People are aging faster and faster these days; thanks to pollution, stress, and sunlight. Toxins found in the air and water are absorbed by the skin and settle into skin cells. As a result, harmful free-radicals are released into your body.
What Are Free-Radicals?
Free-radicals are substances that cause organisms (e.g. skin cells) to age because of ongoing damage by the free-radicals.
While a few free radicals–such as melanin–are not chemically reactive, the majority of biologically-relevant free radicals are highly reactive. Free radical damage is closely associated with oxidative damage, for most biological structures. Antioxidants are reducing agents that limit oxidative damage to biological structures by pacifying free radicals.
Causes of Free-Radical Production
Activities such as exercise greatly increase the production of free-radicals in the body. This brings up the question: how do athletes defend their bodies against oxidative stress?
Nutrition and diet are the most important tools you have for defending against free-radical damage. A diet high in fruits and vegetables (which are full of antioxidants, particularly berries and leafy greens, like kale) is the best way to implement the benefits of antioxidants into your lifestyle. Fried-foods are FULL of free-radicals, which is another great reason to avoid them.
Supplementing With Antioxidants
If you aren’t getting enough fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet, then supplementing could be the key to your health. There are hundreds of green-food shakes on the market that all promote the healthy production of antioxidants in your system.
What About Skin?
Skin is often overlooked when we think about antioxidant health. But your skin displays the age and health of your internal and external structure. There are dozens of products that can be utilized topically to fight free-radicals that are produced in our skin.
Vitamin C is a great source of antioxidants that kill off free-radicals in our skin. It can reverse and repair the damage caused by the sun.
Vitamin E is an antioxidant that can protect cells from free radicals that lead to cancer and heart disease.
Green Tea is a popular antioxidant remedy that is beneficial for skin. It is full of polyphenols which aid in the elimination of free-radicals that alter DNA.
Get the Glow: Finding Remedies
Topical antioxidant remedies for the skin are prolific in the skin treatment-industry. It’s not difficult to find many anti-aging remedies that include vitamin C, vitamin E, or green tea.
An inexpensive approach to treating your skin with antioxidants is buying these products separately and creating your own at-home remedy. Home-made treatments are generally better for you anyway. They aren’t full of filler-products that could be causing more harm than help.
There are many great options available. We strongly recommend finding an oil that is full of antioxidants; this is a great way to moisturize your skin. Our favorites are Grape Seed oil and Olive oil, which help you to attain antioxidants and balance the pH of your skin. There are many inexpensive options available to treat your skin and prevent damage caused by free-radicals.
