Research has confirmed that the skin benefits greatly from both oral and dermal antioxidant supplementation, which can significantly help prevent and repair age-related skin damage, making antioxidants a key ingredient in quality cosmetic products. – Also in a new home-made cosmetic line called NANU (Hindi for ‘beautiful girl’).

Antioxidants are a large group of compounds that work together to fight oxidative stress. The process of oxidation takes place when our bodies metabolise or process the oxygen we breathe and our cells produce energy from it. This process also produces free radicals.

At any given time, there are millions of processes going on in our bodies that can cause oxidation.

Free radicals are normal and to some extent necessary. In addition to causing some damage, they stimulate repair mechanisms in our bodies. The problem arises when too many free radicals are produced and they overwhelm the repair processes. It is the highly reactive free radicals called ROS (or reactive oxygen species), which contain oxygen ions or peroxides, that cause oxidative stress and damage to our cells.

The human body slows down with age and does not produce enough antioxidants to maintain the balance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body.

Research has shown that adding antioxidants can help prevent and repair age-related skin damage. Antioxidants come from a variety of sources and are classified into different classes, including vitamins, cellular antioxidants, polyphenols, isoflavones and carotenoids. Antioxidants are a well-studied category of ingredients that generally has several different benefits on skin health, and although the results may not be immediately visible, long-term use of antioxidants is extremely beneficial and it is therefore essential to include them in our daily skin care routine.

Free radicals can be harmful to skin health and may be involved in a variety of skin problems, including those associated with skin ageing.

Antioxidants inhibit oxidation and reduce the production of ROS (reactive oxygen species), which prevents damage to the skin’s internal cells. They can be enzymatic or non-enzymatic compounds and come from different sources (endogenous and exogenous) and differ in their mechanisms of action. They are found in abundance in plants, while humans, on the other hand, do not produce enough antioxidants. In addition, their number decreases over the years and our fight against free radicals, which our organism has to fight against on a daily basis, is getting weaker and weaker, which naturally leads to cell damage and, consequently, to damaged skin.

Research has confirmed the benefits of both oral and dermal antioxidant supplementation, which can significantly help prevent and repair age-related skin damage, making antioxidants a key ingredient in quality cosmetic products.

HOW DO ANTIOXIDANTS WORK?

There are different groups of antioxidants that fight ROS (reactive oxygen species) and they can be classified into the following classes: vitamins, cellular antioxidants, polyphenols, isoflavones and carotenoids. These different classes of antioxidants differ in their mechanisms of action and even within these classes, individual antioxidants can have very different mechanisms of action.

VITAMINI

Vitamin E and vitamin C are two of the most studied antioxidants, and both have different mechanisms of action. Vitamin E has two forms, alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol. The tocopherol forms are the skin’s first line of defence against environmental stresses that can trigger oxidation. If there is a low level of tocopherol in our body, there is a potential for an imbalance in the ratio of free radicals to antioxidants, which can lead to the possibility of oxidative stress.

Higher levels of vitamin E in the upper layers of the skin are associated with a slower rate of visible ageing in individuals. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin and is a very versatile substance. It acts as a powerful antioxidant and effectively scavenges ROS by inhibiting chain initiation, which means it breaks the chain of successive ROS propagation. Vitamin E and C are commonly found together in cosmetic formulations as they complement each other.

CELLULAR ANTIOXIDANTS

Common cellular antioxidants include molecules such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) and ubiquinones. Superoxide dismutase is an endogenous enzyme that is considered to be the most potent antioxidant in the cell and is the first line of defence against ROS. ALA and ubiquinones are endogenous non-enzymatic antioxidants. ALA has the ability to chelate metal ions required for ROS catalysis, but it also has indirect antioxidant abilities where it increases the level of glutathione, another non-enzymatic antioxidant. The metabolism of ALA produces a by-product called dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA), which is an extremely potent antioxidant.

The best known ubiquinone is coenzyme Q10. This antioxidant prevents apoptosis (cell death) caused by oxidative stress by scavenging free radicals.

