ADEK - Why are people taking it topical?

[Motif]

Can somebody explain this to me?

What I heard about is topical vitamin A for anti aging, but is this fully absorbed when topical too and does it work for wrinkles (if so how much daily?

i would think that you would need a lot more of it when you take it topical, so how does this make sense?

 

[Belsazar]

IIRC Haidut showed studies that topical application has the ability to raise tissue levels - for example you could directly apply something for example on an inflamed joint and directly bring the substance to the tissue of choice - while avoid "first pass metabolism" via the liver - but therefore maybe metabolism of the applied Vitamin might be completely different and maybe even unregulated - does it increase chances of hypervitaminosis if you work hard to saturate the tissues?.

Absorption rate depends on the carrier substance in which the Vitamin is dissolved in - but "eventually anything you put on the skin will be absorbed". Imo that makes sense for fat soluble Vitamins since they are lipophilic.

Also by topical application you can avoid harmful excipients in the supplement irritating your GI tract.

It is known that topical retinoids increase photosensitivity. Dermatologists recommend avoiding the sun if retinoids are used topically (but for isotretinoin also internally). I would guess it is a a "zero sum game" in terms of "anti-aging".

Take care.

 

[golder]

IIRC Haidut showed studies that topical application has the ability to raise tissue levels - for example you could directly apply something for example on an inflamed joint and directly bring the substance to the tissue of choice - while avoid "first pass metabolism" via the liver - but therefore maybe metabolism of the applied Vitamin might be completely different and maybe even unregulated - does it increase chances of hypervitaminosis if you work hard to saturate the tissues?.

Absorption rate depends on the carrier substance in which the Vitamin is dissolved in - but "eventually anything you put on the skin will be absorbed". Imo that makes sense for fat soluble Vitamins since they are lipophilic.

Also by topical application you can avoid harmful excipients in the supplement irritating your GI tract.

It is known that topical retinoids increase photosensitivity. Dermatologists recommend avoiding the sun if retinoids are used topically (but for isotretinoin also internally). I would guess it is a a "zero sum game" in terms of "anti-aging".

Take care.

I would guess it is a a "zero sum game" in terms of "anti-aging".

this was a bit cryptic for me...does that mean topical vitamin A, as long as it’s away from sun exposure, would be a good thing for anti-aging?

 

[Belsazar]

I would guess it is a a "zero sum game" in terms of "anti-aging".

this was a bit cryptic for me...does that mean topical vitamin A, as long as it’s away from sun exposure, would be a good thing for anti-aging?

I meant it as response to OPs question about wrinkles. If it is applied on the face to reduce wrinkles but it increases photosensitivity, what will be the net anti-aging effect on the face (most combine it usually with some sort of sunscreen)?

In general if it is metabolized in a healthy way and if levels are kept in range, maybe? But for example in NAFLD or other liver issues the retinoid metabolism is disturbed, and as lots of people nowdays do have fatty liver to some extend it would need further clarification how to normalize its metabolism. If it is taken as supplement - at which point does it start to have detrimental effects on eg bones and how can one measure/estimate its tissue levels and its effects? I think it is hard to fine-tune, especially topically. As soon as hypervitaminosis A symptoms start to appear, one should listen to the body and reconsider supplementation (even if study xy said it is totally safe up to xy IU). How retinol behaves compared to retinal or retinoic acid or even synthetic retnoids is a different story. Peat might say retinol is much safer, i guess because the body has ability to put it into storage (more control). Afaik peat sent out some studies about dangers of topical tretinoin (increase in mortality).