After going through a ton of research and testing some myself, I have handpicked five effective natural supplements backed by scientific research to help reduce acne by balancing hormones.

Natural supplements are important because they will speed up your healing process and help reset your body. They can help out your skin while you transition to living a life that is both anti-aging and anti-acne.

You may want to consult with your doctor or medical practitioner on how much you should take, or if you should take any supplements at all. It is very important to not overdose even with natural herbs, and supplements. If you don’t see progress as fast as you’d like, don’t feel discouraged or give up. Remember that acne is a multi-faceted issue with many layers and we’ll be going through the other layers soon in these upcoming articles. Again, always consult with your doctor if necessary, especially if you’re pregnant, or nursing, on other prescription drugs, or have health conditions outside acne.

Spearmint Tea

I’m going to start out with spearmint tea, you which can consume as actual tea or in capsule form!

Multiple studies have actually proven that spearmint tea has androgen blocking effects on women. Spearmint also has the most anti-inflammatory effect out of the mint family, with no reported side effects.

According to a three month study by the American Academy of Dermatology, they divided participants who were dealing with acne into two groups – one drank two cups of spearmint tea daily, while the other group took 100mg of minocycline daily (which is the anti-biotic prescribed for severe acne).

The results are super surprising because after three months, both groups saw their acne reduce by about 50%, but 20% of participants taking minocycline experienced negative side effects, while those drinking spearmint tea reported none. 

This really is an astonishing study, considering that the skin-clearing effects of taking spearmint tea were equivalent to taking a prescription anti-biotic! Unlike anti-biotics, spearmint tea is safe for your digestive system and won’t promote stronger resistance from bad bacteria.  

Zinc

Now let’s go onto zinc, which is an essential trace element that’s used by every cell throughout your body. Anytime a nutrient is considered essential it means your body needs it to stay healthy. Because you can’t produce it, you must get it from your food or supplementation. Plus, you need sufficient levels of zinc for your body to create the right hormones in the first place.

That’s why Zinc has such huge impact on hormonal balance that even a small deficiency can result in symptoms. For women with androgen excess, zinc helps by reducing DHT levels.

Zinc has anti-bacterial effects and maintains collagen because it doubles up as an antioxidant, which serves as an anti-aging effect.

Various studies have actually proven the effectiveness of zinc on reducing acne since the 80s. They’ve concluded that on average, acne patients have lower levels of zinc in their bodies than those with clear skin. A Turkish study with 94 subjects confirmed that acne patients have on average 24% lower zinc levels.

Many other clinical studies have confirmed this one fact: as acne severity goes up, zinc levels go down.

Some older studies have shown that zinc supplementation can actually reduce acne anywhere from 30-60% in test patients – that’s pretty significant!

Please note that although all forms of zinc are beneficial, some specific forms of zinc are more easily absorbed and utilized by our bodies. Hence NOT all forms of zinc are created equal! Zinc oxide (common in multi-vitamin supplements) has far less effectiveness than other forms.

Based on studies I’ve reviewed, zinc picolinate and zinc methionine would be the preferred forms of zinc used to fight acne because they have been shown to be more effectively absorbed.

And of course, you can also get zinc naturally from food sources include shellfish, lamb, grass-fed beef, legumes (chickpeas & lentils), seeds (pumpkin & sesame), nuts (cashews & pine nuts), cocoa powder, mushrooms, and spinach.

Yes, I did mentioned meat – meat is important, especially if you’re zinc deficient!

Inositol

Another recommended supplement is Inositol, which is a vitamin-like, chemical compound naturally found in citrus fruits, many fiber rich vegetables and grains.

It plays an important role in regulating hormones like DHT and testosterone and it’s been found to improve insulin levels and reduce carb cravings (that cause these high insulin levels). We will also go over next week why It’s super important to control insulin levels if you’re acne prone.

Because it interacts with the central nervous system, there are also other potential benefits of inositol, which include treating depression, anxiety, and infertility.

In multiple studies, inositol has been used to treat women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

PCOS is a hormonal disorder, with acne being a common symptom, along with male-pattern balding and irregular periods. We know that if a supplement can treat women with PCOS then we know that it can treat women with acne, because we’re dealing with similar causes that trigger hormonal imbalances.

