Beauty from Within - Does it Work. If so What & Why?
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free skin care · Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:04 am

I see a lot of chat about the overlap between nutrition and skin science. The whole "beauty from within" concept has merit, but also has some specious notions floating around. I thought it would be worthwhile to try to define what works and why, as well as what doesn't and why.

As examples of what works we can point to the whole world of phytochemical antioxidants like licopene, carnosine, coenzyme Q, bioflavonoids, glutathione, selenium, zinc, , green tea polyphenols, grape seed proanthocyanidins, resveratrol, silymarin, genistein, and others. Here we will focus on UV-induced skin inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage.

On the other side of the coin we can look at the silliness of putting amino acids on skin. Are we expecting them to self-assemble into some useful protein? Sort of a primordial soup approach?

So, in between there is a whole world of ideas and research and theory and such. Let's start with the antioxidants ... maybe even try ti figure out which ones are best, can they work together (networked redox), and the differences between oral and topical delivery.

free skin care · Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:06 am

Here is a good place to start on antioxidants and skin aging.

Dermatol Res Pract. 2012; 2012:

Free Radicals and Extrinsic Skin Aging

Borut Poljšak and Raja Dahmane

Abstract

Human skin is constantly directly exposed to the air, solar radiation, environmental pollutants, or other mechanical and chemical insults, which are capable of inducing the generation of free radicals as well as reactive oxygen species (ROS) of our own metabolism. Extrinsic skin damage develops due to several factors: ionizing radiation, severe physical and psychological stress, alcohol intake, poor nutrition, overeating, environmental pollution, and exposure to UV radiation (UVR). It is estimated that among all these environmental factors, UVR contributes up to 80%. UV-induced generation of ROS in the skin develops oxidative stress, when their formation exceeds the antioxidant defence ability of the target cell. The primary mechanism by which UVR initiates molecular responses in human skin is via photochemical generation of ROS mainly formation of superoxide anion (O2−∙), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical (OH∙), and singlet oxygen (1O2). The only protection of our skin is in its endogenous protection (melanin and enzymatic antioxidants) and antioxidants we consume from the food (vitamin A, C, E, etc.). The most important strategy to reduce the risk of sun UVR damage is to avoid the sun exposure and the use of sunscreens. The next step is the use of exogenous antioxidants orally or by topical application and interventions in preventing oxidative stress and in enhanced DNA repair.

Full text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3299230/?tool=pubmed

free skin care · Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:41 pm

Sandoch, I started taking NeoCell Super collagen three years ago and noticed more moisture in my skin, hair that grows like its summer year round, and stronger nails. You can see research linked at the bottom of this wikipedia article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolyzed_collagen

My husband started taking Collagen Sport a month ago to help his knee which had been shattered years ago. It brought his knee back to good function, and also he notices hair is growing back on his lower legs!

free skin care · Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:30 pm

I'm against taking supplements. I do take some though, Vit C, Zinc, Fish Oil and Calcium. BTW, did everyone see the latest on Clacium tablets. Apparently the calcium clumps in the blood and can cause a blockage which in turn causes a heart attack - yes, more doom and gloom.

I know that some here on EDS spend up to $300.00 a week on supplements - which, IMO, is ridiculous. Supplements cannot and do not make up for a deficient diet. In Australia, all vitamins are labeled to that effect. And the weird thing is that the people who are prone to taking supplements are mainly the health conscious who avoid processed foods and yet are quite happy to take processed supplements. Doesn't make sense to me. Nothing can replace eating a healthy balanced diet - which, in the developed world, we have at our fingertips.

The supplement industry is just a giant cash cow - the shelves in our pharmacies and supermarkets are just getting filled with more and more little pills all guaranteeing to make our children smarter, our lives longer and our sex lives more satisfying.

We're living in a time when food is becoming the enemy but popping a pill is considered a "health benefit". I'm not buying it.

ETA: With regard to the title of this thread: Beauty from Within - Does it Work. If so What & Why? As the old saying goes, "We are what we eat" so health and looking well does come from within - it comes from fueling our body with the best possible nutrients. No pill or topical potion is going to improve your health if you don't eat properly.

free skin care · Thu Jun 07, 2012 9:46 am

It goes without saying that during a period of famine good diet was impossible. My point was that during relative stable periods people were able to live quite healthy.

I live way up in Northern Canada, close to the Inuit. They may not have had veggies like we do but they always had things in their diet that made up for the lack of veggies and other nutrients. This was compensated by eating all of the seal, for example. By doing this they received many different nutrients. No Inuit died from malnutrition.

free skin care · Thu Jun 07, 2012 5:32 pm

DrJ wrote:

leeleedeedee wrote:

Oh, I think our forefathers did have very good diets. Why not? Everything was grown on the farms and brought to the market. Fresh product was everywhere. Buying "local" is the best way because nutrients aren't lost in shipping and transporting to far away places. My mother always talks about the wonderful fresh food she had growing up on a farm in Europe. They were not malnourished in any sense.

I suppose it depends on who your forefathers were, and the period of time. Irish, during the potato famine? Not so good. Eskimos? Good on fatty fish, not so good on veges. Paleo diets inform but not practical for most as the prep times are longer than the time spent in line at McD's. .

Yes it does depend on where you are. I made a sweeping statement but I still think it applies. In Victorian times only the wealthy had enought to eat, the buk of people lived on a subsistence diet. Millions of people died in China from starvation in the 1950s. My own parents went though rationing during WWII when next to nothing was available. My own father was raised in an orphanage and all the boys were given for dinner was a glass of milk and a slice of bread and butter - that would be considered child abuse today.

