Does niacinamide help with acne?
If you're like us, you're always looking for ways to improve your skin. Eating healthy, reducing stress and using the best skin care products and ingredients for your skin type and skin concerns are all important factors in your quest for clear and glowing skin.
If you have oily or acne-prone skin, a key tool to combat blemished, blotchy or acne-prone skin is to consume certain vitamins correctly, including vitamin B3, also known as niacinamide. Vitamin B3, also known as niacinamide, helps your body convert the food you eat into energy by helping it absorb fats and proteins (1). In turn, this helps keep your skin and hair healthy. There is also evidence that niacinamide may help reduce the appearance of acne blemishes.
Want to know how it all works? Our skin health experts reveal the incredible benefits of this potent vitamin.
What is niacinamide?
Niacinamide is the water-soluble form of vitamin B3. This means that your body does not store any excess. Instead, it must come from the foods you eat. You can meet your body's need for niacinamide by eating (2).
● Beets
● Fish
● Eggs
● Nuts and seeds
● Beans
● Green vegetables
● Fortified breads and cereals
In addition to adding these delicious, vitamin B3-rich foods to your diet, you can also topically apply products containing niacinamide.
While topical applications will not provide the same enhanced physical benefits as ingesting niacinamide, they may help improve skin health.
How can niacinamide benefit your skin?
In recent years, skin care products containing niacinamide have become hugely popular. It's no surprise when you consider the potential benefits niacinamide can provide to your skin, such as
● Treatment of hyperpigmentation- Niacinamide helps block the enzymes responsible for producing hyperpigmentation or melanin and improves skin tone.2.1
● Moisturizing- Topical application of niacinamide stabilizes the skin's natural barrier function and helps reduce moisture loss. This balances the moisture content in the skin, leaving it soft and smooth in appearance.
● Prevents signs of skin aging - Niacinamide prevents or reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by enhancing hydration and stimulating cellular repair.
● Reduces inflammation - Niacinamide helps relieve inflammation, which may reduce redness caused by certain skin conditions.
● Regulates oil production - Niacinamide regulates the amount of oil produced by the skin by balancing the moisture content of the skin. This helps prevent the overproduction of oil that can lead to acne breakouts.
How to use niacinamide to treat acne skin?
With all the other benefits it brings, you may be wondering: does niacinamide help with acne? When you consider the ability of niacinamide to regulate oil production and reduce irritation, you get a sense of its cleansing effect on the skin.
Niacinamide helps regulate the skin's production of sebum, an oil produced by the skin's sebaceous glands. Excess sebum production is associated with moderate to severe acne breakouts (4). Adding topical niacinamide to your skin care routine may be the missing piece to your good skin puzzle.
If you have acne, how much niacinamide do you need?
Among skin care professionals, there is no consensus on the exact amount of niacinamide recommended for reducing oil production and redness associated with acne-prone skin. However, studies supporting the effectiveness of niacinamide in treating other skin problems have used topical solutions at concentrations of 2% to 5% (5).
Does niacinamide have side effects? The side effects associated with niacinamide are usually mild. Some of the most commonly reported include (6)
● Mild itching of the skin
● Appearance of redness
● Overall skin irritation
● Mild burning sensation
Many of these irritants will go away over time as your skin adjusts to the ingredients. However, if symptoms persist, it is recommended that you consult your dermatologist or doctor - they may recommend that you reduce the amount of product you use or try a different approach to keep your skin blemish-free.