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What Do Antioxidants Do For Your Skin?
August 18, 2022
The word “antioxidants” appears on everything these days – from fruit smoothies and skincare products to green tea cleanses and even toothpaste. But have you taken the time to understand what antioxidants really are? Or, rather, have you ever wondered what antioxidants do for your skin?
Antioxidants sound good – and they definitely are – but, as with any healthcare element in your life, it’s important to understand how these tiny substances can benefit your body.
In this article, we provide some clarity around what, exactly, antioxidants are. Beginning with the basics is always important, particularly when it comes to making decisions about your skincare.
This comprehensive article includes an overview of everything that has to do with antioxidants, your skincare, and how building a routine around antioxidants can help you towards your goal of hydrated and clarified skin.
Do You Know What Antioxidants Are?
Let’s begin with the most essential question: what are antioxidants? Well, antioxidants are substances that naturally occur in fresh vegetables and fruits that can help strengthen your body and skin in the fight against free radicals (and the damage caused by free radicals).
Understanding Free Radicals
What are free radicals? While their name might sound intense, don’t let it scare you off from understanding what, exactly, these substances are. Free radicals are unstable molecules that only exist for a short period of time but can really harmhow your body produces and supports cell growth.
Free radicals can be generated from a number of things, including natural processes in your body. Other ways in which free radicals can emerge are through repeated exposure to toxins, such as cigarette smoke or environmental factors.
So, free radicals aren’t great for your body, but that’s where antioxidants come in. Antioxidants naturally occur in vegetables and fruits, but they can also be found in supplements that you can incorporate into your diet to potentially strengthen your body's healthy functioning.
Antioxidants can support your body’s healthy functioning by inhibiting free radical growth that can potentially harm your body.
Breaking Down How Antioxidants Actually Work
When it comes to your health, it’s important to be as informed as possible. In terms of antioxidants, we want you to know what you are putting on your skin and how it’s impacting you.
Let’s take a brief look at how antioxidants work.
The Science of Antioxidants and Free Radicals
So, we know that antioxidants are naturally-occurring chemicals that offset the harmful effects that free radicals can have on your body.
Here’s the scientific part: free radicals are so harmful to you and your health because they are molecules that do not have a full set of electrons. As such, they are considered unstable molecules.
Here’s some more science: we know that molecules are always in search of balance. The thing about free radicals is that, since they’re unstable, they will steal an electron from healthy molecules in your body in order to find balance. In this process, free radicals can damage your existing molecules.
Though this process happens quickly (in a fraction of a second or less) the damage that it can have on your body could add up. Antioxidants interfere in this process because they offer up one of their electrons, rendering the free radical electron-search neutralized.
Since avoiding free radicals entirely is unlikely, it’s really important to make getting enough antioxidants a priority in both your diet and skincare routine.
How Do Antioxidants Support Skin Health?
Antioxidants are powerful substances that can support your skin health in a number of ways. One of the primary reasons is that your skin – more than most organs in your body – may be continually exposed to the environments in which you live.
Regardless of whether you live in a populated city or a rural area, your skin is going to be exposed to the air (and, unfortunately, the toxins) around you. In spite of many places placing emphasis on developing better air quality, there are always toxins circulating in the air that can negatively impact your skin.
Toxins can cause skin discoloration, premature aging, dark spots, and other premature signs of aging in the long term.
We know that antioxidants support your skin health by fighting against unstable molecules, but what else can these small-yet-mighty substances do? Well, antioxidants are believed to be able to reduce inflammation, and support the appearance of a brighter complexion.
Let’s take a look at some of antioxidants' most high-impact benefits and how introducing them into your skin routine can help support your skin cells in the long-term.
Protect Your Skin With Antioxidants
While getting sun might be a priority this summer, UV rays can actually be some of the most damaging environmental factors to your skin health. If you don’t wear sunscreen, you aren’t protecting your skin barrier from harmful UV rays that can not only contribute to aging but are a potential factor in skin cancer.
Antioxidants don’t protect you from sun damage, but they can help support your skin health by making your cell processes stronger. Additionally, antioxidant-rich diets can help support the fight against free radical damage.
Combat the Impacts of Aging
The more protected your skin is, the better it’s going to look, right? Well, as you age, your skin tends to lose some of its elasticity in addition to having been exposed longer to environmental toxins.
