Absorbing vitamins through the skin

From http://chetday.com/dmsob12.html

'Back in 1994 when I was focusing on learning as much as I could about vitamin B12, an experiment came to mind which I decided to try on myself. I saw a bottle of DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide) on the shelf of my health food store and remembered that DMSO is not only absorbed directly through the skin, but it also would carry with it any impurities dissolved in it. This can be a serious problem if the impurities are toxic.


However, I also realized that if I dissolved vitamin B12 in it, it might carry it directly to my blood stream through my skin. I tried it and the results were dramatic for me, far greater than any impact I had ever felt from oral or sublingual tablets. I put some of my vitamin B12 tablets obtained at a health food store into a two liquid ounce bottle with an eyedropper and filled it with DMSO. It took a couple of days for the tablets to fall apart. Once they did, I put an eyedropper load on one arm and rubbed it in. In approximately one hour I started to feel very good, which was a sense of general strength and well being. This lasted all day.


When I tried it again the next day, I got no such feeling. I also didn't experience any bad effects either. Since I knew that approximately one month’s requirement of B12 is stored in your liver, I reasoned that my system was simply fully supplied with Vitamin B12 and that I wouldn't need to use it again for a month or so. When I tried it again a month or so later, I got a significant boost from it again. Since then I have continued to use it on a once every month or so basis.'

We need extremely low amounts of B12. Vitamins can to a certain degree be absorbed through the skin. Maybe one of several reasons that some vegans in 'primitive' cultures (the earlier mentioned Iranian case) don't develop signs of B12 deficiency simply is that they both get more sunlight, are exposed to organic dust from soil (through their mouth/nose*), and maybe walk barefoot and even are in touch with the earth with their hands daily, and therefore absorb a tiny bit of cobalamin from the soil?


*Some people insist that the best way to absorb B12 actually is by using B12 nasal spray - but I don't know if this is correct.

That's interesting, Korn. I read once in a vitamin book about a group of prisoners of war who were extremely malnourished when rescued, and on the verge of starvation. They were unable at first to take anything orally, but their deficiencies were too serious to be allowed to continue until normal digestion had been restored, so vitamin solutions were rubbed onto their inner thighs until they had recovered their ability to digest food again. Somehow they discovered that the vitamins reached the bloodstream most quickly when rubbed onto the inner thighs.

For the last 5 years, I've been spending 5 to 6 hours outside, starting at between 10 and 11 am, almost 365 days of the year, (I rarely get a day off!) and I know this will sound unwise to many, but I do not use sunscreen. I think it interferes with the many natural substances we need to absorb through our skin, not just sunlight. I am careful, and do not allow myself to burn, but I find it impossible to believe that the sun which has been shining on us for millions of years causes skin cancer. There have got to be many other factors involved, epecially when people who do get skin cancer report that they have always taken care to protect themselves from sun exposure.
People do need to expose their skins to the open air and light without any barriers that will prevent the formation and absorbtion of beneficial substances, known and unknown, that are necessary to our health. :)

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Seaside

I do not use sunscreen. I think it interferes with the many natural substances we need to absorb through our skin, not just sunlight. I am careful, and do not allow myself to burn, but I find it impossible to believe that the sun which has been shining on us for millions of years causes skin cancer. There have got to be many other factors involved, epecially when people who do get skin cancer report that they have always taken care to protect themselves from sun exposure.

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This has always been my reasoning and I too do not use sunscreen (almost a hanging offence here in Oz where the "Slip, Slop, Slap" message has always been pushed at us! :eek: ).

I'm glad to know that Cal! Here in California I get a more extreme reaction from people who find out I don't use sunscreen than who find out I'm vegan! :rolleyes:

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Seaside

I know this will sound unwise to many, but I do not use sunscreen.

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http://www.veganforum.com/forums/sho...6096#post46096

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Seaside

I am careful, and do not allow myself to burn, but I find it impossible to believe that the sun which has been shining on us for millions of years causes skin cancer.

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Yes, but the people who are native to California are very dark-skinned.
A problem arises when someone whose skin has evolved to absorb UV radiation for vitamin D in the northern latitudes of Europe happens to live in California.

Thanks for the link, Korn! :)

Posted by John:

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Yes, but the people who are native to California are very dark-skinned.

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Actually, there are no native Californians. The people who were here before the Europeans found the continent migrated from Asia anywhere from 12,000 to 25,000 years ago, and developed their skin pigment there.

