When nutrition is less than normal, the skin is subject to the number of abnormalities; and the synthetic beauty fostered by the cosmetic industry is poor counterfeit for genuine attributes of health.

Oily or Dry Skin

When volunteers have been kept on diets mildly lacking in vitamin B2, the first symptoms were whiteheads and oily hair and skin. This condition cleared up soon after 5 to 15 milligrams of vitamin B2 were given daily. Dryness of the skin has resulted in volunteers lacking vitamins A, C, linoleic acid, or anyone of several B vitamins. The oils of the skin are unsaturated and appear to be made almost wholly of the essential fatty acids; therefore unless vegetable oils are consumed, the skin is invariably dry.

When the diet is adequate, however, both oiliness and dryness are usually corrected in a few weeks.

Susceptibility to Sunburn

Persons especially prone to sunburn have tolerated 50 to 100 times more exposure than previously when taking 1,000 milligrams daily of the B vitamin PABA (para aminobenzoic acid); and applying a salve containing this vitamin has been equally effective. Other individuals normally susceptible to sunburn but using a PABA ointment have remained eight or more hours in Florida sun without burning.

Individuals previously unable to tolerate sun because of skin cancers have found PABA ointment to be particularly beneficial. Furthermore, this ointment takes the pain out of severe sunburns and other burns almost immediately. It has also been shown that the changes in aging skin are "practically identical" to those in the skin of young people overexposed to sun. This is finding indicates that PABA ointment, used as a cold cream, might delay old-age skin changes. Because PABA makes sulfanilamide ineffective, it cannot be purchased for internal use without a prescription, but preparations for external application are available.

Stretch Marks

Although healthy skin is elastic, overweight persons and most women who have had children retain stretch marks. This abnormality appears to result from the stress of inadequate reducing and pregnancy diets, which have allowed body proteins to be destroyed to the extent that scars have taken the place of weakened tissues.

A woman who developed severe stretch marks during her first pregnancy stayed on an unusually adequate high-protein diet supplemented with 600 units of vitamin E and 300 milligrams of pantothenic acid daily throughout a subsequent pregnancy. Although she gave birth to full-term twins, the stretch marks from the first pregnancy completely disappeared and none formed during the second.

Wrinkles

In premature aging, wrinkles could be prevented by giving large amounts of vitamin E. It may be that the multiple stresses that induce aging cause cells in the lower layers of skin to be destroyed and bits of scar tissue to take their place; and that wrinkles form when such scar tissue contracts.

Pigmentation of the Skin

When the adrenals are exhausted, as in Addison's disease, the skin may become deeply pigmented that formerly fair individuals are assumed to be of Mexican or Negro blood. Minor pigmentation, which appears first across the forehead and occurs so frequently during the stress of pregnancy that it is spoken of as pregnancy cap, is also common among undernourished persons and probably always indicates a deficiency of pantothenic acid. This pigmentation quickly disappears when an antistress program is adhered to.

People deficient in either of the folic acid, B vitamins or niacin amide develop pigmentation of the skin, in exposed areas. Such pigmentation has cleared up when 5 milligrams of folic acid or 100 milligrams of niacin amide have been taken with each meal.

Lack of Pigmentation

In a condition known as vitiligo, areas of skin lose their pigmentation while other areas become darker. This increasingly common abnormality is another symptom of malnutrition, and has been corrected by giving 150 to 300 milligrams of pantothenic acid daily or 1,000 milligrams or more of PABA. Applying PABA ointment to the depigmented areas sometimes brings marked improvement. This condition generally clears up after the diet is unusually high in all the natural sources of B vitamins.