Highlights:
- There is a steep decline in skin Hyaluronic acid (HA) content as we age
- There is decline of HA in joints with progressive osteoarthritis
- Oral supplementation with HA reverses some effects of skin aging and improves joint health
The next supplement in our stack is Hyaluronic Acid (HA) for slowing skin aging and improving joint health. The clinical data indicates that this is both safe and effective.
The biology:
It is a major component of the skin’s extracellular matrix, present in both the epidermis and the dermis, and is considered ‘nature’s moisturizer’. By the time we reach the age of 60, epidermal HA content has typically dropped by 50%, and by age 70 it usually drops another 50% (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2156587217743640).
It is also a major component of the synovial fluid of our joints, helping to keep the joints well lubricated. The level of HA declines with progressing osteoarthritis. Brad Stanfield has a good recent video review on HA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQdaLFb4_Jc).
Clinical evidence:
In one placebo-controlled study 240 mg per day of HA taken for up to 6 weeks improved skin moisture, eye moisture and upper arm and neck skin smoothness. It’s worth noting that 120 mg/day also had the same positive effect (https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-13-70). In another study 120mg/day taken for as long as 12 weeks, improved skin moisture content and elasticity significantly. In a third study, where subjects took an oral HA supplement (amount unknown) for 40 days, quantitatively improved skin hydration, roughness and elasticity and decreased wrinkle depth. Overall, the effect on skin health improvement is quite strong.
Moving on to joint health, a meta-analysis of 13 clinical studies found that oral HA significantly improved osteoarthritis pain. Nearly all of these studies were randomized, placebo-controlled and double blind and the interventions ranged from 60 mg to 240 mg daily HA dose for 2 weeks to 12 months (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4729158/).
Safety:
Oral HA appears to be safe and well tolerated for most people. Patients with scleroderma are advised to avoid HA. Pregnant or breastfeeding women are also advised to avoid it for reasons that there isn’t sufficient safety information available for this group. WebMD has a good summary of the possible contraindications and interactions (https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1062/hyaluronic-acid).
What I take:
Based on the data, up to 240 mg of pure HA in capsule form appears to be effective and well tolerated. Personally, I have been taking 250 mg daily for a while. For quality assurance, it is best to take a brand that has been third party tested.