There are an unbelievable amount of supplements and vitamins on the market nowadays, but everyone has at least one in their mind that they tout as their cure-all. I think I have tried just about everything that had even the remotest anecdotal evidence that it would clear up my skin — but the conclusion is still that there is no silver bullet. We’ll take a quick look at three today: Spearmint, Lysine, and N-Acetyl-Cystine (NAC). (And also — I am definitely not a doctor, so if you’re going to try any of these out, do so at your own risk!)

Spearmint: Sadly my testing period of this began around the same time when I began spironolactone, so I couldn’t “prove” that it was clearing up anything that spiro wasn’t already doing. But I took it away for a week, once, and I swear that a few cysts occurred in that time that would not normally have occurred. When I added it back, it seems that my skin kept itself at bay — not that I never had another breakout after that, but they were substantially smaller. Perhaps I should take back what I said, maybe this is a silver bullet! Another nice addition: this supplement calms my very tumultuous and sensitive stomach down. It’s $7 for a bottle, a relatively cheap buy, so check it out here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Ld3QGT

Lysine: I’ve been using this for years, originally as part of my very strict diet and supplement routine when I was far more extreme about my fitness regimen. I kept it around even afterwards, because it’s supposed to be good for skin tissue health, particularly your lips. In fact, a few errant comments on Reddit said something like “my lips are fuller since I started taking this!” and I was like, “alright, random user, I believe you!” I don’t think it REALLY makes a huge difference, but I am slightly convinced that my lips slough off skin quicker than they did before I used to take this, and my lips aren’t chapped as much even in the dead of winter. As far as acne goes, it does nothing for it, since I continued to take it through my cystic acne phase.

N-Acetyl-Cystine: Another “cure-all” supplement, but not a ton of research to back it. This was lauded for preventing hangovers (if taken 2 hours prior to drinking moderately), diminishing certain nervous ticks, and clearing skin. I will say the hangover claim seems to be true for me personally — normally I am susceptible to hangovers after just two or three drinks even over the course of an entire night — but I don’t discredit placebo effect, either (or maybe I actually drank enough water that night!) Every other claim though — nope, nothing changed.