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Using Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5) as an Acne Treatment |
by:
Ryan Bauer |
How Pantothenic Acid
Works
Many people have commented before that I recommend vitamin B5
(pantothenic acid) a lot to acne sufferers. There happens to be
a reason for that: It is what cleared my acne. Totally. 100% Eliminated.
If you haven't tried it before, I strongly urge you to give it
a go, it really is amazing stuff.
Pantothenic acid, also known as vitamin B5, is commonly supplemented
in large doses to reduce oil production and help rid your skin
of acne. It works like Accutane, in the sense that it reduces
oil production. Pantothenic acid, however, works by helping your
body to metabolize the fats in your body that later turn into
sebum. Accutane actually shrinks the oil glands to block the oil
from coming through to your face. Since pantothenic acid addresses
the underlying problem, it is, in fact, the more efficient solution.
Let's get into the details of how exactly pantothenic acid works.
During your natural metabolism process, your body breaks down
fats. When your body lacks enough coenzyme-A, not all of these
fats can be broken down, and your body has to get rid of them
some how, so they are ejected through your oil glands on your
skin in the form of sebum (oil). By creating more coenzyme-A,
these extra fats can be broken down with the rest, and oil production
will be greatly reduced.
Coenzyme-A is made up of three things: Cysteine, ATP and Pantothenic
Acid. Your body takes care of cysteine and ATP by producing it
by itself, so vitamin B5 is the only thing that you have to take
in through food. By supplementing with pantothenic acid, more
coenzyme-A is producted, fats are broken down better, and less
oil ends up on your skin. Without too much oil on your face, when
a pore gets clogged, the p. acnes bacteria will have nothing to
feed upon and can't thrive to cause acne in the first place.
Considering that pantothenic acid works for more than 90% of the
people who take it, including myself, it's a very effective medication.
Since it's all natural and water soluble, it's much safer than
Accutane, which only works for 70%-80% of the people who take
it. It's also more efficient than Accutane, because it eliminates
the problem, instead of covering it up by shrinking the glands
and trapping the fats inside the body.
Supplementing with Pantothenic Acid
As I've said before, to address a pantothenic acid deficiency,
you have to take large amounts of it, up to around 12 grams or
so. Not everyone has to take quite that much though, so the recommended
dosage is as follows: Start out with around 4 grams per day. Always
divide the doses into 4 times per day, spreading them out as much
as possible. To prevent stomach irritation, the only known side
effect of pantothenic acid, try to take it with food or at least
a glass of water.
If the 4 grams doesn't work for you, slowly ramp it up until you
start to see results, stopping at around 12 grams. When you find
a dose that seems to be working for you, stay with it for about
two months straight, continuing to divide the doses so that you
are splitting the dose into 4 parts. After those two months or
so, you should be able to slack back on it until you start seeing
negative results to find out how much you will need to continue
to take as a "maintenance dose".
The only thing to watch out for is that pantothenic acid can deplete
your body of other B vitamins, so a B-50 complex should be taken
with it. Some say you should also take Zinc with it, though I
only take B-50.
Since pantothenic acid has to be taken in large doses to see results,
that means you can forget trying to get enough by eating foods
high in it, or through a multivitamin or B vitamin complex. You
can even forget about taking pantothenic acid pills, since that
means you would have to take 20+ pills every day. There's only
really one reasonable way to take the amount of B5 you will need
to treat acne, which is pantothenic acid powder.
Pantothenic acid pills can't be found in most stores, much less
the powder form of it. Some health food stores might have it,
but the ones around my area didn't. You might be able to talk
to someone at the store and have them order it for you, though
it's usually marked up quite a bit. The easiest and cheapest way
to get pantothenic acid powder is to just order it online. A Google
search will uncover many websites, such as Amazon.com, which sell
pantothenic acid powder at a great price.
About the Author
Ryan Bauer is a former acne sufferer from Springfield, MO.
He runs an Acne
information website located at http://www.AcneElimination.com
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