Antioxidant Skincare

source:flickr by:lanier67

Antioxidants and UV Protection

We all know how important it is to wear sunscreen while spending time outdoors. But, did you know that antioxidants are as important as sunscreen when you’re aiming to keep your skin looking healthy and youthful? Antioxidant products are an effective way to reduce wrinkles and keep visible signs of aging at bay. Luckily, more and more beauty companies are including skin antioxidants in their sunscreen formulations.

One of the leading causes of free radicals is UV damage. Free radicals, in turn, wreck havoc within the skin, sometimes leading to cell death. In addition, UV rays can induce collagen breakdown, DNA repair interference and an inhibited immune system. All of these actions can induce premature signs of aging, skin disorders, less defense against infection, pigmentation issues, changes in skin texture and even cancer. One of the best defenses against UV-induced skin problems is using antioxidant skin care products, as well as fortifying your body internally by eating antioxidant foods.

When building your skin care regimen, take special care to incorporate as many antioxidant-rich products as possible. Many skin care products use antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, which also help the skin by brightening, conditioning and nourishing. Natural skin care products use botanical, marine, fruit and even vegetable extracts, many of which contain high levels of antioxidants. If you begin your day by applying antioxidant products, your skin’s defense against free radicals will be generously increased.

If you are not currently using a daily sunscreen formulation, step back and take a good look at your skin. If you’re not seeing any damage yet, that doesn’t mean it’s not there! Any exposure to the sun can be damaging to your skin, and excessive sun exposure is certainly causing issues, even if they’re not yet visible. However, the sun can be tricky, too. While too much sun exposure can be dangerous, too little exposure can also cause problems. It is recommended that one gets 10-20 minutes of unprotected sun exposure a day to get a good dose of vitamin D while strengthening the skin’s defenses against UV radiation.

source:flickr by:edgeplot

Free Radicals: An Explanation

Lately, we’ve been hearing so much about free radicals from antioxidant skin care experts, but no one takes the time to explain what a free radical actually is. In order to understand why antioxidants are so important for your skin, as well as the rest of your body, it’s essential that you gain a basic understanding of free radicals, how they’re caused, and why you need to neutralize them.

Let’s go back to Chemistry 101 to begin our free radical overview. Everything is made up of atoms. Atoms, in turn, are made up of neutrons, protons and electrons. (Sound familiar? I’m sure it’s all coming back to you now…) Protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus of the atom, and electrons are found around the nucleus. The number of protons (positively charged) determines the number of electrons (negatively charged). Electrons “orbit” an atom in layers, called shells. The first shell is full when it contains two electrons, then the subsequent shell is full when it reaches eight electrons, and so on. An atom has not reached maximum stability until its outermost shell contains the maximum number of electrons. In order to reach maximum stability, atoms will bind with each other to “share” electrons, creating a molecule.

A free radical (otherwise known as a lone or free electron) occurs when damage caused by UV radiation, pollution or carbon monoxide reacts with our bodies’ molecules, causing the molecule to lose an electron. The molecule becomes unstable and automatically tries to regain maximum stability by “stealing” an electron from a nearby molecule. While the first molecule reaches its goal of achieving maximum stability, the “attacked” molecule is now unstable and, like the first molecule, attempts to find a new electron to complete its outer shell. This results in a chain reaction that can lead to the disruption of a living cell.

Free radicals are believed to cause many issues within the body, including heart disease, stroke and, of course, visible signs of aging. The theory is that antioxidants can help prevent these things by neutralizing free radicals. Antioxidants stop the domino effect of free radicals by “donating” an electron to the broken molecule. Therefore, antioxidant foods and antioxidant productsfor the skin are essential for keeping the your body’s cells at optimal function.

source:flickr by:atomicshark

Everyone’s talking about antioxidants and why we should be incorporating them into our daily diets. We’ve all heard about acai berries, green tea and blueberries, but those treats, while yummy, aren’t able to make up an antioxidant-rich meal. When searching for recipes that will give your body a huge helping of antioxidants, use this list of antioxidant foods as a quick reference.

The following foods are listed based on the USDA’s rating scale known as ORAC, or Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. The USDA recommends eating 3,000 ORAC units a day to achieve optimal antioxidant benefits. The ORAC units included are per 100 grams or 3 1/2 ounces unless otherwise noted.

Fruits

• Acai (18,500)
• Montmorency cherry (12,800)
• Blackberry (2,036, 7,701/cup)
• Elderberries (10,624/cup)
• Apples, dried (6,681)
• Prunes (5,770)
• Blueberries (especially wild blueberry, a.k.a. bilberry) (4,736/cup)
• Dark grapes, including currants, raisins, purple grape juice and red wine (2,830)
• Cranberry (1,750)
• Strawberry (1,540, 5,938/cup)
• Raspberry (2,976/cup)
• Apple, Fuji, raw with skin (2589)
• Plum (949, 4,118/each)
• Orange (750, 2,540/each)
• Red grape (739, 2,016/cup)
• Cherry (non-Montmorency) (670, 4,873/cup)
• Avocado (3,334/each)
• Kiwi (602)
• Grapefruit, pink (483)

Vegetables

• Kale (1,770)
• Spinach (1,260)
• Brussels sprouts (980)
• Alfalfa sprouts (930)
• Broccoli flowers (890)
• Beets (840)
• Red bell pepper (710)
• Onion (450)
• Corn (400)
• Eggplant (390)
• Artichoke
• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Beans
• Beets
• Carrots
• Olives (in the form of extra virgin olive oil)
• Red peppers
• Russet potato
• Spinach
• Tomato

Beverages and Chocolate

• Undutched cocoa powder (34,396/1.5 ounces)
• Dark, semisweet chocolate (minimum of 70% cocoa solids, preferably 85%) (8,849/1.5 ounce)
• Red Wine – Cabernet Sauvignon (5,034/5 ounces)
• Red Wine – Other (3,873/5 ounces)
• Red grape juice (4,055/8 ounces)
• Milk chocolate (3,119/1.5 ounce)
• Chocolate Syrup (2,690/1.5 ounce)
• White tea
• Green rooibos
• Green tea (1,253)
• Red rooibos
• Oolong tea
• Black tea

Other Food Sources

• Walnuts (3,839/ounce)
• Pecans (5,086/ounce)
• Hazelnut
• Allspice
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Ginger
• Lemon balm
• Oregano
• Peppermint
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Thyme
• Oats
• Sunflower seeds

Antioxidant food listings and ORAC unit information found on TheNibble.com.

Now that you’re in-the-know when it comes to antioxidant foods, make sure to stuff your shopping cart with these delicious and healthful treats. With chocolate and wine on the list, it certainly won’t be too much of a chore to get the recommended 3,000 ORAC units!