POLIFENOLI

Polyphenols are a group of natural antioxidants found in a variety of plants, especially fruits and herbs such as strawberries, cocoa, grapes, pomegranates, onions, tomatoes, green and black teas, red and white wines and cereals.

These substances are characterised by a chemical structure containing more than one phenolic group per molecule. Polyphenols target free radicals by preventing the hydrogen from transferring atoms and thus deactivating them, producing mostly harmless reaction products. Polyphenols may also have the ability to chelate metals (ions important in the formation of free radicals).

FLAVONOIDS

Flavonoids have excellent antioxidant and chelating properties. There are more than 4000 types of flavonoids found in different plant sources. They exhibit a variety of antioxidant functions, including the ability to transfer electrons to free radicals, activate antioxidant enzymes, regenerate vitamin E and inhibit the activity of oxidases.

CAROTENOIDS

Carotenoids are a large group of pigments found in nature that play a very important role in various biological processes. Recently, carotenoids have been very well studied for their antioxidant properties and functions. The chemical structure of carotenoids is such that it gives them the ability to interact with free radicals and ROS. Carotenoids are potent scavengers of free radicals generated as a secondary response to UV exposure.

BENEFITS OF USING ANTIOXIDANTS

Although the action of antioxidants may sometimes not be visible in an immediate improvement in the appearance of the skin, they do offer a range of benefits that help to maintain a beautiful skin appearance in the long term and help to maintain the appearance of healthy and youthful skin. Antioxidants provide an effective mechanism to protect against the appearance of skin ageing, ROS formation in the skin and support the skin, offering protection against the secondary elements of UV damage.

The formation of free radicals in the body plays an important role in the ageing process, as the accumulation of ROS causes serious cellular damage and structural degradation of the skin. The formation of ROS is known to result from normal metabolic processes, but it is also produced by exposure to external elements such as pollution, UV rays and xenobiotics. As we age, our endogenous antioxidant levels begin to decrease, leading to an imbalance and resulting in sagging and wrinkling of the skin over time.

Higher concentrations of antioxidants can help reduce oxidative stress and thus the breakdown of collagen and elastin, which are the building blocks in our bodies that help maintain the structural integrity of the skin. Photodamage and other factors that contribute to ageing can also be mitigated by regular and sufficient use of antioxidants.

Antioxidants can reduce the formation of free radicals after UV damage and help prevent oxidative metabolism of mitochondria, thereby helping to protect the skin from photodamage.

When using antioxidants, special care must be taken to ensure their compatibility and stability. Many antioxidants are quite unstable and can even be irritating to our skin (vitamin C and retinoids), and some are even incompatible with each other.

The NANU line offers a wide range of products aimed at offering antioxidant support to our skin. In fact, all 8 products contain various antioxidants, because it is hard to imagine a quality product without them. Of course, we have made sure that the antioxidants in the products are added in the right proportions, forms and compatibility. There is certainly one product from the NANU range that stands out when it comes to antioxidants – SUPER ANTIOXIDANT SHOT, which is in fact an exceptional oil serum and a real antioxidant bomb, as it contains 8 highly effective antioxidants(Vitamin C is represented in a special, revolutionary form that is completely inexpensive and very stable, im. Astaxanthin, considered by far the most powerful natural antioxidant; Carrot concentrate, as a representative of carotenoids, Bakuchi oil extract, also called natural retinol, both forms of vitamin E, Rosehip extract and Chissandra extract).

We invite you to try it out. Buy.

Sources:

The Cornified Envelope: A First Line of Defence against Reactive Oxygen Species – ScienceDirect

Antioxidants and the skin: Understanding formulation and efficacy – Oresajo – 2012 – Dermatologic Therapy – Wiley Online Library

Antioxidants: the Basics-what they are and how to Evaluate them – ScienceDirect

Oxidative stress: oxidants and antioxidants – Sies – 1997 – Experimental Physiology – Wiley Online Library