Pomegranate extract may boost beauty from within

After two months of supplementation, participants had significant improvements in multiple areas of skin aging. The supplement, Grantria from Zeus Hygia Lifesciences, contained 300 mg of bioactive pomegranate extract ingredients including ellagic acid, punicic and punicalagins, along with vitamin C and zinc.

Skin aging is typically related to the degradation of elastin and collagen due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, including stress, smoking, pollution and sun exposure.

“Traditional cosmetics and skin care products like creams work on the surface of the skin, and they are applied topically,” wrote the authors, led by Arunkanth Krishnakumar from Zeus Hygia Lifesciences. “There is a growing trend in the use of oral supplements in the maintenance of healthy and glowing skin.”

Beauty from within

Other oral supplements for skin health are widely available such as collagen peptides and tomato extracts.

Prior research has shown the skin benefits of pomegranate extract in topical applications, including reduced redness, skin erythema and melanin pigmentation.

The mechanism of action is multi-fold, including tannins controlling sebum production, polyphenols protecting against UV radiation and polyphenols helping to prevent melanin formation.

The study included women between the ages of 35 and 65 who were split into placebo and supplement groups, then followed a 60-day regimen. The authors found, via dermatologist clinical scoring, that after daily supplementation with Grantria, crow’s feet wrinkles were reduced by 48% compared to the placebo. Other benefits included a reduction in forehead fine lines and tactile roughness and a 42.8% improvement in skin radiance.

Supplementation was also associated with significant improvements in skin moisturization, skin tone and pores and spots. In contrast, the placebo group actually had a reduction in skin moisturization. In the supplemented group, facial pores specifically were reduced by 4.58% and dark spots by 2.78%.

In addition to the results found via dermatologist clinical scoring, the Visioface assessment also revealed a statistically significant difference for wrinkles, radiance and fine lines when comparing the two groups.

Tactile roughness was also significantly reduced for supplemented participants, likely due to antioxidant and collagen-supporting properties, the authors wrote.

Self-reported results were also favorable, with 97.5% of the supplemented subjects and 35% of placebo subjects reporting an improvement in skin radiance.

The researchers expected to see significant effects on wrinkles assessed via skin topography, skin hydration assessed via transepidermal water loss and an effect on tyrosinase levels; however, these were not found in this study, prompting further evaluation. It is also worth noting that there was no significant difference in skin hydration measured by transepidermal water loss between the placebo and supplemented groups.

Source: American Journal of Translational Research; 16(12):8043–8053. doi: 10.62347/SRIC1154. “Efficacy and safety of a proprietary Punica granatum extract in skin health – a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study in healthy volunteers”. Authors: Krishnakumar, A., et al.