Dietary galacto-oligosaccharides improve skin health: a randomized double blind clinical trial

Abstract

Background and Objectives: To study the effects of galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) on the skin, we investigated skin-related parameters in healthy adults who received GOS for 12 weeks. Methods and Study Design: This double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study included subjects divided into two groups (control and GOS) by stratified block randomization. The GOS group received 1.0 g of GOS twice a day, whereas the control group received only vehicle. Results: The results showed that the increase in corneometer values from baseline to week 12 was significantly greater in the GOS group than in the control group (6.91 vs 2.88 arbitrary units, p<0.05). The transepidermal water loss (TEWL) in the GOS group was reduced significantly after 12 weeks of GOS treatment (20.1 g/h/m(2) at baseline vs 17.5 g/h/m(2) at week 12, p<0.05). The differences in total and percentage of wrinkle areas between the two groups were statistically significant after 12 weeks of GOS treatment (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our findings support that oral treatment with GOS is beneficial to the skin and present the possibility of new nutritional strategies for skin care.