Vitamins B6 and B12 have also been proven to boost melanin production. Goddard says that vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, has been found to trigger the production of enzymes and chemical reactions that boost the metabolism of the hair proteins (keratin and melanin) in the hair follicles.
It is suggested that deficiency of vitamin B12 causes decrease in intracellular reduction potential that leads to oxidation of the reduced glutathione and decrease in GSH/GSSG ratio. The epidermal melanocytes are then stimulated to produce melanin as the tyrosinase inhibiting effect of GSH has been diminished.
Vitamin C is a naturally occurring substance and an essential nutrient. It has various biological and pharmaceutical functions. It inhibits melanin synthesis through downregulation of tyrosinase enzyme activity.
The hyperpigmentation related to vitamin B12 deficiency is more common in darker-skinned patients. Few other cases of skin hyperpigmentation due to vitamin B12 deficiency have been reported in the literature. The mechanism of hyperpigmentation is due to increased melanin synthesis rather than a defect in melanin.
Brightens skin
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin): B12 encourages cells to reproduce, evening skin tone, and brightening dull and dark spots. It also helps reduce inflammation, acne and can treat skin conditions like eczema.
Vitamins can be used to lighten your skin and lighten dark spots. Three of the best vitamins for lightening dark spots are vitamin C, vitamin B12, and vitamin E. Vitamin C helps your skin produce more collagen while inhibiting the formation of melanin.
What it does: B12 is necessary for cell reproduction and can be applied topically for skin benefits because it reduces inflammation, dryness, and acne. It is sometimes used to treat conditions like psoriasis and eczema.
Subsequently, the patient had been receiving a MVI tablet daily containing Vitamin B12 (1 mg) and showed improvement in his presentation [Figure 4]. Usually, hyperpigmentation resolves within 3 months of initiation of treatment, in about 87% of such patients.
Vitamin A. Studies suggest vitamin A is important to melanin production and is essential to having healthy skin. You get vitamin A from the food you eat, especially vegetables that contain beta carotene, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, and peas.
Vitamin C is an effective skin lightener that has been described as a melanogenesis inhibitor due to its inhibition of tyrosinase and reduction of melanin and melanin intermediates, such as dopaquinone.
To reduce the excessive melanin deposits in your skin, your diet needs to be rich in antioxidants. Include healthy fruits and vegetables such as oranges, berries, tangerines, papaya, limes, kiwi, guava, lemons, mangoes, grapes, spinach, carrots, beetroot, broccoli, etc. in your diet regularly.
Have you ever wondered which hormone causes pigmentation? The underlying hormone responsible for triggering the melanocytes is melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH). This hormone increases the production of melanin, which is responsible for darkening your skin.
If your body makes too much melanin, your skin gets darker. Pregnancy, Addison's disease, and sun exposure all can make your skin darker. If your body makes too little melanin, your skin gets lighter.
Dermatologists consider products with hydroquinone, alone or combined with other lighteners, to be the gold standard for fading dark spots because it slows the production of pigment.
Chemical peels, laser therapy, microdermabrasion, or dermabrasion are all options that work similarly to rid skin of hyperpigmentation. These procedures work to gently remove the top layer of your skin where the dark spots lie.
L-cysteamine is a topical antioxidant that effectively evens hyperpigmentation. You can get it from some doctors' offices or online by prescription. Tranexamic acid can be taken as a pill or applied as a topical to improve melasma. It's an option for people who don't see improvement with other forms of therapy.
What is vitamin B12 and what does it do? Vitamin B12 is a nutrient that helps keep your body's blood and nerve cells healthy and helps make DNA, the genetic material in all of your cells. Vitamin B12 also helps prevent megaloblastic anemia, a blood condition that makes people tired and weak.
If you have anaemia caused by a vitamin B12 deficiency, you may have other symptoms, such as: a pale yellow tinge to your skin.
It may take a few weeks before your vitamin B12 levels and symptoms (such as extreme tiredness or lack of energy) start to improve. If you have hydroxocobalamin injections to boost your vitamin B12 levels at the start of treatment, the cyanocobalamin tablets may start to work within a few days.
Skin whitening creams only give you temporary results and do not have very lasting effects however, laser surgery as well as chemical peel treatment methods promise to give permanent solutions.
Vitamin D is then taken up by your liver and kidneys and transported throughout the body to help create healthy cells. This includes the skin, where vitamin D plays an important role in skin tone.
Zinc similarly inhibits Tyrosinase activity, again in effect reducing the production of melanin.