You probably already know the three surest ways to ensure the youthful skin: Protect your skin from the sun, eat a healthy diet and don’t smoke. In addition, a variety of vitamins and antioxidants may also improve the health and quality of your skin.
Antioxidants are nutrients and enzymes that fight free radical damage, boost immunity, delay skin aging and protect against sun damage. It almost works as an internal sunscreen for your body. Antioxidants slow down and prevent the effect of free radicals that start oxidation that can lead to cell dysfunction . If you’ve seen a peeled banana turn brown, you’ve seen oxidation in action.
Antioxidants are found in many foods, including fruits and vegetables. They are also available as dietary supplements. Incorporating the right antioxidants into your diet (rosemary, tomato paste (lycopene), grape seed extract, pomegranate, soy, green tea, pomegranates, coffee berries, grape seeds, olives, mushrooms and more) and skin care routine can delay your aging process dramatically.
There are a variety of topical skin care antioxidants in the market. Skin gets the most benefit when several antioxidants are applied together, much the same way that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables is healthier than eating only blueberries or only broccoli. Treat your skin to a variety of potent, stable, and well-researched antioxidants.
Some of the most important antioxidants for your skin are:
• Vitamins C and E and Selenium
• Coenzyme Q10
• Retinoic Acid
• Flavonoids (Green Tea and Chocolate)
Let me list out some of the major benefits of antioxidants:
It can reverse Sun damage:
Too much sun can dry out your skin and damage the cells. Sun damage can make skin appear rough and wrinkly. Antioxidants stimulate blood flow in the skin and helps in the growth of new cells. This repairs sun-damaged skin and makes it appear younger.
Tones up your skin:
Antioxidants can reverse and delay the aging process by rejuvenating skin cells and improving skin health. Coenzyme Q-10 is a common skin-firming antioxidant that plays a very important role in toning up the skin.
Anti-inflammatory:
Antioxidants work really well for sensitive skin to calm down inflammation. Antioxidants, such as alpha lipoic acid and others found in green tea, pine bark produce valuable anti-inflammatory results by increasing cell metabolism and circulation. Reducing inflammation promotes more even tone skin and helps keep acne and wrinkles at bay.
Helps with wrinkles:
Most antioxidants are great for reducing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, but vitamin C and E are especially beneficial. Although it is nearly impossible to make wrinkles disappear, skin care products with antioxidants can help plump out the skin and make it appear more youthful.
Reduces the appearance of scars:
The cell structure of a scar tissue is different than that of a healthy skin. Many types of antioxidants, including those found in aloe and an onion extract called allium, increase the blood flow to scar tissue that mimimize the appearance of the scar and helps blend with the new skin.
Although for most women it comes down to personal choice: finding the product that seems to work best for your skin type and gives you the feel and look you seek without causing skin problems, it’s best to ask your dermatologist for advice before buying vitamin or antioxidant for your skin because it’s important to know exactly how much of these vitamins and antioxidants are in strong enough concentrations, and in the correct forms, to remain stable and to be effective.
It’s very Important that we take our regular antioxidant supplements after the age of 25. It is essential to tweak our diet to include green tea, fruits, berries, sprouts etc …for a daily needs. At this point its nice to understand that whatever we eat is not completely absorbed, hence supplementation is the key.