I first met my patient Penny more than 20 years ago. Her youngest son was off to college. She had just become an empty nester. I asked if that explained her red eyes.
“Are you kidding?” she laughed. “I’ve been looking forward to this for years. Now that we’re free, my husband and I have plans to enjoy life, travel the world, and maybe even start an import business.”
“Then why the tears?” I asked.
“I feel great and life is good. But every time I look in the mirror, I see my mother’s face. I’m too young to have her baggy skin.”
Like so many women, Penny’s sagging skin was dragging down her spirits. It didn’t match her upbeat energy.
Penny wanted desperately to stop gravity from dragging down her skin. But the idea of a scalpel near her face was too scary.
“I’m waiting for someone to invent a facelift in a bottle,” she joked.
We both laughed back then. But times have changed. Now we have DMAE.
Dimethylaminoethanol – DMAE for short – is both a powerful antioxidant and a hormone. Your brain produces it naturally. For many years doctors prescribed DMAE to help with age-related memory loss.
Then scientists discovered something amazing about this brain chemical. New studies show DMAE helps firm and tighten skin, reduce wrinkles, and erase age spots.
DMAE Firms and Tightens Your Face Without Surgery
Dermatology researchers in Belgium asked 30 volunteers between 36 and 49 years old to test DMAE. In a double blind study each subject applied a gel with 3% DMAE to half their face. On the other side they applied a placebo gel.
The results were very clear. The placebo had little or no effect. But the side of the face treated with DMAE showed firmer, tighter skin.1
How does DMAE work? It increases the water retention in your skin’s connective tissues. That additional water plumps up the surface of your skin and tightens it up.
But there’s a second way DMAE works. The same action that boosts your brain’s memory power also lifts sagging skin.
You see, DMAE helps produce acetylcholine. That’s a neurotransmitter. Its job is to send signals from your nerves to your muscles. Those signals get your brain firing.
But they also send a message to your face muscles to tighten up and stop sagging. And more muscle tone in your face naturally reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
DMAE also helps fade age or “liver” spots. Those brown spots are an accumulation of waste called lipofuscin. It’s left over when fatty acids don’t completely metabolize in our cells.
DMAE reduces the buildup of lipofuscin inside cells.2 It even flushes that brown waste out of skin cells.3 That’s how age spots fade away.
How can you put DMAE to work for you tightening skin, reducing wrinkles and fading age spots?
Three Easy Ways to Boost Your DMAE Levels
One way to boost your DMAE levels is by eating more fish. Sardines, anchovies, squid and salmon are all significant sources.
You can also find DMAE supplements at health food stores or online.
Studies have found doses up to 1600 mg per day are safe with no reports of side effects or drug interactions.4 I recommend taking 150 to 300 mg per day.
Take DMAE with meals for the best absorption. You can even break open the capsules and mix it in fruit juices or smoothies in the morning to kick start your brain for the day.
But if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, check with your doctor before taking DMAE. Those with epilepsy or bipolar disorder should avoid using it altogether.
For sagging skin, wrinkles and age spots, I prefer using a gel, serum or cream containing at least 3% DMAE. Apply it directly to your face and body once or twice a day.
My latest breakthrough formula Renew SCII , features DMAE. I’ve paired it with cutting edge stem cell technology for a serum that will lift and tighten sagging skin.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
1. Uhoda I, Faska N, Robert C, Cauwenbergh G, Pierard GE. Split face study on the cutaneous tensile effect of 2-dimethylaminoethanol (deanol) gel. Skin Res Technol. 2002 Aug;8(3):164-7.
2. Dylewski DP, Nandy S, Nandy K. Effects of centrophenoxine on lipofuscin in the retinal pigment epithelium of old mice. Neurobiol Aging. 1983;4(1):89-95.
3. Riga S, Riga D. Effects of centrophenoxine on the lipofuscin pigments in the nervous system of old rats. Brain Res. 1974 Jun 7;72(2):265-75.
4. Casey DE, Denney D. Dimethylaminoethanol in tardive dyskinesia. N Engl J Med. 1974 Oct 10;291(15):797