A 20-year-old female asked:
Is taking 400 iu vitamin e and 1000mg ascorbic acid daily can whiten my skin? is it not dangerous for my health
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Ed Friedlanderanswered
Pathology 46 years experience
Probably safe but...: I doubt you'll find agreement here about whether this will have any effect on your natural skin color. I trust you're wearing sunscreens. More important, i hope that you'll be pleased with whatever color your skin is naturally. Where i live, judging a person by their skin color is considered the height of ignorance; this will surely be the norm worldwide in the near future. Think for yourself.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Dr. Randy Bakeranswered
Holistic Medicine 42 years experience
May help & safe if..: I'd not heard this but did research- the claim is glutathione, an antioxidant in every cell of our bodies, regulates the balance of light & dark pigments. I'm not sure that's true, but increasing glutathione is good for us. Vit c & e do raise glutathione levels, as does n-acetyl cysteine (or whey powder) & lipoic acid. I recommend at least 1000 mg of vit c 2x/day for everyone.As for e, see comment:.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Dr. Randy Baker commented
Holistic Medicine 42 years experience
Provided original answer
Vitamin E is quite safe as long as it is a natural E with mixed tocopherols. This is important- there have been studies suggesting VIt. E can harm some people but ALL of those studies used synthetic Vit E (dl-alpha tocopherol) instead of natural E (d-alpha tocopherol with delta, beta & gamma tocopheols). So only used natural E with mixed tocopherols!
If you want to try whey protein (proven to raise glutathione) only use undenatured whey such as Whey Cool from Designs for Health.
See http://www.whiterskin.info/how-taking-extra-vitamin-c-lightens-skin/ for more on the claims of skin whitening and http://www.rockwellnutrition.com/p-designs-for-health-whey-cool-vanilla-organic-whey-protein for info on whey.
To summarize, I am not certain if C & E will lighten your skin but they are not only safe but likely to improve your overall health. And I echo the wise words of my colleague Dr. Ed Friedlander re: accepting yourself no matte what color your skin may be!
Apr 29, 2013
Last updated Nov 28, 2017
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