Squalene is an excellent skin support nutrient. In our experience, we have found Squalene to be our top nutritional supplement to add moisture to the skin. It also has been shown to protect the skin from UV radiation, support liver function, and boost mood.*
What is Squalene?
Squalene is a unique oil that naturally occurs in skin and helps to stabilize the structure of skin. This unique fatty substance is structured as an isoprenoid, which is a fat-soluble antioxidant with a unique ability to anchor itself to cell membranes. Vitamin E, tocotrienols, Q10, mangosteen, and beta carotene are other examples of nutrients with primary isoprenoid structure. Many fruits and vegetables have small amounts of isoprenoids.*
Squalene for Skin Health
Squalene is naturally produced during cholesterol synthesis and is widely distributed in human tissues. Its major concentrations are in the skin and in the oils secreted by sebaceous glands, which provide a protective barrier to the skin surface. Squalene helps maintain skin moisture by lubricating the skin surface.*
Squalene can deactivate the free radical known as singlet oxygen, the free radical that is generated by exposure to the sun's UV radiation.* Squalene can also absorb and bind fat-soluble toxins, helping to excrete them from the body. These multiple functions of squalene make it an excellent nutritional support product for the skin.*
Immune Support
The use of squalene as an immune support supplement was popularized by Hans Nieper, world-renowned German physician and physicist.* He became interested in the oil because squalene is 80 percent of the oil in the shark's liver. Plus, the shark's liver is 25 percent of its mass. He believed it was the squalene that enabled sharks to maintain their energy in low-oxygen depths of the sea. His research indicated squalene was extremely Kirlian-positive, which meant squalene helped convert field energy into photon energy (like getting energy from the sun instead of from calories). He noticed those taking the oil would warm up and have improved circulation in their extremities.* His research is little understood in modern context and the immune support principles he espoused have never been verified in human studies, though a few animal and cell studies show some support.*
Squalene contains isoprenoid structures that are known to attach to cell membranes, has significant antioxidant and detoxification capacity, and shows great potential as an immune-support nutrient.*
The Structure of Squalene
Squalene is a unique fatty substance, structured as an isoprenoid. Isoprenoids are fat-soluble antioxidants with the unique ability to anchor themselves to cell membranes.
A carbon spine is the backbone of any fat. Hydrogen molecules are attached to each side of the carbon, forming the fat structure. Saturated fat has two hydrogens per carbon, one on each side. Unsaturated fat means one of the hydrogens is missing. Olive oil is called an omega 9 oil because it is missing one hydrogen at the 9th carbon, a monounsaturated oil. DHA is a polyunsaturated oil, and has 6 missing hydrogens. Saturated fats are stiff. They are easy to use for fuel, as our bodies chop them up into smaller units to metabolize. Unsaturated fats can bend and fold as well as chemically interact, thus forming different shapes that enable them to interact in body structure in an endless array of possibilities.
Squalene has a 30-carbon-long skeleton. By comparison, the longest length essential fatty acid, DHA, is 22 carbons long. Squalene is not a fatty acid because it does not have an acid molecule attached to the end of its carbon skeleton. Like DHA, squalene is highly unsaturated (10 missing hydrogens), enabling significant bending of its carbon spine and biological interaction.* In fact, squalene forms 3 interconnected rings composed of 6 isoprenoid units, a fascinating structure to say the least.
The unsaturated bonds of DHA are easily damaged by oxygen. The structure of squalene, on the other hand, is highly stable against oxygen and is itself able to act as an antioxidant. In fact, adding squalene to food has been shown to protect DHA from oxygen induced free radical damage. It is the isoprenoid structure that enables this excellent antioxidant activity.*
Squalene and Toxins
Squalene's unique structure enables it to absorb toxins, thus assisting the body's detoxification processes. It has been shown to help improve the body's clearance of pesticides and heavy metals.*
Additional Skin Support Nutrients
Quercetin - Helps itchy skin and mild allergies.*
Skin Rejuvenator™ - Strengthens collagen structure and protects skin.*
Hyaluronic Acid - Helps moisturize skin; makes up the fluid layer under the skin.*
