How does niacinamide do for the skin?Updated a year ago
While we have a fairly good understanding of niacinamide's benefits thanks to different clinical studies, the reality is that we don’t fully understand its mechanism of action.
But we have some very good guesses.
Niacinamide is a precursor to two coenzymes that exist naturally in human cells and help with a whole range of metabolic processes. These coenzymes, NADH and NADPH, keep the skin functioning well, preventing inflammation, producing new collagen, protecting it from free radical damage, and a lot more.
With age or when the skin gets damaged, the levels of these coenzymes in the body and in individual cells deplete. It’s possible that topical niacinamide works because depleted cells are able to use it to make up for what they lack.
This is why its benefits are so wide-ranging, and why it can improve skin function in a balanced way, regardless of the type of concern.