Research from the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) suggests that there is a limited amount of evidence to prove the benefits of ingredients in beauty supplements.
Nutraceuticals and skin appearance: Is there any evidence to support this growing trend? challenges whether oral beauty nutraceuticals actually provide the skin with a defense against external factors any more than a regular healthy diet.
Some ingredients in nutraceuticals, such as A, C, B2, B3, B7, iodine and zinc, have been shown to aid in the maintenance of normal skin. However, these supplements often include other ingredients like green tea extract, pomegranate extract, carotenoids, evening primrose oil, borage oil, fish oil, collagen and co-enzyme Q10. The BNF noted while these ingredients are not bad and are often good to have in the diet, there is no evidence to prove that they have any true anti-aging benefits for the skin.
BNF was only able to find a handful of well-conducted human trials surrounding the efficacy or beauty supplements, and the conclusions from these trials were inconsistent. Overall, with the lack of evidence showing any clear signs of benefits from nutraceuticals, the BNF concluded that healthy lifestyle choices like wearing sunscreen, not smoking and not consuming too much alcohol paired with a healthy diet will most likely be the most beneficial route to delay the skin aging process.