Another recent clinical study used inositol to treat female acne patients and found that androgen levels and acne severity were significantly reduced after taking this supplement daily for three months.

Although there are multiple forms of this compound, the two forms of inositol that combat acne are myo-inositol and d-chiro-inositol.

Milk Thistle

So onto another supplement I love, it’s called Milk Thistle, which is herb related to the daisy and ragweed family.

Silymarin is the main active ingredient in milk thistle and serves as an anti-inflammatory compound.

It’s also been scientifically proven as a natural treatment to help and protect the liver. Liver health is vital for hormonal balance because it filters out excess hormones from your body.

Milk Thistle also has anti-oxidant effects so it helps to fight radicals generated from oxidative stress. Also, milk thistle extracts are very safe and practically devoid of any side effects.

In one clinical trial, milk thistle reduced acne by 53% in 8 weeks. Patients took 210 mg/day.

Not only that, it increased the body’s natural production of the antioxidant glutathione by 271%.

Glutathione can only be produced within the body, and is more powerful than any antioxidant we could consume. Anti-oxidants are super important in combatting the oxidative stress that leads to inflammation, which is basically the underlying cause of acne AND premature aging. 

Vitamin D3

The next supplement we’re covering is Vitamin D3, which is not actually a vitamin but a hormone that’s produced inside the body through sunlight exposure and by consuming supplements or foods enriched with this vitamin.

Vitamin D can help with acne in very substantial way, by lowering androgens, reducing chronic inflammation, and by increasing antioxidant levels in our bodies.

Research has shown that acne patients, especially those with cystic acne, are more likely to have Vitamin D deficiencies.

According to one clinical study that compared Vitamin D levels between those with and without acne, deficiency was detected in 48.8% of the test subjects with acne. So basically, if you have chronic acne, there’s like a 50% chance you aren’t getting the vitamin D you need.

Here’s why you’re probably not getting the daily Vitamin D you need:

We get Vitamin D from the sun only when UVB rays (not UVA) are absorbed by unprotected, exposed skin.

Unfortunately, UVB rays can be easily blocked by clouds, pollution, glass windows, and are practically missing during parts of the year in colder climates.

UBV rays are available during mid-day, meaning they are strongest between 10am and 4pm between April and October.

Mix this in with in-door lifestyles, and our need for sun protection to reduce signs of skin damage, and you get very little Vitamin D.

Here’s another big reason why we should be motivated to get enough Vitamin D. According to medical research, Vitamin D has been linked to slower biological aging. Why? Because, higher Vitamin D levels are linked to longer telomeres. If you don’t know what telomeres are, let me illustrate.

Telomeres are basically the ends of DNA that naturally shorten as we get older. In addition to natural age, oxidative stress also causes telomeres to shorten even faster before their time.

If these ends get too short, it results in cellular death. When cells shutdown, that means these cells can’t be renewed or function like they used to. Not only does cellular death result in sagging and lines of the skin, the function of other organs will become weakened as well.

That’s why telomere length is important, because it’s a marker of biological age.

Because research has confirmed that longer telomeres are associated with increased levels of Vitamin D, experts believe it’s safe to presume that Vitamin D can delay cellular death.

So if you’re not consuming enough Vitamin D enriched foods, over-the-counter supplements are available that offer anywhere in between 1,000 – 5,000 IU per serving.

And here’s some more good news. According Yale Medicine, the sunlight-generated kind is not superior to the Vitamin D you can get from supplements. So there’s no reason to go outside without sunscreen! I don’t recommend going beyond 4,000 IU per day, since Vitamin D is stored inside the body until it needs to be used.

Conclusion

I know we’ve covered a LOT! I believe these five natural supplements can help accelerate the healing process and offer heath benefits.

I also want to emphasize that although these supplements help balance hormones, we must understand why these hormones are unbalanced in the first place and what actions to take – which is what we will start to cover in the next lesson.

Once you’ve implemented diet and lifestyle changes, you can possibly reduce or eliminate your supplement intake. It could be best to consult with a doctor or medical professional. Personally, I like the additional health benefits, so I choose to stick to ones that work for me.

Featured photo by Haute Stock