Happy 4th of July!!!

So how did you spend the holiday? Perhaps a day at the lake, lounging around a pool, a couple rounds of golf, or a BBQ with family and friends? Chances are you may have spent a good part of it outside in the summer sun.

Photo oxidation is one of the primary reasons for skin damage and aging. The free radicals created by the sun’s rays go to work on damaging just about all the structures of the skin. Add this free radical exposure to the already overwhelming list of stress-induced, exercise-induced and of course environmental exposure (pollution, etc.) and your skin and body are under a very impressive assault.

However, as a holistic practitioner, do I want you to give up the sun exposure or the exercise? Absolutely not! Sunshine is needed for vitamin D synthesis (we are seeing more and more deficiency of this very important vitamin) and for production of several “feel good” brain chemicals.

So how do you protect your skin and body? With antioxidants of course! Make sure the vitamins you are taking include a good measure of antioxidants to protect your body in general and use a moisturizer loaded with antioxidants to keep your skin healthy and younger looking. Pycnogenol®, Green Tea, Astaxanthin, Cranberry, Pomegranate, and Tamanu Oil all have research to show that they are very effective antioxidants when topically applied. The “topically applied” is an important piece of information, as not all antioxidants work topically or when applied externally to the skin.

Let’s look at a couple of the super antioxidants for optimal skin health:

Pycnogenol®
SHARE


This amazing antioxidant is 50 times more effective than vitamin E as a free-radical scavenger, helping to protect your skin from the damaging effects of oxidation. Pycnogenol® is an extremely important nutrient that builds strong capillaries, reduces puffiness around the eyes, and most importantly gives the skin smoothness and elasticity. It even enhances skin's resistance to inflammation. Pycnogenol® works synergistically with vitamin C to rebuild collagen and helps prevent UVB radiation damage. Nature has given us this amazing ingredient in the bark of France's maritime pine tree.

Astaxanthin
SHARE


From sea algae off the coast of Hawaii, this amazing antioxidant has been reported to be 500 times more powerful than vitamin E. Astaxanthin has the amazing ability to shut down free radicals and protect the skin from UV damage (it is 1000 times more effective than both beta-carotene and lutein in protecting skin from exposure to UV light) and environmental stress. This remarkable nutrient reduces skin inflammation, helps normalize skin and enhances the activity of defensive cells. As a natural anti-inflammatory, it stimulates the killer cells in the skin to find and destroy potential pathogens before they can damage the skin.

So for great looking summer skin nourish your skin daily with moisturizers rich in anti-oxidants and after sun exposure reapply to diminish the damage caused by UV radiation.

Yours in Health,
Dr. Linda Miles, L.Ac., D. O. M.