Zinc

It's effective enough to warrant me continuing to take it (in fairly large quantities), but it doesn't completely stamp out the acne.

I'm 22, and I've never really had what you'd call "severe" acne- however that's not to say my face isn't marred with old acne scars. In general I don't get big pimples, I get a whole bunch of tiny little pimples that are mostly the color of my skin, especially on my forehead and near my eyebrows down to the sides of my cheeks. I've tried everything- antibiotics (which worked for a while), Epiduo (which worked for a while, but then burned my skin), creams, washes, scrubs, plain water, hand soap, face mask, honey, etc etc etc in the end I attributed it to hormones. I don't wear a lot of makeup (eyeliner, blush, and that's it!) Finally I settled on ZapZyt cream, and cetaphil face wash, which worked really well for those 1x a week painful pimples that would pop up- the soft ones that are really tender and under the skin. Ouchie. ZapZyt kept my acne at bay but my face was still populated by those ugly little pimples. Once a week I use a lancer to clean out black heads from my nose and pop some pimples here and there but I knew I couldn't keep this up forever- I didn't want to. I'm 22!! I was annoyed with the fact that I still have acne- in HS I didn't have much, but as a college student it was frustrating. Then I stumbled upon an article saying Zinc was necessary for those who don't eat a lot of meat- which I don't, I literally mainly eat eggs as any kind of meat (because I just don't care to make it for myself). I did more research and gathered a list of supplements I wanted to start taking to improve my overall health- and when I did even more research on each individual supplement I found out that Zinc has a correlation with acne!! Imagine my surprise! People with acne have lower levels of Zinc in their systems than those without acne by 24%- plus one study found that it was almost as effective as antibiotics (with the added advantage of your body not becoming immune to it). So I figured, why not? I've tried everything else and spent so much- why not try a simple supplement? I began to take 50mg of Chelated Zinc (gluconate) and found that because it's chelated, the elemental zinc is bonded to other chemicals to make it more acceptable to the stomach and body. 50mg of chelated zinc gluconate only contains about 7mg of elemental zinc- which was perfect for the recommended daily dosage of 9mg (sourced via several websites). Humans only need a little Zinc, and too much zinc could throw off the delicate balance of chemicals in the body and you could end up with a copper deficiency. So for a week I just stuck to 50mg ZG- and within a day my skin made a huge improvement!! My skin looked luminous- what?? no way!! it has to be a fluke! and no new pimples had formed! Plus my old ones were healing quickly. I was stunned- I kept this up and by the end of the week my skin looked great. I couldn't believe a deficiency in a mineral was what was causing all of my acne! I upped my dosage to 1 and 1/4 of a tablet and saw and even greater improvement- my acne is 95% gone now. I still have a few bumps here and there but wow- I feel so much more confident in my skin. That and the oil on my face has decreased dramatically. My skin looks very matte most of the time now and my nose doesn't need much clearing out at the end of the week (black heads). So so soooo happy I took the leap and did some research. To test that it was the zinc I skipped the Zinc for the day and I immediately, like that same night, broke out with 2 painful pimples on my chin. I hadn't gotten my period, or done anything different so I quickly took the zinc, put on some ZapZyt and woke up to a nicer complexion. All I do now is wash my face and put on a little hemp seed oil if it gets dry. I don't use my cream that much anymore and putting on makeup is more fun because my skin looks so nice :D Please consider trying this if you don't eat a lot of meat- or you have an odd diet and not a usual healthy omnivorous one.

Didn't see any improvement for me. Might work for others though.

Hi everyone! I have been lurking on these boards for a while now trying to find my almighty cure and I have finally found it thanks to you guys! Im writing this on each one of the vitamin pages that I take so I can perhaps help someone out that is going through the same thing! Taking zinc alone only helped a little but when I paired it up with these vitamins it completely changed my skin! Ever since I switched my birth control a few months ago , my skin has gone haywire. I wouldn't say its HORRIBLE, but moderate acne feels horrible to me. I do the oil cleansing method with coconut oil and take zinc which manages it but I still get bumps here and there and it sucks and took a toll on my self esteem. I read all over that other vitamins can help cure you from the inside. I had nothing else to loose so I thought I might as well try. I bought some NOW brand Vitamin A 25,000 IU tablets, some SPROUTS brand Vitamin E 400 IU and take it with my zinc 50 mg tablets.I take one each after I eat my breakfast. LET ME TELL YOU.... I HAVE NOT HAD ONE BUMP SINCE TAKING THESE!!!!! I am in complete shock! This along side with my habits of drinking lots of water has cleared my skin! So PLEASE, if you are feeling sad and fed up with your skin, just try it you have nothing to loose! :D

