Natural beauty from within

SEVEN SUPER SKIN SECRETS

• Avoid sun-bathing
• Do not smoke
• Keep calm, avoid stress
• Limit alcohol
• Maximise organic fruit and vegetables
• Eat plenty of organic fatty fish (salmon)
• Supplement with Pycnogenol, Grape Seed Extract, Alpha Lipoic Acid and DMAE

 

NATURE HAS BLESSED US all with an incredibly durable and protective barrier between us and the outside world—our skin.

It is supple and soft and grows right along with us and all it needs is good nourishment and a little regular maintenance to protect us throughout our lives.

The biggest threats to our skin are the sun, poor diet, stress and pollution.

As the skin ages it loses its flexibility. This is primarily due to the effects of sun exposure, which alters the skin structure and reduces the amount of skin protein (collagen and elastin). These proteins in young skin freely slide over each other and spring back to normal length when stretched.

As time goes by, the ultraviolet energy in sunlight reacts with fats in the skin to produce damaging free radicals. These free radicals damage the proteins, linking them together and inhibiting their free movement.

Your skin is tireless, working constantly to regenerate itself. A cell is born in the lower layer of the skin, called the dermis, then migrates upward for about two weeks until it reaches the epidermis, the bottom portion of the outermost layer of the skin.

The cell spends another two weeks in the epidermis, gradually flattening out and continuing to move toward the surface. Then it dies and is shed. In fact, 2-3 billion skin cells are shed daily. The body expends this effort to replace skin every month because the skin constitutes the first line of defense against dehydration, infection, injuries and temperature extremes.

Internal and external factors will affect the rate that your skin ages. Eating sensibly, a protective sun cream and making sure your body is well watered are the keys to good skin as we age.

External cleansing and moisturising are important too. Look for natural brands that avoid chemical additives.

Internal cleansing using herbs such as Milk Thistle can help detox the body. Initially this may cause your skin to break out as the toxins are released, but after this you skin will have a healthy glow from the inside out.

Good genetics help too, and though there is nothing you can do to change your genetics, you can make sure you minimise all the other risk factors.

Taking daily supplements can make a real difference to the speed at which your skin ages. Nutrients offer daily protection from free radical damage and can help recycle the vitamins your skins needs.

 

Pycnogenol

Certain vitamins and minerals can be called nutritional cosmetics, such is their beneficial impact on skin health and vitality. One of the most popular, researched and effective nutritional cosmetics is Pycnogenol

(pronounced ‘pick-nodg-en-ol’) a patented extract from the French Maritime pine tree (pictured above).

Pycnogenol is a naturally-occuring complex of several water-soluble, highly bioavailable, antioxidant nutrients including compounds known as bioflavonoids, fruit acids and proanthocyanidins.

Pycnogenol is a patented form of French Maritime Pine Bark, which has been shown to not only protect skin from free radical damage, but can also improve the smoothness and general appearance of ageing skin. Pycnogenol cannot remove deep wrinkles, but it can make skin healthier, livelier and smoother. It has been shown to help reverse age spots (brown pigmentation marks on face and hands).

 

Grape Seed Extract

Both grape seed extract and pine bark are rich sources of the plant flavonoids, proantho-cyanidins(OPCs). The OPCs are the pigment materials which give flavour, colour and aroma to many plants and fruits. The beneficial effects of pine bark were discovered in 1534 when sailors suffering from scurvy, survived by drinking tea made from the bark and needles of pine trees. Masquelier patented the method of extracting OPCs from pine bark in France in 1951 and from grape seeds in 1970. OPCs have been marketed in France for decades where they have been shown to improve retinopathies, venous insufficiency, and vascular fragility.

Grape seed extract typically contains 92-95% OPCs while the pine bark extracts vary from 80-85%.

COLLAGEN PROTECTION – OPCs effectively protect collagen structures in several ways. They reinforce the collagen matrix of connective tissue, protect against free radical damage, and inhibit collagen damage caused by inflammation and infection. OPCs have been shown to be effective in cases of psoriasis and the hyper-pigmentation disorder melasma (chloasma).

ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY – OPCs protect against free-radical damage, suggested to be a major cause of the ageing process. The antioxidant effect is 50 times greater than that of vitamin C and E. A major advantage of these molecules is that they are taken up into the cell membranes and protect against both water- and fat soluble free-radicals.

VENOUS SUPPORT – Good clinical evidence has shown OPCs to be effective in treating venous insufficiency, varicose veins, capillary fragility, and disorders of the retina. OPCs appear to improve blood circulation through collagen support and nitric oxide (NO) production.

 

Alpha Lipoic Acid

Alpha lipoic ( ALA) acid is a sulphur-containing vitamin-like substance which acts uniquely as a potent antioxidant in protecting against both fat and water soluble free radicals. It also extends and enhances the effect of other antioxidants, which are used to defend the body against free radical damage.

ALA is a potent antioxidant and is used to regenerate glutathione. It offers particular benefits in skin health through preventing glycation (the free radical damage caused by sugar’s toxic effects) causing collagen ‘cross-linking’. When collagen cross-links, it becomes stiff and inflexible, leading to the wrinkling and stiffness of old skin.

 

DMAE (Dimethylaminoethanol) DMAE is normally present in small amounts in the brain and is known for its remarkable brain-enhancement effects. It is naturally occurring in anchovies and sardines – this may explain why fish has often been said to be a ‘brain-food’.

DMAE acts as an antioxidant membrane stabiliser preventing the breakdown of the cell plasma membrane and protecting against free radical damage. DMAE inhibits and reverses the cross-linking of proteins and removes lipofuscin from the skin. DMAE in conjunction with the antioxidants vitamin C and lipoic acid can have a profound effect on skin health and vitality, including delaying ageing and liver spots.

 

Ascorbyl Palmitate

Vitamin C is essential for the production of collagen and elastin and provides crucial antioxidant mechanisms for health, including skin protection. Ascorbyl palmitate is a form of vitamin C joined with a fatty acid derived from palm oil (palmitic acid). This is an ideal form of vitamin C for skin health as it is non-acidic, fat-soluble and is able to penetrate the cell plasma membrane, thus protecting against free radicals.

 

HEALTHY SIDE EFFECTS

Not all side-effects are bad, especially when you shop in a health food store for your health care products. All of the nutrients mentioned in this leaflet for skin health also have a multitude of other benefits and side-effects including protection from cell damage and deterioration, heart health, eye protection, brain health and activity and memory enhancement—to mention just a few of the benefits of pine bark extract, grape seed extract, alpha lipoic acid and DMAE in addition to their skin health applications.

So not only will you be looking better, you’ll be feeling a whole lot better too.

Look out for combinations of these nutrients in your local health food store.

 

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These documents are reproduced with kind permission from Viridian-Nutrition.