--- title: Skin Care Beauty: Vitamin B12 May Be Causing Acne on Your Face description: It can be found in your burgers and cheese canonical: https://time.com/3941332/vitamin-b12-acne/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-30T14:42:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:45.256Z article:section: Health og:title: This Vitamin May Be Behind Your Acne Problems og:description: It can be found in your burgers and cheese og:url: https://time.com/3941332/vitamin-b12-acne/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Vitamin May Be Behind Your Acne Problems twitter:description: It can be found in your burgers and cheese twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Vitamin May Be Behind Your Acne Problems > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Late-Night Highlight: Julianne Moore Reveals Her Secret For Flawless Skin [Watch (HLS stream): Late-Night Highlight: Julianne Moore Reveals Her Secret For Flawless Skin](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dSQi5kjA.m3u8) (0:57)  _Published 2015-01-22. For your late-night highlight, Julianne Moore revealed her secret for flawless skin. And her simple regimen may surprise you._ by [Jessie Militare / MIMI](https://time.com/author/mimi/) ## Jessie Militare / MIMI Author Jun 30, 2015 2:42 PM UTC by [Jessie Militare / MIMI](https://time.com/author/mimi/) ## Jessie Militare / MIMI Author Jun 30, 2015 2:42 PM UTC [_MIMI_](https://www.mimichatter.com/) _is a Time Inc. property._ Vitamin B12 is notably [found in beef, dairy, and some fish](http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/foods-high-in-vitamin-B12.php). It’s been used to improve memory and combat anemia. Now, according to a study just published in [_Science Translational Medicine_](http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/293/293ra103) and as reported on [the ](http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/24/8839927/vitamin-b12-acne-pimples-bacteria)[_Verge_](http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/24/8839927/vitamin-b12-acne-pimples-bacteria), it may be linked to acne. It’s still early, so researchers don’t want everyone freaking out and nixing burgers and cheese from their diet, but it’s important to note that B12 changes how the genes of facial bacteria behave, a shift that aids in inflammation. The vitamin has been connected to acne in studies since the 50’s, but the researchers say that was mostly anecdotal. “It has been reported several times that people who take B12 develop acne,” Huiying Li, a molecular pharmacologist at the University of California-Los Angeles and a co-author of the study, told the Verge. “So it’s exciting that we found that the potential link between B12 and acne is through the skin bacteria.” Acne is still largely a mystery to researchers, even though 80 percent of teens and young adults have to deal with the pesky skin condition. Oily secretion known as sebum and faulty cells that line hair follicles play a role, but Li and her team wanted to see where bacteria factors into acne development. The study found in a small group of people that humans who take B12 develop high levels of vitamin in their skin (which sounds like a good thing), but that skin bacteria known as _Propionibacterium acnes_ then lowers its own production of B12 causing an imbalance. More porphyrins (naturally occurring chemicals in the body and a related molecule) are produced, which have been known to induce inflammation, AKA where acne begins. Li says that the “main message is that skin bacteria are important. But until other researchers confirm the link between B12 and acne in a larger number of people, dermatologists won’t really be able to make any clinical recommendations one way or the other. I don’t want people to misinterpret the results by not taking B12.” Let’s [just drink more water and eat more berries](http://allwomenstalk.com/15-top-foods-to-get-rid-of-acne) until we know for sure what’s going on. _This_ [_article_](https://www.mimichatter.com/vitamin-b-12-may-be-linked-to-acne-1223668789.html) _originally appeared on_ [_MIMI_](http://www.mimichatter.com) _More from MIMI:_ * [How to Wear Your Foundation Better](https://www.mimichatter.com/foundation-makeup-application-tips-tricks-1219098067.html) * [5 Mindy Kaling Quotes About Beauty That Changed My Life](https://www.mimichatter.com/mindy-kaling-best-beauty-life-quotes-1214823218.html) * [The Easiest DIY Acne Mask You’ll Ever Meet](https://www.mimichatter.com/diy-acne-masks-avocado-fennel-honey-cassandra-bankson-demos-1213188815.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3941332/vitamin-b12-acne/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3941332/vitamin-b12-acne/"},"headline":"This Vitamin May Be Behind Your Acne Problems","datePublished":"2015-06-30T14:42:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:45.256Z","description":"It can be found in your burgers and cheese","url":"https://time.com/3941332/vitamin-b12-acne/","keywords":["Healthcare","beauty","Research","Vitamins","Health Fad","skin"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jessie Militare / MIMI"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/healthcare/","name":"Healthcare"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3941332/vitamin-b12-acne/","name":"This Vitamin May Be Behind Your Acne Problems"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Late-Night Highlight: Julianne Moore Reveals Her Secret For Flawless Skin","description":"For your late-night highlight, Julianne Moore revealed her secret for flawless skin. 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