Restore Young Skin and Fight Signs of Aging: Part 1 By Carly Young, Special to LifeScript   Monday, July 10, 2006 Many people who are dissatisfied with their fine lines, eye wrinkles and other signs of aging are reluctant to turn to plastic surgery. Even though procedures like facelifts can tighten up skin and reduce other signs of aging, the risks that come with going under the knife, like facial scarring, are too much of a deterrent for many. If surgery’s not for you, what exactly can you do to help keep your skin looking young? In order to answer that question, let’s take a look at exactly how our skin ages and what causes wrinkles and other signs of aging... Slow Sloughing The smooth, flawless skin that we’re born with as babies can become wrinkled and saggy as we advance in age. This is due in part to extrinsic, or external, factors that can oftentimes be controlled or eliminated. They include sunlight, cigarette smoke and pollution. On the other hand, time, which is an intrinsic factor of aging, is unstoppable. Let’s take a look at how both these factors result in fine lines and other signs of aging. The stratum corneum is the outer layer of your skin. It’s made up of a protective layer of dead skin that is formed when fresh skin cells push their way to the top of the skin and then die. As new cells die, the stratum corneum is constantly sloughed off, renewing and refreshing itself. Unfortunately, this sloughing process winds down as we advance in age.  In a child, cells turn over every 28-30 days, but for a person who’s in their sixties, this process only occurs around every 45-50 days. In short, the older we grow, the slower our skin is able to regenerate itself. Wrinkles in Time Collagen is a protein that helps our skin to look young and taut. Collagen is especially susceptible to attacks from free radicals, and over time these attacks lead to a destructive chemical change that causes signs of aging. Healthy collagen molecules slide over each other, giving way to soft, young skin, but after they’re damaged they become “cross-linked,” or stiff and rigid, making skin look old. How do these healthy molecules become damaged? Free radicals harm our cells by randomly bouncing around in their interior and even between them. They can damage every single part of our cells, including the nucleus, where our DNA is stored, and the mitochondria, which makes the energy for our cells. Because the plasma membrane, or the exterior wall, of the cell is the most crowded, free radicals do more damage there than in any other part of the cell. Free radicals can be triggered by sunlight and pollution, among other elements. When your skin absorbs UV light or is exposed to harmful toxins like cigarette smoke, free radicals are activated. An enzyme that breaks down fat in your skin is also activated. Though fat loss may sound desirable, your skin is one place where fat cells are actually good – they keep skin supple and moist. As fat continues to be broken down, a chemical is produced that paves the way for inflammatory molecules, which cause eye wrinkles, fine lines and other signs of aging. These inflammatory molecules are called transcription factors. Their job is to send chemical messages to your body, telling your DNA to produce proteins and telling your cells what to do. These otherwise harmless molecules can be turned on by free radicals that have been activated by sunlight or toxins. These molecules then travel to the nucleus and tell your DNA to start producing various chemicals. When the transcription factors are triggered by ultra-violet light, they turn on something called AP-1, which starts secreting enzymes that digest collagen, causing tiny scars. You know these tiny scars by another name: wrinkles. Other factors that can precipitate signs of aging are sleep deprivation, the use of harsh soaps, stress, excess alcohol consumption, and a diet low in nutrients and high in salt. However, even if you took a clue from Smokey Bear and hibernated in a cave for the rest of your life, your skin would still fall victim to the passage of time. As time passes, your skin will experience: fat loss, dryness (because your skin’s ability to produce oil glands will decrease), sagginess and loss of firmness, and a decreased ability to repair damage. Your skin’s collagen structure will also break down. But don’t give up hope just yet. Although you can’t help the fact that time will pass and your skin will look older as you advance in years, it’s still important to protect and care for your skin. By doing so, you can put your skin on the right path toward aging gracefully. Certain skin care products and nutrients can help combat signs of aging. When choosing an anti-aging treatment, make sure it contains antioxidants, which are a powerful defense against harmful free radicals. Topical vitamin C, one such antioxidant, may help your body to produce more collagen, thus thickening your skin. Alpha hydroxy acid, another type of antioxidant, may also thicken the skin if used on a regular basis. It also helps the skin to hold onto moisture longer. Alpha lipoic acid is also a key player in the battle against misbehaving transcription factors. Like harmful sunlight, it can also activate AP-1, but with beneficial results. AP-1 that has been activated by alpha lipoic acid and not by sunlight attacks only damaged collagen, thus reducing fine lines and wrinkles. Polypeptides, another skin-saver, can help renew skin tissue and cells. When choosing an anti-aging skin care product, think about what kind of results you want and make sure to purchase the right product for your own individual skin type. Don’t let wrinkles get the best of you! For more information on how different antioxidants can work for you and help fight signs of aging, check out part two of this series. We’re Here to Help! An important element of any happy and healthy relationship is individual health. The body-mind connection is so powerful, that by taking care of your body you will help empower your mind and enrich your relationships. Start by getting your own Free Personalized Vitamin Profile today to find out which supplements are right for your