I know this cannot apply to everyone, but my grampa, who was fair and blue-eyed, spent lots of time in the summers doing gardening without hat or sunscreen, and lived to 101 without any skin problems. He didn't even have very many wrinkles! So I am not particularly worried about my own exposure. I don't deliberately "sunworship", and I wouldn't recommend it to others, but I don't think it's good to make people afraid of normal sun exposure, either.
There is increasing number of people who go walking about the neighborhood I work in who wear welding masks, motorcycle visors, etc. because they are apparently petrified of sun exposure. I think this level of fear is sad and unecessary. :(

Ah, so the Native Americans are not actually native to America and they got their red skin in Siberia. I see.

well they got whatever skin color trait when the amino acids somewhere formed in to complex crystaline structures called DNA and that DNA evolved. They can only be native of that, which happens of all places to be a mudpuddle on the moon. Since the moon is a collection of matter from different stars, those people are actually star people... :rolleyes:

Anyway, Yah, you can absorb all sorts of interesting things through your skin. That's why I don't get it when people wear plastic clothes, work in toxic sludge, and expose themselves to all sorts of hazards. They seem to assume they have skin made of mylar or something. It's and external organ, with cells similar to allt he other ones in your body, and it's directly connected to your vascular systems...

Posted by John:

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Ah, so the Native Americans are not actually native to America and they got their red skin in Siberia. I see.

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If you doubt that Native Americans are not native to America, here is a link: www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/origins.html
Quoted from the site:

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While scientists do not doubt that the origins of the first Americans lie outside of the Americas, the old idea that populations from northeast Asia were the sole ancestors is coming increasingly under attack. Both archaeological and genetic evidence assembled over the last two decades suggests that there were mulitiple origins for the first Americans. At the end of 1999 scientists meet in California and New Mexico to mull over the implications of recently discovered or restudied ancient American skeletons, most of which date between 8,600 and 11,000 years ago. And what they discovered has shaken the foundations of the anthropological communities. Instead of resembling the historically known American Indians, the wide range of skull shapes which have come to light so far display affinities with populations as diverse as the Ainu of Japan, peoples of central Asia, Australasia, India, southwest Asia, even the Neandertals of Europe (see Ancestors of the New World Had Multiple Origins for more information about the possible Neandertal connection).

Genetic evidence also supports the idea of multiple migrations (perhaps as many as four or five ) of genetically distinctive people coming from several different geographical locations in central Asia, or Indian, perhaps even southwest Asia. Research carried out by Dr. Theodore G. Schurr, a geneticist at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, Texas, indicated that four genetic lineages present in Native Americans today were brought into the Americas by groups whose origins lie in four separate areas: southeast Siberia; northeast Siberia (the Amur River Basin); Lake Baikal region (inner Asia); southwest Asia. Dr. Schurr's work also suggests that there was a post-Ice Age re-expansion of ancient Beringian populations into northern North America, and that these populations were directly ancestral to modern day Koryaks, Chukchi, and Eskimos in Siberia and the northwestern tip of North America, as well as the Na-Dene Indians, including the Athapaskan speaking populations of western interior Canada and the Navajo of the southerwestern United States.

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I'm guessing that they brought their "red" skin with them, just like I'm guessing that the Eskimos brought theirs with them, too, rather than developing it so close to the North Pole.

http://www.vegansworldnetwork.org/he...005-0511b.html

More about vitamin absorption through the skin:

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Vitamin lotion may help skin cancer fight



Wednesday, May 11, 2005



Dermatologists are hoping a lotion containing a common vitamin could be the key to reducing skin cancer rates in Australia.

Scientists have found a cream containing vitamin B3 can significantly increase the skin's ability to stop skin cancers forming.

The results will be presented at an international dermatology conference this weekend.

Even as little as six minutes in the sun can weaken the body's defences against skin cancer.

Researchers at the New South Wales Cancer Institute painted healthy volunteers with a lotion containing vitamin B3 or nicotinamide.

They found those patients treated with the substance suffered no damage to their immunity when exposed to ultra violet light.

In another first, the study found men were twice as likely to suffer immune damage from the sun than women.

Scientists are not exactly sure how vitamin B3 boosts the skin's defences against cancer.

Tests so far have shown it is safe and effective as a topical treatment.

"It's inexpensive, easy to obtain and safe.. so for all of those reasons we hope we can add it to our weapons to defeat skin cancer," Dr Diona Damian, senior lecturer in dermatology at University of Sydney, said.

At the moment vitamin B3 is used only in small amounts in some cosmetic creams.

Researchers say in the future it could be added to sunscreens to boost their effectiveness.

"This raises the prospect of using sunscreen not just to prevent the initiation of cancer but also the downstream effect of developing skin cancer," Dr Andrew Penman, head of the New South Wales Cancer Council, said.