But I'm old enough to remember when there weren't such things as supermarkets. There definitely wasn't the plethora of food stuffs available as there is today. Plus we have the advantage of refrigeration. Basically, we have never had it so good when it comes to the availability of food. But the introduction of supermarkets bought with it the advent of packaged and processed foods - and this is what people rely on heavily today.

All I'm trying to point out is that, today, we have the ability to eat very well if we make the right choices.

free skin care · Thu Jun 07, 2012 6:26 pm

Dragon, eating only when you're hungry is IMO the best way to go. And when you crave something, look into it. The body has its own mechanisms to tell us what we need, if only we would care to really listen (and not smother the signals with fixed meal times and easy ready made stuff full of sugar and salt and artificial flavouring).

As I have told before, until fairly recently I only ate once a day. Now that I am older (50) my metabolism is changing and I need a meal somewhere midday, but only a light meal. No snacking, just eat when hungry. This has kept me on the exact same weight since age 29, with a few relatively short intervals when pregnant. After both pregnancies, I was back at my normal weight (and my jeans size) about 3 months after giving birth. When pregnant I ate whenever hungry, which was very often. Two beautiful babies, lots of very nutritious breastmilk, never any troube with my skin at all, healthy except for arthritis after second child.

I am convinced that the key to a healthy diet is, to learn to listen to your body and not to eat because it's convention or convenient but to eat because your body tells you it's time. And cook from scratch so you know there is nothing in it that shouldn't be there (artificial stuff, sweeteners, syrup, salt....) Or find a very good restaurant (real good Chinese restaurants make very healthy food, prepared stir fry with very healthy oils and spices, just about the best food in the world IMO).

free skin care · Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:21 pm

gretchen wrote:

DarkMoon wrote:

gretchen wrote:

I like to melt a stick of butter on low then drink it.

Oh Boy...yummy! Rolling Eyes

Actually I first read about eating more butter from a writer Nancy Deville who says she has eaten a lb butter per week the last 15 years, she had a video about it on You Tube but took it down.

Ray Peat says the saturated fats are protective/anti inflammatory against the build up of PUFAs we have in our body fat that are constantly being released and damaging the thyroid, slowing the metabolism, damaging the skin etc.

I just have to ask who in the world is Ray Peat Confused

you keep repeating his name and you tube this, you tube that, radio this. I mean no offense but the way you keep phrasing it all, if we eat or drink anything, were getting wrinkles. H

how about age is going to do that all by its miraculous self wave

free skin care · Thu Jun 07, 2012 7:34 pm

There are 91.65 grams of fat in a stick of butter and 29 grams of fat in a Big Mac. So you are actually consuming the equivalent fat of three and a half Big Macs in one hit.

free skin care · Fri Jun 08, 2012 1:40 pm

DarkMoon wrote:

It is just like a certain "magic water" you just do not think outside the box! Laughing

DM, you naughty girl. Do not tread on the power of the magic water. Too bad, us logical thinking folks just don't get it. Smile

free skin care · Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:53 pm

Gretchen - I'm not sure what you think you're achieving by posting one picture of an English women who you think is on a low fat diet, and one picture of a French woman that is on a higher fat diet - both of whom you appear to look down on.

One single person can never represent an entire dietary approach to eating.

free skin care · Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:11 pm

After all of this I am quite curious to see a picture of Gretchen.

free skin care · Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:24 pm

Tiny wrote:

DarkMoon wrote:

This one!

gretchen wrote:

Keliu wrote:

There are 91.65 grams of fat in a stick of butter and 29 grams of fat in a Big Mac. So you are actually consuming the equivalent fat of three and a half Big Macs in one hit.

Yeah I suppose I could eat a low fat diet, um, already did- it made me sick.

What eating low fat does to your skin:

Oh well 50 years of indoctrination, there are some things you really can't un-learn.

Am I understanding this right, Gretchens finding fault with the new princess Rolling Eyes

!! unreal shes beautiful

Yep, the only negative I can find in this picture is that she just looks a little tired, which is understandable. But she is still a beautiful young lady IMO.

free skin care · Sat Jun 09, 2012 5:19 pm

It's also very easy to find an unflattering photo of a celebrity - the media thrives on them. But to hold that one photo up as an example of a poor diet is ridiculous.

But I also believe that there is room in a diet for saturated fat - the French thrive on it - and I would much rather consume butter than margerine for example. (But never 8 ounces of it all in one hit!) The point of the French diet is that they eat in moderation.

free skin care · Sat Jun 09, 2012 6:18 pm

As long as we're posting pictures of well-known people and what they eat, let's hear it for Halle Berry, a (gasp) salmon eater, and her gorgeous skin at almost 46 years of age. Stunning!

free skin care · Sat Jun 09, 2012 6:22 pm

Great example sandooch, and I am sure there are many, many more stunning examples out there!

sandooch wrote:

As long as we're posting pictures of well-known people and what they eat, let's hear it for Halle Berry, a (gasp) salmon eater, and her gorgeous skin at almost 46 years of age. Stunning!

free skin care · Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:03 pm

sandooch wrote:

Kath91 wrote:

not promoting anything - but
simple serendipity, (really, a clumsy search accident), got me to this link:

http://www.northstarnutritionals.com/p/Regenecell.htm

It gave me a heary laugh after reading the info-data on research for finding 'beauty within'.
A nutrional goldmine?

Just thought I'd share

$400 for one bottle? Yeah, I think I'll stick to my salmon and green tea, thank you very much.

To take a leaf out of Gretchen's book - the photos of him don't impress me much, he looks over-weight. Plus he's wearing a Kabbalah string - obviously isn't relying completely on his formula!

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