Using Antioxidants to Fight Wrinkles

Copyright @ Angeline Oppenheimer

Wrinkles—who wants them? I don’t know about you, but I would rather they take a hike and never show up. Over time, skin loses its elasticity with reduced collagen and elastin production in the dermis of the skin, resulting in wrinkles, crow’s feet and ruts around the mouth. Often, they are viewed negatively and efforts have been made since ancient time to erase these signs of aging—from Cleopatra soaking in milk baths to elaborate plastic surgery today-- the fight against wrinkles goes on. If you’re looking to stall wrinkles and even restore some skin’s elasticity and glow, there are a number of measures—from avoiding sun damage to better nutrition to using topical moisturizers—you can take steps to reduce wrinkles. TV commercials, advertisements, your local beauty stores and cosmetic services are all vying for you to use their products or services, which do you choose? While I’m no beauty expert, I am a great fan of natural products and moisturizers. My hub is going to focus on using antioxidants, nature’s own to fight wrinkles.

Why antioxidants?

Antioxidants hunt down free radicals in the body, produced when the body breaks down food or when the body is exposed to environmental pollutants such as radiation from the sun and tobacco smoke. Free radicals can cause a number of health problems from cancer to cardiovascular diseases but since we’re on the topic of skin, we will deal on how radiation from the sun can cause cellular damage to the skin, resulting in premature aging, wrinkles, age spots and dry and dull skin. According to American Academy of Dermatology, 90 to 95 percent of the wrinkles are caused by harmful UV rays from the sun. Genetics , lifestyle and health problems can also play a part in hastening wrinkles. Since antioxidants neutralize damaging free radicals, they are often used to prevent cellular damage to the skin. But that’s not just pure induction--the University of Maryland Medical Center states that antioxidants ointment, creams and lotions may reduce the risk of wrinkles and protect against sun damage.

Antioxidants in a bottle, why not? Here they are—fighters recruited from nature to fight the not-so-kind effects of nature:

Vitamin A

Most o f us are familiar with vitamin A but what does it actually do for the body? According to Ohio State University, vitamin A, a fat-soluble vitamin is essential for vision, growth, development and maintenance of healthy skin, hair, mucuous membrane, immune functions and reproduction.

UV rays can deplete the skin of vitamin A and using topical products containing natural forms of vitamin A can replenish that. At this point, it is useful to note that vitamin A can exist in natural forms(retinol, retinaldehyde) or vitamin A-related products called retinoids (such as tretinoin, tazarotene).

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Skin FIxers for Wrinkles

"Dermatologists define wrinkles as lines that are visible even when your face is totally relaxed. For prevention and a slight correction of these etched-in creases, apply sunscreen in the morning and a prescription retinoid (an effective line-smoother) at night.

Retinol

The first compound to be widely used in nonprescription wrinkle creams, retinol is a natural form of vitamin A. Although it is less potent than vitamin A derivative, tretinoin (another topical application approved by FDA for treating wrinkles), it produces few side effects (redness and irritation). Since retinol break down easily, it is often used in antioxidant creams with vitamin C or E added to stablilize it. Two studies published in scientific journals suggest that topical retinol packs more line-fighting power than originally believed and at lower doses than previously studies.

It is important to note that pregnant women or those who may become pregnant should avoid using vitamin A derivative as oral tretinoin causes birth defects.

Best Eye Creams

Did you know that the eyes are the first place to show the signs of stress, fatigue and premature aging? And since the skin around our eyes is seven times thinner than the rest of our skin, it is no wonder that this area is the most vulnerable to damage. Crows- feet, dark circles and under eye puffiness are reminders that we are not getting any younger. Luckily there are eye creams on the market to help target our aging eye area.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is almost synonymous with citrus fruits and was once the cure-all for colds and scurvy-inflicted sailors. But don’t dismiss this grand old dame—its antioxidant properties are transcendent of times and it seems, ravages of time.  According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who ate foods rich in vitamin C had fewer wrinkles and less age-related dry skin than those who had small amounts of vitamin C. How so? According to Patricia Farris, MD., clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Tulane University in New Orleans, vitamin C helps the skin to regenerate, producing collagen, which smooths fine lines and wrinkles.

Vitamin E

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the topical application of tocopherol cream, a form of vitamin E decreases skin roughness, the length of facial line and the depth of wrinkles. Side effects may include swollen, reddened or itchy skin.

Alpha Hydroxy Acid

Sometimes, dead cells can rob the skin of its glow. Dermatologists agree that exfoliation or the removing of the top layer of the skin can allow the regrowth of new skin and restore glow and health. You can exfoliate using simple scrubs, or creams or intensive peeling treatments. Alpha hydoxy acids, occurring naturally in fruit and milk sugar acts as a natural exfoliant. Fruits with alpha hydoxy acids include pumpkin, papaya, pineapple, strawberry and grapes. Many home-made scrubs use these fruits as one of the ingredients to exfoliate.

Mayo clinic warns that because hydroxyl acids can increase sensitivity to sun damage, always use a sunscreen during use and for at least one week afterward.

Guide to looking Younger

If you're looking for a face-lift in a bottle, you probably won't find it in over-the-counter (nonprescription) wrinkle creams. But they may slightly improve the appearance of your skin, depending on how long you use the product and the amount and type of the active ingredient in the wrinkle cream.

Selenium

If you read my hub, “How to Include Antioxidants in Your Diet,” you will know that selenium is found in whole grains, vegetables, dairy products and seafood. Animal studies have found that L-selenomethionine, a form of selenium can protect against sun damage and even delayed skin cancer but it is not known if such benefits apply to people. The University of Maryland Medical Center, however, points out that selenium is beneficial for the skin.

There, you have it, some of the more prominent antioxidants used to prevent wrinkles. Of course, there are more out there--tea extracts, Coenzyme Q10, and kinetin, but space constraints. However, your best defense against premature wrinkles is to apply sunscreen (look for moisturizers that have a SPF of at least 15), take care to nourish and moisturize your skin daily and if you smoke, ditch the habit because nicotine can deplete collagen.

Copyright @ Angeline Oppenheimer

No parts of this article may be reproduced without prior permission from author.

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