In order to create and maintain moist, resilient and healthy skin, our cells require an important essential fatty acid called gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). GLA is not available in our diet. Instead our body must make it via a complex metabolic process. This process requires a special enzyme called delta-6-desaturase (D6D). D6D produces the necessary GLA from vegetable oils that we eat.
Among people who suffer from diabetes and elevated blood sugar levels, this D6D enzyme can be impaired and unable to produce enough GLA. This situation can be compounded as we get older by the slowing down of enzyme activity that naturally occurs with aging. The result can be a shortage of GLA in the system. This can lead to the chronic, severely dry skin that affects so many people who suffer from both type I and type II diabetes.
ShiKai Borage Dry Skin Therapy® can help by supplying GLA directly to the skin cells in the form of Borage Oil, which is the highest yield source (24%) of GLA. In clinical studies, borage has been shown to have beneficial effects on dry skin as well as on many other skin disorders.*
* British Journal of Dermatology