15 Things You Didn’t Know About Hyaluronic Acid

  1. Hyaluronic acid is essentially a long link of carbohydrate molecules bound together that can absorb moisture.
  2. In fact, hyaluronic acid is capable of holding up to 1,000 times its weight in water.
  3. Your skin accounts for about half of the hyaluronic acid found in your entire body.
  4. Other parts of your body that house hyaluronic acid is your eyes, nerves, hair, and joints.
  5. Besides lubricating joints, hyaluronic acid can also absorb shock and promote elasticity.
  6. It can carry nutrients to cartilage by building the framework through which cells migrate.
  7. In the 1940’s, bakers used hyaluronic acid as an egg white substitute.
  8. Part of the reason you get wrinkles as you age is that your skin naturally begins to lose hyaluronic acid, thus losing its elasticity. Dry skin = wrinkly skin.
  9. This is why hyaluronic acid is a popular skin care ingredient—it delivers lasting moisture to all skin types.
  10. Drinking lots of water can help improve your HA levels.
  11. Small hyaluronic acid molecules can send distress signals to your immune system to help you recover from an injury.
  12. Hyaluronic acid poses a very low risk for allergic reactions because we’re all born with it in our bodies.
  13. Hyaluronic acid can help stimulate and increase your body’s production of collagen.
  14. It can also help treat cold sores, sunburns, wounds, and bites by keeping the damaged tissue moist.
  15. Doctors often use HA formulas to treat eye injuries or to help a patient recover from eye surgery.