Insights on Flaxseed and Borage Oil for your Skin, Hair and Nails

About a year ago, my esthetician Jannae recommended taking daily flax seed supplements to prevent breakouts and improve the quality of my skin.   I also read at the Green Living website about ingesting Flax Seed Oil to combat dry skin, and used their recommendations of taking flax seed oil and/or supplements in a post called, “Winter is Here: Dealing with Dry, Cracked and Itchy Skin.”  And a few months ago, an excellent comment was made by Elena at the post called, “Supplements for the Skin, Hair, and Nails:  Price hard to swallow,” of the benefits of taking Borage Oil supplements. 

“A few months ago, I discovered some wonderful supplements- starflower (borage) oil capsules. They contain GLA (gamma linoleic acid) which is very important to maintaining healthy skin, joints, etc. It takes a couple of months for the effects to be visible but it does work (not to mention about its other benefits, like calming menstrual pains, etc).
Because the oil is rich in omega 6 fatty acids and our diets are full of them (although some of us lack the ability of converting their linoleic acid into GLA) I combine it with fish oil (omega 3)
to somewhat balance the ratio between omega 6 and omega 3.
I also noticed that my nails have greatly improved - they are really strong and dont break anymore. I heard that by combining fish oil with starflower oil (intake) you can stimulate new hairs growth.. i dont know about that but, having short hair right now, I did notice it grows much faster than it used to (instead of going to my hairdresser to trim it at every 8 weeks i now go at every 6 weeks).”

Their mentions were good enough for me, but then again, it is always nice to find out if there has been any research on the actual subject.  Yesterday I read a wonderful Beauty Bulletin article from Paula Begoun on a study over at www.skininc.com that backs up these claims of the use of borage and flax seed oil in regards to skin health. 

            An article on the Web site www.skininc.com reported that two types of oil (borage and flax seed) consumed orally seem to have a positive effect on reducing skin redness and dry, flaky skin. The main study which formed the basis of the article was published in the September 2008 issue of The British Journal of Nutrition. The study involved examining the effects of oral administration of 2.2 grams (0.07 ounce) per day of borage or flax seed oil to 45 women aged 18-65. No pre-existing skin conditions were reported, and the women were divided into groups: one received flax oil, one group consumed borage seed oil and the last group received an unidentified placebo. An irritant was applied to skin to induce redness and inflammation and then the results were evaluated after 6 and 12 weeks.

            The researchers found that the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in the borage and flax seed oils reduced redness up to 45%compared to baseline. In contrast, the placebo oil showed no visible difference. Also discovered was that after six weeks of oral administration of flax or borage seed oil, skin’s water loss decreased by 10%; after 12 weeks of supplementation, water loss decreased by 25%. This showed that both oils had an effect on improving skin’s barrier function, a trait they also share when applied topically (along with many other non-fragrant plant oils).

 To read the rest of Paula Begoun’s article, “Less Skin Redness and Flaking from More Oil,”  follow this link to:  The Cosmetics Cop:  Beauty Bulletin.

The coolest thing about this study is that not only by taking flax seed and/or borage oil supplements can decrease the redness and inflammation of the skin, it can increase the moisture content of the skin, and it has internal benefits as well.  I would also point out that many of the Jessicurl hair care products use flax seed oil, so it seems that it would be safe to assume that your HAIR can also benefit from the use of these oils!