Effect of a novel dietary supplement on skin aging in post-menopausal women.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Plant Extracts.

The aim of the present study was to quantify the effects on skin in post-menopausal women of a novel dietary supplement (Imedeen Prime Renewal) that contained soy extract, fish protein polysaccharides, extracts from white tea, grape seed and tomato, vitamins C and E as well as zinc and chamomile extract.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were middle-aged adults and older adults, women only.

The study was a 6-month double blind, placebo controlled, randomized study on healthy post-menopausal females.

Thirty-eight (active group) and 42 (placebo group) subjects completed the study out of 100.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Plant Extracts and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Plant Extracts, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Plant Extracts could be set against what happens without it.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Aging, Dietary Supplements, Plant Extracts, Postmenopause, Skin, Skin Physiological Phenomena and Ultrasonography.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Plant Extracts.

Results are reported in around 4 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2006 (European journal of clinical nutrition), a journal based in England.

More context: all human trials.