Why B5 Supplements For Acne Are Bad For You

There are two main issues when considering b5 supplements for acne.

The first is that the scientific paper that vitamin b 5 acne treatments are based on, is problematic. The theory on which it is based has not been validated, the study it is based on was not a placebo controlled, double blind study, there is no clear support for the theory based on that study anyway, and the logic of the theory is flawed and unsupported in many places.

The other significant problem in using b5 supplements for acne is that the high doses used, in the range of 8 to 10 grams of b5 per day, will upset the balance of the other B vitamins significantly. Taking 8 grams of vitamin B5 a day is 1600 times the recommended daily allowance of B5 for women and men. The RDA of vitamin B5 is 5mg (there are 1000mg in a gram).

Kirschmann and Kirschmann state that the B vitamins "are so interrelated in function that large doses of any one of them may be therapeutically valueless or may cause a deficiency of others".

b5 supplements for acne not so good for you The B vitamins as a group are involved in carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism, and hence the levels of energy available to the body, as well as the nervous system, the maintenance of muscle tone in the gastrointestinal tract, the health of the liver, the immune system, as well as the health of the mouth, hair, skin and eyes.

The only time you would take more of one B vitamin without increasing the dosage of the others in the same proportion, is if there was an actual deficiency in one of them. In that case, you would simply take the amount that would take it up to balance the RDA recommendations. The doses of b5 supplements for acne is far in excess of that simple difference, assuming there was actually a deficiency in vitamin B5 in the first place.

Vitamin B5 is found in many foods, which is why a deficiency is quite rare. It usually occurs with malnutrition, such as experienced by prisoners of war.

Symptoms of a vitamin b5 deficiency include

vomiting
restlessness
abdominal pains
burning feet
muscle cramps
sensitivity to insulin
decreased antibody formation
upper respiratory tract infections
headaches
numbness and tingling in hands and feet

There are some instances where higher than RDA levels of vitamin B5 is useful, and these would be after injury, severe illness, or taking a course of antibiotics. Vitamin B5 is one of the B vitamins synthesized in the colon, and needs a balance of good bacteria to be created. Antibiotics destroy the good bacteria as well as the bad, so this situation may call for more B5. Similarly, if diet is poor and the levels of good bacteria in the bowel is poor, it can affect the levels of vitamin B5 in the body. The best remedy here would be to supplement with probiotics.

Symptoms of an overdose of vitamin b5 include:

edema
severe fatigue
joint pains
reduced protein metabolism
gastrointestinal symptoms
raised VLDL triglycerides
calcification
dehydration
depression

Whilst vitamin B5 does not have a maximum set at which it is no longer safe to take it, other B vitamins do. So you cannot take vitamin b5 supplements for acne without upsetting the balance of other B vitamins, and hence causing a deficiency in them which will affect many aspects of the body.

For example, niacin has a tolerable upper limit of 35mg per day. You would need to take 22,400 mg per day, based on the RDA of 14mg per day, if you were to take 8,000 mg of vitamin B5 supplements for acne as suggested by Dr. Lit-Hung Leung.

Vitamin B6 has a tolerable upper limit of 100 mg per day, yet you would need to take 2,080 mg per day to balance B5 out based on the RDA for vitamin B6 of 1.3mg per day. Vitamin B6 taken in high amounts over a long period of time can result in nerve damage, and there are a host of other symptoms if taking any B vitamin at such excessive levels.

Find out why the vitamin b 5 acne theory doesn't hold water, and what some acne sufferers who have tried the treatment have found, here.

And if you want a natural treatment without the poor science of b5 supplements for acne , that has helped a lot of people without making them sick, click here for more information.

References:
1. Kirschmann and Kirschmann, Nutrition Almanac

Other Resources:

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