The next step is to trial the lotion in high-risk patients and those who have already had a skin cancer removed.

The full paper will be presented at the Australasian College of Dermatologists meeting in Perth.

Reference: http://www.abc.net.au/news/health/so...s/s1366452.htm



Editor's Note: * Would it not be better to advise everyone to eat foods high in Vitamin B3 and Vitamin B Complex? A well-balanced Vegan diet contains ample quantities of Vitamin B Complex and Vitamin B3. Nuts, legumes and Whole grains are rich sources. - Ed.

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cal says

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... I too do not use sunscreen (almost a hanging offence here in Oz where the "Slip, Slop, Slap" message has always been pushed at us!).

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Many people where I live, in fact most, especially older people, have their cancer spots zapped off on a regular basis. They tell me that as young people they never bothered to use suncream, but now, despite using it and wearing a hat, these cancer spots keep appearing. I was brought up in England so no chance of getting sunburnt, but it's different when a person is raised here and sunbakes regularly without protection for years. I realise that you're living more north than I am, but have you always lived up there?

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Seaside

I find it impossible to believe that the sun which has been shining on us for millions of years causes skin cancer.

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The hole in the ozone layer hasn't been around for quite as long :)

I believe the frequency of light we receive has changed, due to differences in absorption from atmospheric gasses... concentrations of which are now vastly different than they were up until 100 odd years ago.

I would not be surprised if sun burn is a similar process to photosynthesis. I haven't seen a report suggesting this, but think there is one somewhere. Zinc is the most effective anti burning cream. Zinc also has an extremely low voltage, making it prone to 'electron excitation' this is why it was used in cars until the 80's to protect against rust (galvanisation); the zinc layer is oxidised instead of the iron as it has the lowest voltage of the two. The sunlight driven excitation of electrons is what is occurring in clorophyll molecules of plant leaves during photosynthesis. I think the photons in sunlight are energising electrons in our skin which cause oxidation of the minerals hence causing skin damage.

Some people are definately worse off than others, my friend who's dad was Chinese said the only time in his life he got sunburnt was once when he fell asleep in the sun in Mexico! He doesn't look any darker than I do, but his skin has a greater capacity for the frequencies of light he is exposed to than mine does (I am of largely celtic and anglo background). I have very pale skin, and on certain days burn within 10-15 minutes. This even happens when it is cloudy. There have been a number of minor skin cancer incidences on both sides of my family.

Anyway, I hadn't seen this thread before and there is some great info here. Since I moved 1000km further south from the equator 6 months ago, I'm going to make extra efforts to get out in the sun!

Posted by adam antichrist:

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The hole in the ozone layer hasn't been around for quite as long :)

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Yeah, I do think about that too!

It's just that I have read that it is the photochemical breakdown of ingredients in sunscreens that leads to the development of skin tumors. I can't help envisioning the people who run pharmaceutical companies asking themselves "what can we do to get more customers and increase our profits? People just aren't cropping up with enough problems on their own, and we are losing money!" :rolleyes:

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Seaside

Posted by adam antichrist:

Yeah, I do think about that too!

It's just that I have read that it is the photochemical breakdown of ingredients in sunscreens that leads to the development of skin tumors. I can't help envisioning the people who run pharmaceutical companies asking themselves "what can we do to get more customers and increase our profits? People just aren't cropping up with enough problems on their own, and we are losing money!" :rolleyes:

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What's this?
A cynical vegan???
:D

Posted by adam antichrist:

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What's this?
A cynical vegan???
:D

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I love it when you get sarky, too, adam! ;)

If the B12 patch actually works (and of course the manufacturers claim that it does), and since soil and water in lakes, rivers and oceans have been found to contain B12, maybe people living in so called 'primitive' cultures may get B12 simply from walking barefoot or by taking a wash in a lake/river/ocean?

If they do this regularly, and in addition use water from these rivers or lakes when cooking, they would possibly get B12 from from the skin and from their digestive system.

B12 has also been found in various body fluids - including sweat - so there could even be a natural recycling going on through the skin - if it's capable of reabsorbing the B12 excreted in sweat, of the manufacturers of the B12 patch are right when they say that B12 can be absorbed through the skin. Some claim that the B12 molecule is too large to be absorbed through the skin.

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John

Ah, so the Native Americans are not actually native to America and they got their red skin in Siberia. I see.

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You can read more about it here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigen...f_the_Americas

I haven't checked these links yet, but in case you are interested...

Autistic Children May Be Helped by Nutrients Absorbed Through the Skin

ABSORPTION OF TOPICALLY APPLIED VITAMINS

This one os from a health food store:
Skin Absorbs 60% of Products Used Topically - Natural or Chemical