How Antioxidants Fight Aging in the Skin
by Helen E. Knaggs, PhD

How do free radicals age the skin?

 We all want to look our best but unfortunately, as we get older, when we look in the mirror, time seems to be working against us.  Our skin’s appearance changes with time as a result of two processes

• First, there are natural changes resulting from the genes we inherit from our parents and there is probably not a lot we can do about this right now..

• Second, there are changes, which result from our lifestyle and from what we are exposed to daily.  For example, damage caused by ultraviolet light which we call photodamage, cigarette smoking, pollution, and stress are factors that contribute to the production of free radicals or the ‘bad guys’ which cause damage to skin.  In fact, it is widely accepted that the damage caused by free radicals is one of the major causes of skin aging—so what do these free radicals do and—the really important question—what can we do to slow it down?

What are free radicals?

Oxygen is in all the cells of the body.  When there is pollution or UV rays hitting the skin, the oxygen which is in the cell turns to free radicals.  Free radicals are very short lived and are normally quickly mopped up by antioxidants present in the skin.  The ones that escape, attack our cells and cause serious damage to fats, proteins, carbohydrates and especially DNA.  The skin cells are capable of repairing some damage, however, with increasing pollution, stress and more sun exposure, our skin simply can’t cope with the number of free radicals produced and the excess go on to damage the skin in many ways.  Free radicals can hinder the cell membrane, making nutrient absorption and detoxification difficult.

Additionally, free radicals can increase levels of collagenase, a protein enzyme which eats the supporting tissue of skin, making it less firm.  The DNA of cells can also be directly damaged by free radicals.  Damage can be irreversible, so that DNA molecules can no longer make healthy new cells.  All of these changes have long been associated with skin aging.

Address the aging of the skin caused by free radicals

Compounds called antioxidants mop up free radicals and thus prevent them from damaging the skin.   Products which contain multiple antioxidants are far superior to products which contain only a single one:  some studies show that one antioxidant alone can be ineffective.  Additionally, different antioxidants protect different parts of the cell depending on whether they are soluble in water or in fat.

One of the predominant water-soluble antioxidants is vitamin C.  Humans cannot make their own vitamin C in the body, so the only supply is from topical application or diet.  The body controls the distribution of vitamins and often limits the supplies delivered to the skin.  And of course as these vitamins neutralize the free radicals, they are used up, so it is important to continually supplement the skin with new supplies of antioxidants.

The fats comprising the cell membranes are protected by fat-soluble Vitamin E.   So, if you look for products that have a combination of  both these antioxidants, they act synergistically with each other providing even greater protection against damage done by free radicals in the skin, and protect against additional damage occurring.