Omega-3: all the benefits for the skin
Healthy skin. Smooth, firm, bright, youthful and well-hydrated. These are just some of the benefits that Omega-3 can bring to your skin.
How did we discover this powerful action of essential fatty acids? The story is fascinating and therefore deserves to be told.
The Eskimo Diet
In the 1970s, the first studies appeared on the eating habits and health conditions of the Inuit Eskimos who lived in the ice of Greenland. It was observed that their diet, based on fatty fish rich in Omega-3, drastically reduced the onset of cardiovascular disease. However, when these populations began to emigrate to industrialized countries, where they abandoned their healthy eating habits, not only did their cardiovascular risk increase but also the incidence of some skin diseases that were previously very rare among the Eskimos, such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. What had happened? Simply, their reserves of Omega-3 had decreased.
Omega-3 for Dry Skin, Dermatitis and Psoriasis
Omega-3s are found in various tissues of the human body. Among these, they are abundant in epithelial tissue, where they play a fundamental role since they participate in the formation of the hydrolipidic film, a thin film composed of water and lipids that covers the skin and scalp, protecting them from external aggressions.
When Omega-3 is lacking, the skin is drier and acne, eczema, dandruff may appear, the hair is fragile and dull and nails may also be fragile. Not only that: fatty acids are also valuable in the treatment of dermatitis and psoriasis. The good intake of Omega-3 helps to re-establish the correct proportions between the different fatty acids that guarantee the integrity and functionality of the epithelial tissue.
As early as 1998, researchers at Justus Liebig University in Giessen (Germany) demonstrated the effectiveness of Omega-3 in the treatment of a chronic form of psoriasis, characterized by the presence of plaques. More recently, an analysis published in the British Journal of Dermatology revealed that a diet rich in Omega-3 from fish oil helps to suppress the inflammatory processes associated with psoriasis and improves its symptoms.
These studies demonstrate what we could already intuit by observing the health conditions of the Eskimos: Omega-3s are a fundamental building block in the construction of your health. More: they are its keystone.
