I remember laughing out loud when Sean Connery
was being recycled for his last James Bond movie. He said
something to the effect of having to start taking his
antioxidents to get ready for his next assignment. At the time,
most people hadn't heard about them and had no idea what he was
talking about.
According to Dr. Nicholas Perricone, Assistant
Clinical Professor of Dermatology, Yale University School of
Medicine, "wrinkled, sagging skin is not the inevitable result
of growing older. It is a disease and you can fight it. You can
look your best, feel your best and enjoy beautiful skin and
optimal health every day of your life, provided you start right
now".
Basically what he is saying in his book is that
what is going on in your body is reflected in your skin and you
can change it! So what I am going to do is highlight for you the
basics that you need to address to start you off and
give you the resources you need to start your research to go
further. There are basic nutrients that you can take orally and
apply to your skin to improve your muscle tone, sagging skin and
inflammation. As you know most vitamins are taken orally as
pills or liquids (which might be easier to assimilate in the
body). However, there are topicals that have been developed that
are extremely effective in facilitating healthier skin. These
are the ones that are added to those very expensive creams by
movie stars and are applied by their personal makeup artists.
You can get them in the vitamin stores now for a fraction of the
cost. They are amazing and they really do work. There is a cream
carried in the Vitamin Shoppe developed by Dr. Perricone from
Reviva Labs, it contains Alpha Lipoic Acid, Vitamin C Ester and
DMAE. It costs about $14.00 and should last about 2 months.
As any real runner can attest, we endure the
harshest conditions when we practice and compete. Wind
(windburn), rain, dirt, sand, sun, sweat pouring down our face
and countless toxins in the air cause inflammation (as do the
foods we eat). Let's not forget cigarettes, smoke-inhaled or
secondhand, stress, excess alcohol consumption, harsh soaps and
sleep deprivation. There is nothing whoosie about applying an
effective skin cream to our faces. By protecting the skin we are
effectively providing our immune system with much needed
support.
So what are antioxidents? These nutrients
include certain vitamins, amino acids and other natural
substances that can stop or reverse free radical damage and put
an end to subclinical inflammation and micro-macro scarring.
What are free radicals? Our cells use oxygen to
produce energy. In the process they generate free radicals, an
unstable oxygen molecule created during basic metabolic
functions such as circulation and digestion. They are also
produced by sunlight, and by toxins such as pesticides,
cigarette smoke and air pollution. In your body, they bounce
around attaching themselves to other atoms and molecules,
damaging virtually every part of the cell including the nucleus
where our DNA is produced. They also damage the fats inside the
cells. Many doctors believe that they are the primary cause for
aging and age related diseases such as heart disease, cancer,
Alzheimer's and arthritis. If free radicals succeed in taking
the extra electron from the collagen molecule in our skin, that
would damage the collagen and cause the skin to become
discolored and stiff and less elastic.
There is a wealth of further information on this
subject in this book:
The Wrinkle Cure by Dr. Nicholas Perricone
The
Wrinkle Cure