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12 Weeks Of This Fruit Supplement Shifted Skin Bacteria & Improved Elasticity
If your skin seems to bounce back a little slower than it used to, you've probably heard the usual advice to stir some collagen powder into your morning coffee, or pat a collagen cream onto your face.
But new research1 points to less obvious players in skin firmness: pomegranates and the microbes living in your digestive tract. The results are early, but they add a new angle for anyone weighing an oral beauty supplement.
What changed in the skin
In this randomized, placebo-controlled trial, 64 women ages 30 to 65 took one capsule a day of a pomegranate extract called Pomanox (either 367 mg or 700 mg) or a placebo for 12 weeks. Neither the women nor the researchers knew who was getting what. Researchers measured dark spots, along with elasticity, hydration, and other skin features, at the start of the study, at four weeks, and at 12 weeks. They also tracked bacteria living on the skin and in the gut.
Here's what they found changing throughout the trial:
- Elasticity: Skin firmness rose in both groups taking pomegranate juice by week 12, and the higher dose showed gains as early as week four. The placebo group saw no increase.
- Hydration: Moisture levels dipped in the placebo group over the 12 weeks, while the 367 mg group held steady and came out ahead.
- Dark spots: Spots faded in every group, placebo included. This is likely because the study stretched into late autumn and winter, when sun exposure drops. The lower dose showed a bigger reduction, though the gap wasn't large enough to rule out chance.
You may be surprised to find that the lower dose of pomegranate extract often matched or beat the higher one. Plant compounds like these don't always follow a "more is better" pattern, according to the researchers.
Where the gut comes in
Pomegranate's key plant compounds aren't absorbed well on their own, so don't rush to rub pomegranate juice on your face. But when you take a pomegranate extract supplement, the large intestine is able to break it down into compounds called urolithins, including urolithin A, which are thought to drive much of pomegranate's benefit. Urine tests confirmed 62 women in the study saw urolithin A levels climb.
The 700 mg dose improved elasticity by about 12% more than placebo at 12 weeks in women who saw the rise of urolithin A. This shows the skin benefit seemed to hinge partly on having gut bacteria capable of processing the extract, a real-world example of the gut-skin connection.
The microbes in the gut and skin shifted, too:
- On the skin: The pomegranate groups saw more Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, bacteria that help keep the skin's microbial environment balanced and protective.
- In the gut: Both doses increased Prevotella, a group typically tied to a fiber-rich diet. The lower dose raised levels of Akkermansia, a microbe linked with a healthy gut lining. These shifts echo other research on gut metabolites and their ties to skin health.
Most oral beauty supplements targeting firmer, bouncier skin are built around collagen. Here, blood markers of collagen production didn't change in any group, hinting that supplements beyond collagen boost also have beneficial potential.
The takeaway
It's important to keep these findings in perspective. The trial was originally designed to test the effects of pomegranate extract on dark spots, and that primary result fell short. The elasticity, hydration, and bacteria findings were a pleasant, secondary surprise, but the small trial at a single site limits the applicability of this research.
Larger trials will show whether those benefits hold, but the results add weight to the idea that skin health is shaped, at least in part, from the inside out. For now, this is a reminder that gut inflammation and gut bacteria are worth paying attention to in the broader picture of skin health.
