty vitamins by taking them with digestive enzymes, pancreatin, bile salts, apple cider vinegar, lecithin and choline.

Posted by Ben Fuchs in Nutrition