These top picks from Reserveage Organics, Nordic Naturals, and MegaFood use research-backed ingredients that can promote healthy skin, hair, and nails. No baloney!
These top picks from Reserveage Organics, Nordic Naturals, and MegaFood use research-backed ingredients that can promote healthy skin, hair, and nails. No baloney!
As I was working on Delicious Living's March beauty column, The Nutrient-Beauty Connection, a large bottle of mystery syrup—dubbed some sort of beauty beverage—teetered awkwardly on my desk. A representation of early, misguided nutricosmetics: loaded with sugar and calories and marked with unrealistic claims. Sure, it contained an efficacious dose of resveratrol, but it also packed all that junk, took up too much space, and left me more interested in the bottle of moisturizer sitting next to it (and the bottle of organic wine next to that). Nutrition is critical to skin, hair, and nail health; however, the nutricosmetics industry hadn't gained consumer trust, according to recent reports. Could I make a case for this category? Tomatoes—thrown, not eaten for their skin-protective lycopene—I feared. But after exploring the market, talking to experts, and revisiting findings from the Nutricosmetics Summit, I did find reliable products, those based on science and using research-supported nutrients in healthy, efficacious delivery systems. First, learn how to avoid the hype of nutricosmetics; then try these beauty supplement picks, some of which aren’t marketed as nutricosmetics but still contain nutrients proven to have beauty benefits. I’m looking forward to seeing what the category brings to this week’s Natural Products Expo West.
MegaFood Skin, Nails & Hair
This 100 percent whole food supplement, which many experts say is more bioavailable, contains beauty-enhancing ingredients like biotin and zinc (often used to strengthen nails) and vitamin E (touted for skin, hair, and nail health benefits). Its “beautifying blend” combines organic plant ingredients including horsetail leaf, nettle leaf, and chamomile flower with digestive enzymes, which balance digestion to improve skin’s appearance.
Nordic Naturals Omega Probiotic
Omega-3s help restore moisture to the skin when taken internally, and probiotics are emerging stars in the nutricosmetic world, with mounting research supporting them for dermatitis relief. I was delighted to find this Nordic Naturals supplement containing both purified fish oil and live probiotic spores.
Reserveage Organics Resveratrol
I can’t drink enough red wine to get an efficacious dose of resveratrol—the potent antioxidant superstar found in grapes, peanuts, berries—(though sometimes I’d like to). Enter Reserveage’s proprietary blend of organic French red grapes that pack up to 500 mg of the stuff into one little pill. Why resveratrol for beauty? Studies show that when taken in supplement form, it has a multitude of antiaging benefits; specific to skin, it may protect from damaging UV rays.
