FREE RADICALS AND ANTIOXIDANTS – WHAT ARE THEY AND WHAT DO THEY DO?
If you already know me, then you will know that I am a big advocate of Nimue Professional Skin Care products. I have been using them for a number of years now, and I honestly wouldn’t use anything else. Nimue is what is known as a Derma-cosmeceutical brand, which means the products concentrate on dermal improvement and have pharmaceutical-like benefits. Many over-the-counter skin care products sit on top of the skin masking the actual problem and lead to the skin becoming irritated. Professional products such as Nimue work from the inside out, repairing and improving the skin over time, without irritation. Nimue is one of the brands that really does get results and does exactly what it says it will do.
In this blog, I want to focus on free radicals and antioxidants, what they are, what they do and how we can counter the damaging effects of free radicals. Free radicals have a major impact on the condition and ageing appearance of our skin, so it’s really important that we use everything in our armoury to fight against them.
We hear much in the media about free radicals and antioxidants, but do we really know what they are and what they do?
Free radicals are caused by internal processes, such as:
- Inflammation
- Phagocytosis (the ingestion of microorganisms by a cell)
- Mitochondria metabolism
- Exercise
- Respiration
Free radicals can also be caused by external factors, such as:
- UV Radiation
- Alcohol
- Poor Diet
- Stress
- High Energy eg. Pollution, Heat, Smoking
A free radical is a molecule, such as Oxygen, that has lost one of it’s electrons, causing it to become unstable. The loss of this electron is caused usually, by one of the factors above. The loss of an electron to a molecule like Oxygen, renders the Oxygen molecule unstable. This unstable molecule can then cause damage to us, for example, to our skin cells.
Free radicals can damage collagen and elastin fibres, cell membranes and even a cell’s DNA. This can all lead to sun ageing, pigmentation, and in extreme cases, even skin cancers. This happens when free radicals are allowed to penetrate a cell’s nucleus, hence damaging it’s DNA. This damage is caused by the free radicals trying to replace the missing electrons by ‘taking’ one from another molecule, such as those that make up skin cell membranes.
Antioxidants are essentially the antidote to free radicals, in that they will readily give up electrons to the free radicals, stabilising the molecule, preventing it from causing damage and therefore, improving skin health. An antioxidant is a product/molecule that doesn’t become unstable in the same way that a free radical is unstable, so even though it donates an electron to the free radical, it then doesn’t go on to cause damage to skin cells like a free radical does.
To help fight against free radicals, we can do a number of things ourselves, such as:
- Wear daily UV protection
- Eat a healthy diet, including our 5-a-day, to ensure we are getting enough antioxidants from our diet
- Use skin care products containing antioxidants
Antioxidants to look out for in your skin care products include:
- Encapsulated Vitamin A, C and/or E
- Alpha Lipoic Acid
- GGP
- Reseratol
- NAD
I have added two articles here published by Nimue, our professional facials partner, that explains more about free radicals and antioxidants, which personally, I found really interesting, and they are what prompted me to write this blog, as I thought if anyone is suffering from post-Christmas consumption, then this might be a timely article for you. Both these articles are a couple of pages long, so to read subsequent pages, please just click on the article and you will see some arrows appear at the bottom that you can use for navigation.
You may already know, but I offer free skin consultations for anyone who has any concerns about their skin. There is no obligation to purchase any products, or book any treatments following these consultations, and they can be carried out online at the moment, due to COVID restrictions. If you would like to discuss any aspects of your skin with me, please do not hesitate to contact me on info@crowstonecomplementaryclinic.co.uk or via our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.
Take care everyone, and please stay safe. Look out for my next blog coming soon!
Ronnie
Education Up Skill - Free Radicals and Anti-Oxidants (Part 1)Education Up Skill - Free Radicals and Anti-Oxidants (Part 2)