I started taking chelted zinc, 45 to 60mg a day(they r 15mg capsules), and my skin overall is so much calmer. I also put desitin on my face where there was a pimple coming. Since I have taken I have had only 3 big pimples try to come up and only one made it but cleared up quikly. Muhaha! Highly recommend

I've been taking 50mg of chelated zinc daily on and off for about 5 months. I noticed in less than a week my skin felt healthier and less inflamed. It took about a month to realize that my skin hadn't had any severe breakouts and was starting to look more clear. I've always had a really hard time with remembering to take supplements or meds so I kind of got lazy and forgetful for a while and noticed my skin get more bumpy again and got a couple cysts on my cheeks. Starting taking it again daily and it's clearing up again. I highly recommend this to anyone suffering with acne. It hasn't cured me 100% but I'm still trying to tweek the dosage and try taking twice a day to see if that yields even better results so it may be. Also for the people who have tried it without good results, I wonder if it had anything to do with the brand, form or any possible additives in the supplement. It works so well for so many people it would be worth trying a few kinds. Just sayin.

IT WORKS! At least for me. I have been suffering acne since last year. I don't know what happened but it started in my second year in university. I guess it was because of the stress and not eating right. I was got so depressed, I didn't even wanna leave the house all day. Now, it's all getting better. I've only been taking 50mg Zinc gluconate/day for 5 days and my face is almost cleared up. I feel better going out in public now. I've tried lots of things, this facial cream and that but nothing really worked but this. I thought maybe I am not getting good nutrition since I started stressing at school so maybe I needed supplements and I read reviews from this site. I am also taking cod liver oil and vit E along with zinc. I wish I have discovered this a long time ago. If nothing works for you, if you have tried every single thing out there, don't hesitate to try Zinc gluconate. Don't get too surprise with initial break-outs, they will eventually go away in no time. Goodluck.

Anyone looking for a cure should try zinc! I take about 60mg before i go to bed and when i wake up any pimples i had have gone flat and it looks so much better. It took two weeks for me to see great results. also had gotten rid of any problems on my shoulders or back etc.

I'm 19yrs old and have had acne since I was about 13. About 2yrs ago I tried Murad Acne Treatment......Waste of money and It completely Broke my face out to the point of where I had to stay home from school for like a week.Now If I were to rate my skin on acne from a 1 to 10. 4 normally and 7 on a bad day. It's always been "moderate" but It's literally been less than a week and if not 90% of my acne has cleared. I had no Idea that Zinc of all things could clear acne. and not only that but I workout alot and sometimes would get tiny pimples on my back..THERE COMPLETELY GONE. This stuff is a miracle worker. If you have acne . TRY THIS. It works. I'm never gonna stop taking it. I take 1 50 mg in the morning ( with breakfast) and then 1 50mg (with dinner) but after about 2 more weeks I'll just cut back to 1 pill a day. Like I said it works fast BUT just make sure you take it on a FULL stomach. Good luck guys

I struggled with acne on and off from the minute I started working at 17 until about 6 months ago ' at the age of 32. The only thing which would get rid of it was Roaccutane and then taking the contraceptive pill to keep it at bay. Due to a health problem I had to come off the pill over 2 years ago, and my skin went crazy, another dose of Roaccutane later it cleared up again, but the effects started to wear off after about 3 months. Not wanting to take any more meds for it, I asked my dermatologist about taking zinc, and he basically said it was a waste of time. I started to take it anyway, at first a large dose ' around 100mg then gradually over a few months down to one 15mg tablet every day, my skin has been totally clear for 6 months now, and thats without any medication, just a zinc tablet and my normal routine of using Simple skin products, drinking lots of water and taking a multivit each day. It doesn't happen overnight, but stick with it. I don't know whether it was the zinc, or whether the acne has just '˜switched off' as my dermatologist said it eventually would, but I would recommend anyone to try it, it's even made my skin much less shiny which used to bug me. Basically don't give up hope, you'll find something which works, I thought I had tried everything and was sick of putting medication in my body, I'm starting to think that maybe I was just zinc deficient for all those years as the results have been so dramatic and seem to have permanently sorted it. Good luck everyone.