The vitamin B5 theory

There is no doubt that some vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements can help your fight against acne, although it is unlikely that any are going to enable you to ‘cure’ it completely!

For example, as mentioned earlier, vitamin A can help your anti-acne fight, and zinc also appears to have a very positive effect.

There are also some theories that acne is a result of a deficiency in vitamin B5, based on the idea that your body needs this to help metabolize the harmful fats in your diet.

The supporters of this theory suggest that in order to metabolize fats properly, your body needs Coenzyme-A, which is also necessary for the synthesis of hormones. Coenzyme-A is created within the body from a combination of cysteine, adenosine triphosphate, and vitamin B5 or pantothenic acid as it is otherwise known.

Of these three, the one that is most commonly lacking is vitamin B5, and from this it follows that your body cannot make enough Coenzyme-A to satisfy all of its requirements.

In this case, the metabolization of fats takes precedence over the synthesis of hormones, and in this way, too many hormones remain unsynthesized. So, there is a need (according to this theory) for additional vitamin B5 to be taken in as a way of redressing the balance.

The problem with this theory is that most proponents recommend extremely high dosages of B5 in order for the plan to be effective, with between 10 and 20 grams a day (note, that is grams, not milligrams) being the most widely recommended dose. There are many reports that, if taken in the dosages suggested, B5 is actually more harmful than beneficial.

For example, several (albeit non-scientific) studies have indicated that excessively large doses of B5 can lead to chronic fatigue, constant headaches and a general inability for the body to heal itself in the normal way.

The proponents of the theory counter-claim that, since B5 is a water soluble vitamin, any unused excess will be secreted by the body, so there is no risk involved. While this is true to a certain extent, the fact is that the doses recommended by the supporters of the B5 theory are just too high for this to happen in reality.

Your body simply does not have the capability of processing such massive amounts of any vitamin that quickly, and so the B5 will