[Effects of MSM] 3 Benefits of MSM For Hair, Skin, and Nails

Hello, I am Jinny, a pharmacist.

These days, it feels like the number of people interested in hair thickness has increased significantly. Hair loss has been considered a ‘male’ problem due to genetic factors and hormonal problems, and female hair loss has often been relatively underestimated. However, as hair health, such as hair dyeing and perms, and dieting have recently become routine, creating an environment where hair health is easily threatened, the number of people who want to manage their thinning and easily broken hair healthily, even if it is not necessarily 'hair loss', seems to be increasing.

If you are concerned about thinning and decreasing hair volume, you may want to pay attention to the ingredient we will introduce today, MSM. Dietary sulfur MSM is an ingredient that many people take for joint and cartilage health. However, it is an ingredient that is beneficial not only to joints and cartilage, but also to connective tissue throughout the body, including hair, skin, and nails, and its benefits have been continuously proven in human trials. It has established itself as a true ‘beauty mineral’.

Today, we will learn about dietary sulfur MSM, a hidden inner beauty ingredient, and what research results led to it being nicknamed ‘beauty mineral.’

Hair is made up of 95% keratin, and its strength and resistance are achieved by the disulfide bond of the cysteine that makes up keratin. In other words, it can be said that the supply of ‘sulfur’ is essential for the strength and resistance of hair. In theory, there is no doubt that the supply of sulfur is essential for hair health, but will consuming dietary sulfur MSM really improve hair health?

In 2019, the the results of a human application test was published in Natural Medicine Journal that evaluated the effect of dietary sulfur MSM intake on hair health. This study confirmed that the human application test results showed improvement in hair shine and volume due to the intake of MSM.

As mentioned earlier, sulfur has a great impact on the strength and resistance of keratin by enabling the disulfide bond of cysteine. The representative parts of our body made up of keratin are our hair and nails. If the intake of dietary sulfur MSM has a positive effect on the shine and volume of hair, wouldn't the same effect be seen on nails?

The human application test introduced earlier paid attention to the same thing and continuously evaluated the condition of the nails along with the hair condition of the MSM intake group, and as a result, it is reported that meaningful improvement in nail gloss was confirmed due to MSM intake.

Previously, we explained based on human application tests the effect that consumption of dietary sulfur MSM can have on our body's keratin, that is, hair and nails. But surprisingly, the reason MSM is nicknamed the ‘beauty mineral’ is not because it contributes to hair or nail health, but because it can contribute to skin health based on its powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Since the main cause of skin aging is destruction and deformation of skin tissue caused by free radicals, and cell necrosis and natural death caused by inflammatory cytokines triggered by this, MSM, which has strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, has a positive effect on skin health. It has been estimated that it will have an impact. This hypothesis was verified in a human application test in 2020, which reported improvements in skin elasticity, moisture, and wrinkles from the intake of MSM.

Today, we learned about dietary sulfur MSM, which has been confirmed to have benefits for the inner beauty of the entire body in human application tests, from hair shine and volume to nail and skin wrinkle prevention. I think many people are consuming collagen and elastin for skin health, and biotin or brewer's yeast for hair health. MSM is an ingredient that can be expected to have sufficient synergy with representative inner beauty ingredients due to its mechanism, so it should be used appropriately. I hope you give it a try.

I hope you have a healthy day both physically and mentally. This was Jinny.