Dr. Teri Fisher: Hello there and welcome to episode number 12 of the Anti-Aging Insights Podcast. Thank you for joining me again. It’s always a pleasure to have you along for the podcast. Today, we’re going to talk about antioxidants and the role of antioxidants in the care of our skin. This is critically important and it’s one of the most important products that we can put on our skin and we’ll get into all of that in just a few moments.

We’re going to talk about what they are. We’re going to talk about how they work and we’re going to talk about, of course, how they can be used in skin rejuvenation treatments, how they can be used in anti-aging treatments, and how they can be used in aesthetic medicine.

So, first of all, let’s talk about why are antioxidants even important? Well, during the course of a normal day, we’re out and about, and our skin is exposed to the elements. They are exposed to UV radiation from the sun. They can be exposed to some chemicals during the day. They can be exposed to various types of stress. And when this happens, the atoms in our skin become oxidized. Now without getting too technical, there is a change in the electrical charge of atoms and that can then lead to, potentially, mutations or changes in our DNA. This is why we want to try to minimize the oxidation of our atoms, particularly those in the cells of our skin, in the context of what we’re speaking about, and antioxidants do just that. That is why they are so critical. So when we use antioxidants, we are helping to minimize the effects of the stress on our skin, from the elements, from the sun, and from other sources of stress so that we minimize the oxidation and we can ensure that those atoms in our skin are as healthy as possible.

Another way of saying that is that antioxidants are molecules that can neutralize the free radicals. And the free radicals are the unstable molecules that can damage cells and contribute to the aging and to disease. Again, these free radicals are produced naturally in the body, but they can also be generated by environmental factors, as we mentioned, UV radiation, pollution, smoking, etc.

And so these antioxidants exist in a number of different forms. Probably the most important one is vitamin C. There are also other antioxidants, Vitamin a vitamin E, coenzyme Q10, polyphenols. These antioxidants can be found in a variety of foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and that’s why it’s important that we all have a well-balanced diet. They can also be taken as supplements or, and here is where it’s relevant to our topic, they can be applied topically to the skin in the form of creams or serums.

Now when these antioxidants neutralize the free radicals. As I mentioned, they help to protect cells from damage and in turn that helps us to maintain healthy skin. As an example, vitamin C can help to stimulate collagen production, which can improve skin texture and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. That sounds pretty good to me for putting a cream or a serum on your skin.

Okay. So that leads us nicely into how antioxidants can be used in aesthetic medicine. Well, as we know, aesthetic medicine is the branch of medicine that focuses on improving the appearance of the skin and the body and antioxidants do have a very important role in this.

What is the evidence for the use of antioxidants? Well, there was a 2015 study that was published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology and they found that a supplement containing vitamin C and E, beta keratin, and selenium helped to improve skin hydration and elasticity in women over the age of 50. And that’s just one study of many, many studies. Let’s look at a little bit more of the scientific evidence for this. There was another study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology in 2016 that found that a cream containing a combination of antioxidants, which included vitamin C and vitamin E, this helped to improve skin hydration and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. And there was another study in 2017, published in the Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology that found that a combination of vitamin C and E, along with ferulic acid, helped to protect against UV induced damage in human skin cells. So as you can see there’s a lot of evidence, and these are just three out of many, many studies, that show that antioxidants have a strong role in maintaining our healthy skin.

What does this mean for us practically? Well, it means that it’s important to take care of our skin. Now, of course we all know about sunscreen and that is one of the best ways to prevent the UV damage because that directly forms a barrier between the UV radiation of the sun and our skin, and that in turn helps to limit the production of those free radicals, and ultimately helps us to maintain the youthful appearance of our skin.

As well, antioxidants can come in and play a role here because they do have some role to prevent the UV damage, but they also have an increasingly important role in repairing the UV damage by dealing with those free radicals as we spoke about earlier.

So to wrap things up, it’s really important to make sure that we are taking care of our skin. It means using sunscreen as a barrier to the UV radiation. And it also means making sure that you use the appropriate skincare products that are appropriate for your skin type and concerns, and that should include an antioxidant of one type or another. There are many different types of antioxidants that you can apply to your skin. And if you are unsure about which one to use, or if you want to pick up some antioxidants, then feel free to contact us at Anti-Aging Medical and Laser Clinic in Vancouver. You can check out our website at AntiagingVancouver.com, or feel free to book an appointment with any one of the healthcare providers at our clinic. And we can discuss with you the concept of antioxidants and what antioxidant cream or serum would be appropriate for your skin to help your skin to maintain that youthful appearance as much as we possibly can.

With that said, I want to thank you again for tuning into the podcast. If you’re enjoying the content, then please feel free to share it with others. That is the biggest compliment that you can pay to me and to our clinic. And it means the world to have you benefit from the content that we are producing. If you feel inclined also a review on your favorite podcast player would be much appreciated. So with that being said, thanks so much for tuning in. I look forward to speaking with you again next week. Until then, live life well.