Does niacinamide (vitamin B3) visibly benefit your skin?
Niacinamide cream (5%) demonstrably improves ageing skin and skin tone, and is safe to use. For people with a history of skin cancer, the tablet form offers additional protection, but that warrants a conversation with a doctor.
Niacinamide (vitamin B3) works on several levels within the skin: it replenishes NAD+, a compound that cells need for energy and the repair of damaged DNA. It also reduces oxidative stress and suppresses inflammatory signals. That explains why it is used so broadly.
The evidence for visible improvement is concrete. In a double-blind study (n=50), women applied a cream containing 5% niacinamide to one half of their face and a dummy cream to the other half for twelve weeks1. The niacinamide side scored significantly better on fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation spots, redness and skin elasticity. The study was small, however, and included only white women with sun-damaged skin, so how universally these findings apply is not certain.
A comprehensive 2024 review confirms that niacinamide cream has clinically supported benefits for a broader population: evening out skin tone, a stronger skin barrier in dry or sensitive skin, and conditions such as acne, dermatitis and actinic keratosis (sun damage that can be a precursor to skin cancer)2,3. For acne, niacinamide likely performs comparably to topical antibiotics such as clindamycin, but the available studies were small and barely measured patient-reported improvement4.
For people at elevated risk of skin cancer, the evidence for niacinamide in tablet form is more robust. In a phase 3 trial involving 386 high-risk patients, 500 mg twice daily for twelve months resulted in 23% fewer new skin cancers and 11 to 20% fewer actinic keratoses compared with placebo5. Once people stopped taking it, the effect disappeared. A large study of more than 33,000 people found an even greater risk reduction of 54% among people who began taking the tablets after their first skin cancer6. That latter study is observational rather than experimental, so not all confounding factors can be ruled out.
Regarding safety: oral use of up to 3 grams per day is considered safe, and no serious side effects occurred in the studies. For the skin, 5% is the most thoroughly studied concentration, both for anti-aging and for an even complexion.
Based on one small randomised split-face study (n=50, PMID 16029679), two reviews (PMID 38722460, PMID 40005371), one Cochrane review on acne (PMID 32352165), one phase 3 trial for skin cancer (n=386, PMID 26488693) and one large retrospective cohort study (n=33,822, PMID 40960808).
Does omega-3 from fish or flaxseed improve skin appearance?
For people with eczema, psoriasis or acne, multiple reviews indicate that fish oil containing EPA and DHA may reduce inflammatory symptoms. In healthy skin the benefit is less clear, but no negative effect has been reported.
Does omega-3 protect your skin from sunburn?
Omega-3 offers some protection against the sunburn response, but the effect is limited and no proven protective dose is known. Keep using sunscreen and regard omega-3 as a possible complement, not an alternative.
Does zinc help with acne and healthier skin?
Zinc demonstrably reduces inflamed spots, but works less well than the usual treatments such as benzoyl peroxide. It is most useful if you cannot tolerate standard treatments or as a complement to them.
What actually works against skin aging?
Using sunscreen daily is the best-supported way to slow skin ageing, supplemented by not smoking, moderate alcohol consumption and sufficient sleep. Cosmetic options such as thread lifts and honey in creams have a weaker or not yet sufficiently proven basis and call for a critical weighing of the risks.
Does rapamycin improve skin aging?
Topical rapamycin showed promising signs for skin ageing in a small study, but the evidence is still too thin to justify self-application.
Do AHAs or BHAs really help against wrinkles and blemishes?
Both AHA (glycolic acid) and BHA (salicylic acid) demonstrably help against acne, blemishes and, to a lesser extent, wrinkles, although the effect varies from person to person. For acne, salicylic acid has the strongest evidence base, particularly for darker skin tones.