Vancouver, WA—Many people know about the health benefits of MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) for joint health and exercise recovery, but new research has shown its additional potential as a supplement for skin health.
In a recent study published in the Nature Medicine Journal, a branded MSM (Bergstrom Nutrition’s OptiMSM) was found to reduce wrinkles and improve skin texture in participants who took the oral supplement. As opposed to the outside-in approach of anti-aging creams or serums, this ingredient “influences skin on a genetic level…regulating a select number of genes responsible for inflammation, skin barrier and moisturization,” according the news release.
After a successful pre-clinical experiment testing the effects of OptiMSM on 92 genes associated with skin function, a clinical trial was conducted by a third-party clinical site (International Research Services Inc., Port Chester, New York). In the randomized, double-blind study, 20 female participants received either 3 g of OptiMSM (in three 1,000-mg capsules) or a placebo (three capsules of rice flour, matched for appearance), daily over 16 weeks. For participants taking OptiMSM, evaluations (taken from expert analysis) at weeks eight and 16 showed statistically significant improvements from the start of the study in reduced crow’s feet lines/wrinkles and improved skin firmness, tone and texture. The improvements in crow’s feet/wrinkles and skin firmness for the OptiMSM group outperformed results for the placebo group. Participants taking OptiMSM also reported more favorable self-assessment scores than those taking the placebo.
“Discovering the full potential of our OptiMSM, beyond our well-known joint health benefits, is very rewarding to Bergstrom Nutrition because we’re learning how to help more people fill additional needs,” said Tim Hammond, vice president of sales and marketing for Bergstrom Nutrition, in a press release. “Glowing, radiant skin that looks and feels younger has long been associated with good internal health. This extra bit of research shows us all, consumers and product developers alike, that our instincts were right.”
Published in WholeFoods Magazine January 2016, Online 11/20/15