As you age, it’s critical to prioritize your skin health not only from the outside, but from within your body. NAD+, short for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is a chemical compound that plays a critical role inadaptive stress responses and cell survival.
NAD+ helps support your cells through antioxidant defense. OurNAD + IV Infusionis specifically created for each client to best meet their lifestyle and health needs.
Fight Against Inflammation and Stressed-Out Skin
One of the most sought-after benefits of antioxidants is their ability to support your skin. Antioxidant vitamin A, E, and C as well as niacinamide (or vitamin B3) contain distinct properties that help support a more glowing complexion.
Antioxidants can help protect your body against free radicals and oxidative stress. It’s not surprising that they offer anti-inflammatory benefits to your body. Inflammation isn’t just an internal process and can show on your skin in a number of ways.
Puffy under-eyes? Fine lines? Dull, tired-looking skin? Some people report that antioxidants can help support skin cell growth and collagen production, which, in turn, generates skin that appears more radiant and hydrated.
Add antioxidants properties in your skin care routine by moisturizing with lotion, vitamin E oil, vitamin C serum, and other nourishing forms of hydration that will support sensitive or dry skin.
Speak with your dermatologist to discover the right anti-aging routine for your skin tone, especially if your skin type is prone to breakouts, to figure out the right skincare ingredients.
Neutralize the Harmful Impact of Free Radicals
As we’ve discussed, free radicals are harmful chemicals that can interfere with your body’s cell production. And, as you know, the processes occurring inside your body often impact what happens on the outside of your body.
Your body naturally produces free radicals, but there are so many other environmental factors that can create free radicals as well. Chemicals produced through cigarette smoke, pollution, exposure to UV radiation, and other forms of radiation can significantly harm the healthy growth of your cells.
How Should I Incorporate Antioxidants Into My Skincare Routine?
Antioxidants can be applied topically – usually in the form of serums and oils – but can also be ingested orally. Whether you ingest them in whole-food form, intravenously, or through pill supplements, taking antioxidants orally is simply a different strategy for incorporating antioxidants.
Let’s look at the main differences between orally, intravenously, and topically ingesting antioxidants. Orally consuming antioxidants involves eating or drinking sources that are rich in antioxidants.
When you consume substances through eating and drinking, they need to travel through your gastrointestinal tract in order to be incorporated into your body.
The antioxidants move through your stomach and are absorbed as your body digests them. This process is effective and is centered in the internal processes in your body.
Using topical antioxidant skin care relies on your skin’s process of absorption to incorporate antioxidants. Since our skin is such a porous substance, using an antioxidant oil or serum will involve targeting a more specific area (as opposed to ingesting antioxidants orally). This can be helpful if you want to potentially brighten and protect your skin.
Why Take Antioxidants Intravenously?
Unlike topical or oral ingestion, intravenously incorporating powerful antioxidants in your body can offer a high-impact alternative. As with all of our intravenous treatments at The I.V. Doc, medication and wellness treatments are delivered directly into your bloodstream.
This means that potent antioxidants will be more quickly incorporated into your body since they don’t have to move through your gastrointestinal tract. OurAntioxidant Treatment is bursting with antioxidant support through Glutathione, vitamin C, and a multivitamin cocktail.
Your body will almost be thanking you for this intravenous delivery of antioxidant-packed goodness that takes 30 minutes from start to finish.
The Bottom Line
Antioxidants may be small substances, but they make a huge impact on your health. With so many toxins circulating through the air these days, it’s so important to protect your skin not only for a healthy, glowing complexion now but to protect your skin in the long term.
Free radicals can cause serious damage to your cell growth and cause photodamage, which is why prioritizing antioxidants in your skin care regimen and your healthcare routine is important.
Be sure to prioritize getting enough antioxidants into your diet from naturally-occurring sources before filling your diet with supplements. Figure out whether you want to incorporate antioxidants through topical or oral ingestion, and identify areas in your lifestyle where you might be exposing yourself to free radicals that might damage your skin health.
Put your health and skincare first by prioritizing antioxidants, whether it’s through intentionally incorporating antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies into your diet or, for true convenience, scheduling an appointment with The I.V. Doc for antioxidant therapy.
We are here to help you become the best version of yourself, which always starts from within.
Sources:
Free Radicals, Antioxidants and Functional Foods: Impact on Human Health | PMC
Understanding Antioxidants | Harvard Health.
