Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Free Radicals and Anti-Oxidants


The daily, total onslaught by external aggressors on each cell in the body changes oxygen molecules into free radicals, which wreak havoc in cells, damaging their walls and connective tissue. This faulty cell then replicates itself, carrying the damage in its blueprint.
Antioxidants or Free-Radical Scavengers are the best defence against this. The most well known antioxidants are Vit C and E, beta-carotene, green tea, roobios and grapeseed extract.
They work in very different ways, but essentially they mop up free radicals as they form, preventing them from doing serious damage in the body. Taking them orally via your diet or through food based supplementation, helps to neutralise the by-products of oxidation in the body. Applying them topically to your skin helps to protect the skin from environmental factors. Only 3% of what we ingest will eventually get to the skin, so it is important to help this process by feeding our skin from the outside, as well as from the inside.
The way our skin responds to aging is due, in part, to genetics. But how we treat our skin has a huge impact on the appearance of our skin. Exposure to sunlight, environmental elements such as air polution, exteme climate conditions, toxins in our food and water, and our lifestyles (high stress jobs, extreme athletics, smoking and alcohol) all contribute to the visible signs of aging developing well before their time. Using the correct highly active products for our skin type and condition, can help prevent the further breakdown of our skin, and even repair the skin in some instances. This is one reason to begin using good products on your skin at a young age. Idealy antioxidants should be applied to the skin daily beginning in the teens, as well as injesting foods or food based supplementation that contain good antioxidant properties.
Check out my website for information on the products I recommend for the skin.
www.clear-complexions.com