lifestyle, risk factors and nutrient needs. Part 2 Our last article focused on the effect of pollution, sunlight and time on your skin and explored how skin ages. This article will highlight some specific anti-wrinkle treatments and solutions to help bring vitality and youth back to your skin. And don’t worry, there’s no plastic surgery involved… Vitamin C: Not Just for Preventing Scurvy Vitamin C has many nutritional benefits. It gives us energy, boosts our immune system and is essential to our nervous system. Vitamin C can boost collagen production, which keeps our skin soft and plump, making it a key component in the quest for young skin. Vitamin C also hinders the production of arachidonic acid, a nasty little chemical that causes inflammation, crow’s feet and aging in our skin. Therefore, this amazing vitamin can help repair aging skin and restore young skin. Vitamin C ester, or topical vitamin C, is a key ingredient in many face creams (ascorbic acid, vitamin C in its pure form, has limited ability to unveil young skin). The ester is also fat soluble, which means that it can pass through the thin fatty membrane that encases our cells. That way the ester can fend off free radicals at the exact spot where they damage skin the most – the cell’s outer layer. Topical vitamin C can also increase elastin production, leading to a firmer, more youthful complexion. The Alpha Male of the Antioxidant Pack All of our cells contain alpha lipoic acid, an antioxidant molecule that our bodies produce naturally. Alpha lipoic acid is also fat- and water-soluble, which means it can help protect the fatty plasma membrane as well as the watery interior of our cells, ensuring that every part of our cells is protected from free radicals. And remember that the fewer free radicals get through, the less chance you’ll have of developing signs of aging like crow’s feet, puffy skin and face wrinkles. Alpha lipoic acid also affects our cells’ metabolism –that is, whether our cells function at a greater or lesser speed. When a cell has a high energy level, it’s better able to take in more nutrients, repair damaged components and eliminate waste. As we age, our cells’ energy drops and our cells carry out their essential functions much more slowly. Alpha lipoic acid can increase a cell’s metabolism, thus increasing its ability to repair damage and restore young skin. Although sugar is essential to our body’s performance, it can be toxic in excessive amounts. Sugar attaches to the proteins that make up our collagen, thus causing collagen molecules to “cross-link,” or twist (healthy, young collagen molecules are fluid and slide easily). This cross-linking makes the skin saggy and stiff, resulting in crow’s feet and face wrinkles. Alpha lipoic acid comes to the rescue and blocks sugar from attaching to our collagen’s proteins, thus helping to prevent sugar-induced skin damage. If you want young skin again, an alternative to using alpha lipoic acid is just to eat less sugar. One Cocktail You Won’t Find at Happy Hour Puffy skin and face wrinkles aren’t the only indications that you’re getting older. Sagging skin, especially around the nose and chin, is one of the biggest tell-tale signs of aging. Instead of making an appointment for a face-lift, you might want to try using topical DMAE. DMAE is an acronym for dimethylaminoethanol. When DMAE is mixed in a cocktail with other nutrients and antioxidants and applied topically, it can drastically improve the appearance of sagging skin. To understand how DMAE works, let’s take a look at the reason our skin muscles begin to sag in the first place. When we move a muscle in our face or body, a signal travels along a nerve to the muscle being called to action. The nerve stops just short of physical contact with the muscle. When the signal reaches the end of the nerve, a burst of chemicals, including one called acetylcholine, spurs the muscle into contracting. As we get older, our nervous system ages along with the rest of our body, and the amount of acetylcholine it can produce decreases. Less acetylcholine means less muscle contractions, and the result is sagging skin. DMAE can increase acetylcholine production, thus facilitating a stronger muscle contraction. Therefore, applying topical DMAE is one way to achieve firmer, tighter skin. Poly Want a Cracker? Polypeptides, the only non-anti-oxidant mentioned in this article, can also have a beneficial effect on skin. Peptides are chains of amino acids strung together, and when many peptides are strung together, these multiple chains all make a polypeptide (“poly” means “several”). Polypeptides are able to activate the genes responsible for tissue renewal and skin cell reproduction. Because of this property, they are useful in healing cuts as well as reducing wrinkles and restoring young skin. When two certain polypeptides are used together, they work as a team to produce a drastic increase in collagen production, thus paving the way to firmer skin. Mixing these same two polypeptides with herbal extracts yields a gentle cream that can help resurrect young skin – without the dryness and itchiness that accompanies treatments with harsh ingredients. The Next Step What you eat is just as important as what you put on your skin. Applying anti-aging skin care treatments is only one important step in the quest for smooth, young skin. Make sure to eat plenty of antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies, and drink lots of water! Also, brush up on your knowledge of skin cancer signs. Not only can you use this knowledge to help your body stay as healthy as possible, but you’ll also help prevent sun damage and premature aging. Now the only thing you’ll have to worry about is how jealous all your former classmates will be at your next high school reunion! Beauty Essentials True beauty is a combination of looking your best on the outside and feeling your best on the inside. Refresh and renew your most unique feature - your face - with the breakthrough DermaStep anti-aging system, and support your body's nutrient needs with a Free Personalized Vitamin Profile from LifeScript today. Let your beauty shine through, from the inside out!