Antioxidants and vitiligo

Last Updated on 12th January 2024 by Caroline Haye

Don’t let anyone tell you that there is no effective treatment for vitiligo or that topical treatments and phototherapy are the only choices open to us. Nutritional therapies also have a good track record in controlling the condition. I am just one of many people around the world with vitiligo to have discovered from personal experience that nutritional supplementation can halt, or even reverse, vitiligo. A quick internet search on the subject is all you need to find examples of this. And scientific research supports our experience. In particular, it demonstrates an association between oxidative stress and vitiligo and highlights the importance of antioxidant protection.

Scientific evidence of the vitiligo – antioxidant link

An easy-to-read overview document from the Dermatology Department at the University Gugliemo Marconi, Rome is worth a read. It describes, in simple terms, the role of oxidative stress in vitiligo and lists some of the scientific evidence for this. It also explains how supplementing may help vitiligo patients by re-balancing their antioxidant levels.

For a more in-depth look at the topic, it’s worth reading an article in Experimental Dermatology called Vitiligo: interplay between oxidative stress and immune system. This paper describes the relationship between genetics, environment and the immune system in the development of vitiligo… In particular, it focuses on the role of oxidative stress in this process. Then Perspectives of New Advances in the Pathogenesis of Vitiligo: From Oxidative Stress to Autoimmunity is a more up-to-date analysis. And, even more recently this article on the subject indicates that the ways in which oxidative stress lead to the death of pigment-producing cells are even more complicated than previously thought.

My own story of vitiligo and antioxidants

When I first began taking food supplements, I didn’t really know much about oxidative stress. And I had no idea that there was any link between vitiligo and low levels of antioxidants. I just knew that a diet rich in vitamins and minerals was a generally health one. And I hoped that supplementing my diet would help my problem skin. In fact, my white patches started to re-pigment just a few weeks after starting to use a particular combination of supplements… Supplements that included high doses of antioxidants.  (See The Vitiligo Therapy That Worked for full details). 

Reading up on the science behind the various vitiligo pathways is all very interesting. It seems that our genes, oxidative stress and our immune system all conspire to rob our skin of pigment. In fact I find the topic fascinating, even though I don’t understand it all. But seeing my own skin colour return after a lifetime of progressive vitiligo has, for me, been the most impressive evidence of all.

Antioxidants rule!

It would be wonderful to be able to say that my vitiligo has totally and permanently vanished. But that is not the case. I still have some small areas of lost pigment here and there, though nothing very significant. And I know that I would almost certainly relapse if I took my eye off the ball. So I continue to use the supplements. Because I know that keeping nutritional and antioxidant levels in balance is something I have to do on a daily basis. And I am thrilled to report that I have retained all of the colour that I initially recovered back in 2010 using my nutritional approach and have not had any lasting setbacks since. So, as far as I’m concerned, antioxidants rule!