Acne may appear in one in ten people who receive vitamin B12 injections.
“Acne is “a disease exclusive to humans.” Why do we understand it? Well, think about the distribution of those oily sebaceous glands. They are “on the face, chest and back; “These are exactly the same structures that represent the greatest obstruction during birth… Having additional lubrication at these sites would help make the baby more slippery for birth, conferring a selective advantage for a successful birth.” Maybe, but What causes them to swell and turn into pimples later in life?
“In Westernized societies, acne vulgaris is an almost universal skin disease that affects between 79% and 95%” of adolescents. Not even a single case could be found in some populations where more “traditional” diets are consumed (i.e., minimally processed, high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets). “Nutritional counseling” has been suggested “as a first-line or complementary therapy… for people with mild to moderate acne.” It appears that high glycemic foods and dairy products are “exacerbating factors,” so we are talking about sugar, soft drinks, refined junk carbohydrates, white flour, breakfast cereals and dairy products, such as milk, cheese, yogurt and whey, as well as saturated and trans fats, which are concentrated in meat, dairy, junk food and fast food. . You can see a table detailing this below and at 1:21 of my video. Do vitamin B12 supplements cause acne?.
“Patients with acne should be motivated stop any whey protein supplements you are taking,” for example. “The relationship between milk and the severity of acne may be explained due to the presence in dairy products of normal breeders. [sex] steroid hormones or enhanced production of polypeptides [growth] hormones like IGF-1…” What happens if you gave up dairy a month ago and there are still no changes? “It should be noted “Changes in acne due to any pharmaceutical treatment or dietary changes will probably take at least 10 to 12 weeks,” so stick with it.
“Acne patients,” as expected, “were “They were more than twice as likely to have a non-vegan diet compared to controls,” but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Did vegans eat a lot of vegan garbage? Maybe, but what about the article titled “Vitamin B-12 Induced Acne”? Herbivorous mammals, including non-human primates such as gorillas and our fellow great apes, get all the B12 they need by practicing coprophagy, that is, eating feces, but I would prefer to take B12 supplements. And you don’t have to worry about getting too much because it has been reported that “there are are There are no reports of adverse effects associated with excessive B12 consumption,” but that is not true. First described Back in the 1950s, acne appeared in about one in ten people within days or even hours of receiving a vitamin B12 injection, which then quickly disappeared when the injection was “stopped.”
At the time, we had no idea what the mechanism might be, and the problem remained unsolved until a few years ago, when we finally discovered it: vitamin B12. modulates the genetic expression of skin bacteria that cause acne. Researchers took skin samples from ten people before and after they were injected with vitamin B12. As you can see below and at 3:20 in my videohe turns We know that the level of B12 in our skin is proportional to the level in our blood, so after a B12 injection, the bacteria on our skin have to do less of your own B12. As a result, acne bacteria could focus on using their cellular machinery to produce more compounds to attack our face and “induce inflammation in acne.”
In fact, as you can see here and at minute 3:53 in my videoWithout excess B12 in the skin (with B12 shown in green), bacteria have to do most of it alone at the expense of porphyrins (shown in red), which can trigger acne inflammation. When there’s plenty of B12 floating around, bacteria don’t have to waste resources and can instead focus on trying to irritate you.
So what do you do? We know that people who follow plant-based diets should take B12 supplements, but we don’t need to take injections. Acne related to vitamin B12 tends to occur only “in doses greater than 5 to 10 mg per week.” That’s 5,000 to 10,000 micrograms per week, which far exceeds the 50 micrograms per day or, alternatively, the single weekly dose of 2,000 micrograms that I recommend. The only time you should take between 5,000 and 10,000 micrograms per week is if you are treating B12 deficiency. If you remember from my previous video, B12 deficiency is treaty with 1,000 micrograms a day for a month or more, as shown below and at 4:35 in my videoand that could potentially trigger acne.
For example, a vegan woman who had not been taking B12 developed a deficiency and had to be treated with such high doses of the vitamin that her face broke out in acne, as you can see at 4:49 in my video. All the more reason not to be B12 deficient in the first place. But even if you get B12 injections, the chance of this happening trigger Acne may be only one in ten.
For background and my updated recommendations, check out my expanded review of vitamin B12 in the related posts below. All of these videos can be found in a digital download. Verify Latest vitamin B12 recommendations.
I previously explored the role of vitamin B12 in stroke risk, which you can also see in the related posts below. That series is also available for digital download: Why are vegetarians at higher risk of stroke?.
The next topic is: Do vitamin B12 supplements cause bone fractures and lung cancer?
