Phytoceramides ~ Face Lift in a Bottle?

Have you heard the news? There’s a pill you can take that will make you look 10 YEARS YOUNGER!! Dr. Oz featured it on his show in 2012 saying it can help “Drop a decade from your face” and “Faking a facelift may be as easy as taking one little pill!”

I don’t watch the show, so it took 2 years for the news to reach me, but when readers started asking about phytoceramides I was curious to see if there was anything to them. I don’t tend to believe claims of “facelift in a ____ (fill in the blank)” so I was pretty skeptical that a pill would do what so many other products can’t. I also think that if it actually works, it wouldn’t have taken 2 years for the news to reach me. . . if it’s that great wouldn’t everybody be using it?

Putting my skepticism aside I went ahead and ordered up my first bottle of pills, took my before pictures and hoped for the best. Now it’s 4 months and 4 bottles later and I’m ready to show my before & after pics and give my opinion! But first, a little background on phytoceramides.

Phytoceramides are plant-derived ceramides (phyto means plant). Ceramides are a lipid that keeps our skin hydrated and plump. We start losing ceramides as we age, along with collagen, elastin, fat etc. All that loss causes the skin to appear rough and wrinkled. Dr. Oz recommended 350 mg wheat based pills, but there are also 40 mg. rice based pills (for those with gluten issues).

It’s thought that taking phytoceramides orally can restore some moisture to the outer layer of the skin by being absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to the skin where they restore the moisture barrier and fill out wrinkles.

The first bottle I bought was the Rejuvelle Rice based supplement. After 30 days I took compared my before and after pictures and didn’t see any difference.

When those were gone I switched to a 350 mg wheat based pill from EverPure but still didn’t see  much of a difference. I was on my 2nd bottle of EverPure supplements when I noticed that aside from the 350 mg of phytoceramides it also contains 5000 mg of vitamin A. That’s about twice the US RDA. I’m pretty sure taking too much vitamin A isn’t toxic but I decided to switch to a pill without any additives.

The fourth bottle I got was by SportsResearch. It’s a 350 mg LipoWheat supplement that doesn’t contain any added vitamins. I got them at Amazon.com for $19.50 for a bottle of 30 pills.

 

Now that I’ve been taking them for 4 months I decided it was time to take some after pictures and compare (as always photos are makeup and re-touching free):

So, what do you think? Do I look 10 Years Younger?? Sadly, no.

I don’t think taking these pills has dropped 10 years from my face or even 5 years, but I do see some very subtle changes particularly in my upper lip lines, and my under-eye crinkles. I can’t say they’re  definitely from the phytoceramides though since I use Retin-A, anti-oxidants, peptides, moisturizers, Botox and cheek filler.

That said, there was one big change that I can’t show you on a before and after picture that makes me think there’s something to this. It’s February and I don’t feel like a snake shedding it’s skin like I usually do this time of year. For the first time in many years my skin feels moisturized and comfortable in the dead of winter! The skin on my hands isn’t cracked and rough, my arms and back aren’t itchy.

Based on how my skin feels I believe that the phytoceramides are getting to my skin and making it more moisturized (and that’s all my skin, not just my face). The only study I’ve seen cited was done in Osaka Japan in which skin biopsies showed increased moisture and better barrier function after oral ceramide use. How the leap is made from that to “facelift in a bottle” I just don’t know. But I suppose if no one had ever said it would make me look 10 years younger, I never would have tried it! So, thanks Dr. Oz, I’m going to keep taking them.

Shopping Links:

 

SportsResearch 350 mg LipoWheat Phyto-Ceramides from Amazon.com

 

 

 

 

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