Why Fish Oil is Good for Your Skin

Will eating fish oil help your skin become healthier and younger looking?

Your skin is one of your body’s largest living organs. It provides temperature regulation by sweating to stay cool and extra padding to keep you warm. Your skin also provides a layer of protection for your organs and allows you to feel through touch and sensation.

Keeping your skin healthy not only helps protect you from infections, it can also help you look younger and more vibrant when it’s plump and moist. Getting enough water and essential nutrients in your diet can help you optimize the health, appearance and function of your skin.

Fish oils contain the omega 3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Latest research shows these fatty acids can improve moisture levels and make your skin appear healthier and younger-looking.  And studies show EPA and DHA can actually help reduce inflammation, redness, skin peeling and flaking.

How Fish Oil Protects Your Skin

Your skin is made up of thousands of skin cells held together in collagen and elastin fibers. These ingredients help provide the backbone for firm healthy skin.

Anatomy of Skin Layer

Researchers believe that eating a diet low in essential fatty acids can cause your skin to hold less water which may increase the risk for skin scaling and flaking.

Dermatologists also believe that low dietary levels of healthy fats could also lead to thinner skin which is more prone to wrinkling and free radical damage.

A recent study showed that krill oil reduced the incidence of skin cancer by up to 50%. Krill oil is another healthy oil that contains the same omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oils.

So it appears that bumping up your daily quota of healthy fats, specifically omega 3 fatty acids, may help give you healthier, stronger skin.

How Fish Oil reduces Skin Dryness and Peeling

I found some additional studies showing how fish oil may even help reduce the signs and symptoms of psoriasis, a skin condition characterized by red, dry, cracked, scaling skin:

• A study published in the British Journal of Dermatology found fish oils were more effective at treating psoriasis than conventional treatments. When British researchers gave ten patients 12 grams a day of EPA, for at least 6 weeks, they found eighty (80%) of these patients showed less skin scaling and reduced redness.
• Denmark researchers found similar results when they gave psoriasis patients 30 ml a day of MAX-EPA fish oil supplements. 58% of patients experienced moderate to excellent improvement and 23% experienced mild improvement in skin health. Patients also had lower blood levels of an inflammatory-causing chemical (leukotriene B4), which is responsible for causing inflammation in psoriasis.
• A study from Norway showed omega 3 fatty acids can treat eczema by reducing inflammation in the disease

Healthy Fish Fats May Help reduce Skin Inflammation

Acne, psoriasis, rosacea, and eczema all involve some level of inflammation of the skin. The essential fats found in fish oil may help reduce inflammation and lessen your symptoms.

Unlike some topical skin lotions that may provide only short-term relief, research appears to indicate that omega 3 fatty acids may help reduce inflammation by decreasing the production of inflammatory co-factors such as eicosanoids, cytokines and other inflammatory chemicals.

Adding a high quality fish oil to your diet could have a positive effect on your skin’s health and appearance.  For maximum results, make sure your fish oil provides high amounts of powerful, skin-nourishing omega 3 fatty acids in a highly-refined state.

Fish Oil Skin Benefits Research References:

Fish again for dinner! The role of fish and other dietary oils in the therapy of skin disease. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 1988 Dec;19(6):1073-80.

Influence of low-dose polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation on the inflammatory response of healthy adults.

Nutrition. 2007 Oct;23(10):724-30.

A low-fat diet supplemented with dietary fish oil (Max-EPA) results in improvement of psoriasis and in formation of leukotriene B5. Department of Dermatology, Marselisborg Hospital, University of Aarhus, Denmark. Acta Dermato-Venereologica. 1989;69(1):23-8

Effects of dietary supplementation of fish oil on neutrophil and epidermal fatty acids. Modulation of clinical course of psoriatic subjects. Archives of Dermatology. 1986 Nov;122(11):1277-82.

Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acid constituents of fish oil and the management of skin inflammatory and scaly disorders. World Review of Nutrition and Dietetics. 1991;66:425-35.

Metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids by skin epidermal enzymes: generation of anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative metabolites. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2000 Jan;71(1 Suppl):361S-6S

The effects of dietary supplementation with fish oil in patients with psoriasis. British Journal of Dermatology. 1987 Nov;117(5):599-606.

Biologic significance of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the skin. Archives of Dermatology. 1987 Dec;123(12):1686a-1690

Omega-3 fatty acids and acne. Archives of Dermatology. 2003 Jul;139(7):941-2;

Essential fatty acids and eicosanoids in cutaneous inflammation. International Journal of Dermatology. 1989 Jun;28(5):281-90.