Skin’s health and the importance of diet

The skin is an organ second in size to the intestine and for this reason represents an important barrier against attacks from the outside. The skin is semi-permeable, some substances pass through and others are filtered. Skin health cannot be separated from correct lifestyles which include not excessive exposure to the sun, environmental pollution, electromagnetic pollution, microwave radiation (see mobile phone), the use of particularly aggressive soaps and detergents. Fundamental is a correct diet that limits simple sugars and saturated fats, not to mention hydrogenated fats, especially present in sweets, soft drinks and so-called snacks. Also important is abstaining from smoking, limiting alcohol consumption and managing stress in the best possible way, as well as going to bed early and sleeping at least eight hours a night. Sleep is essential for the production of GH, it is a fundamental hormone for the health and strength of the skin. Excess stress and incorrect lifestyles increase oxidative stress which consists in increasing the production of free radicals which, if in excess, exert a harmful action on cells and tissues.

The best known and most powerful antioxidant substances for the skin are vitamins A, C, E, beta-carotene (which is provitamin A), lipoic acid, acetylcysteine, coenzyme Q10.

Vitamin C and Q10 are essential for collagen production.

Lipoic acid stimulates the activity of an enzyme that digests damaged collagen and promotes its regeneration. Acetylcysteine, exerts a direct antioxidant effect, helps the detoxifying function of the liver by being precursors of glutathione which is the most important detoxifying molecule in our body but which cannot be taken as such orally because it is dismantled by digestive enzymes. Silicon dioxide is very important for connective tissue. The age of the connective tissue is determined by its content of silicon dioxide which, with increasing age, decreases, this deficiency manifests itself with wrinkling of the forehead, reduced skin elasticity, dullness, hair loss and the brittleness of the nails. The lack of silicon dioxide results in a loss of the ability to bind water in the connective tissue and the consequences are visible on the face that loses compactness. For this reason, hyaluronic acid injections under the skin are used, which is a collagen-rich mucopolysaccharide that retains water giving more firmness to the tissues. The best foods for skin health are fruit, Goji berries, ACai widely used in brazil very rich in plifenols, these foods are better than the chemical concentrates of vitamins, because nature has already done everything and has already prepared what we need. Another exceptional food to avoid skin aging is salmon which, in addition to being particularly rich in essential Omega 3 fatty acids, extremely useful for fighting inflammation which is one of the major causes of free radical production, contains astaxanthin. It is a carotenoid with considerable antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-estrogenic power, present in various microalgae which the salmon feed on and which gives them its characteristic.