Skin aging is a natural process, and everyone cannot avoid it. The cause of aging is also complicated and it is difficult to generalize. Basically, anti-aging means anti-photoaging, anti-oxidant, and anti-glycation. Today, I will mainly talk about these three aspects.
- Anti-oxidant
First of all, when it comes to anti-aging, the most easily associated words are “anti-oxidation” and “free radicals”. according to the current research, the largest endogenous factor of aging is determined to be the production of free radicals, which can damage cell structure and cause cells to lose their original vitality.
Free radicals are a natural product of human metabolism. Many factors such as ultraviolet rays, environmental pollution, and dietary intake can also increase free radicals. In order to resist the damage of free radicals, such as SOD, coenzyme Q10, etc.
In addition to SOD and coenzyme Q10, many natural antioxidants are now found, including vitamins A, C, E, flavonoids, lipoic acid, resveratrol, carotenoids, proanthocyanidins OPC, glutathione, selenium, curcumin, green tea extract, pomegranate extract, etc.
These antioxidants can calm and soothe inflammation, help the skin resist external damage, eliminate free radicals and cell damage, help the skin restore its health.
- Anti-glycation
Compared with anti-oxidation, anti-glycation is a problem that many people ignore, but the glycation reaction is one of the factors of human aging and dull skin. Like the generation of free radicals, the glycation reaction is produced by the human body itself. As people grow older, their metabolism will slow down, and the sugars ingested in the body will easily accumulate, combine with proteins, oxidize, and finally from AGEs.
It can be said that with age, the production of glycation is inevitable like free radicals, and if collagen glycation will cause protein sclerosis and fiber breakage, the skin will lose its elasticity, resulting in severe wrinkles and sagging skin; keratin glycation will make the skin rough and dull and lose its moisture. And the accumulation of AGEs will also make the skin dull and yellow.
The current mainstream and proven anti-glycation effects are mainly carnosine, Pro-Xylane, lipoic acid, grape seed extract, flavonoids, polyphenols, ferulic acid, etc.
- Anti-photoaging
Ultraviolet rays are the biggest enemy of the skin. Pigment production (age spots, stains, sunburns, etc.), sagging skin, wrinkles, even redness, and sensitive skin are all related to ultraviolet rays.
In fact, the daily SPF30 sunscreen is enough to resist sun damage. Long-term outdoor sports, or beach exposure, plateau activities, etc. use SPF50 is enough. Moderate sunlight can also help produce vitamin D and promote calcium absorption.
A good sunscreen must be broad-spectrum, capable of resisting UVA and UVB attacks, and even now top-grade skincare products also introduce the concept of anti-infrared.