MINI SERIES: COLLAGEN #3

#3 Collagen - The Elixir Of Youth?

As we learnt from Meryl Streep in the cult 90's film 'Death Becomes Her', the quest for eternal youth is something many strive for and youthful skin can become the ultimate skincare goal. But unfortunately, ageing IS a natural part of life and as time passes by collagen levels start to decline. From the age of 20, 1 % percent less collagen is produced in the dermis each year. As we age less collagen is produced and both collagen and elastin fibres break, thicken, stiffen, clump together and lose their elasticity.

Without collagen the skin will lose its youthful, plumpness and slowly the signs of ageing becoming increasing Visible. There's no stopping the ageing process. Luckily there are ways to slow it down and prevent some of the visible signs of ageing. One way to preserve youthful skin is to activate or regenerate fibroblast cells ensuring a good supply of collagen fibres and firmer skin.

Collagen and Youthful Looks

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Adapted from an article in the IIAA Bulletin April 2018

MINI SERIES: COLLAGEN #1

#1 What Is Collagen?

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and is found mainly in the skin, muscles, bones, cartilage and all the body's connective tissues. In the skin, collagen is responsible for its strength and elasticity. Collagen is made by the fibroblast cells found in the dermis. In addition to making collagen, fibroblast cells are also responsible for elastin production, as well as natural moisturising factors such as Hyaluronic acid. Fibroblast cells protect collagen by inhibiting collagenase (an enzyme that breaks down collagen) and also make pro-collagenases which destroy old and damaged collagen. Normal, healthy collagen (in lattice-type formation) is incredibly strong. It can be compared to a rubber band as it is extremely elastic and springs back when stretched.

There are several factors that contribute to collagen loss including: natural skin ageing and UV damage. Other key contributory factors to collagen loss include free radicaI damage and lifestyle (i.e. smoking, excess caffeine, alcohol and sugar consumption). If fibroblasts are damaged by UV rays or free radicals they will produce defective collagen.

If deep, long term damage to the structural proteins occur then the skin loses its tone and structure. Therefore it is important to safeguard your natural collagen by ensuring protecting your skin from UV damage and follow a healthy diet and lifestyle.

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Adapted from an article in the IIAA Bulletin April 2018

Mini Series - Vitamin A Myths #3

MYTH #3 - Vitamin A is toxic

This is one of the most common myths and often arises from confusion about the Recommended Daily Amounts (RDA) for oral consumption. The RDA is the minimum amount needed to prevent diseases such as rickets and scurvy, NOT the maximum. According to the European Food Safety Authority, the upper tolerable level is 10,000 ius daily, and experts argue that it should be much higher.
Dr Fernandes is a strong advocate of supplementing with vitamin A. “When we apply vitamin A to the skin, only a fraction of it penetrates down to the level of the dermis and even the most sophisticated modern tests have barely been able to detect any vitamin A in the bloodstream even when very high doses are applied”, he says.
“I feel nervous if I don’t apply it every day via my Environ^® creams, and feel more assured if I take 40,000 – 50,000 ius of vitamin A daily”, he adds. “It works with our DNA to determine how skin cells behave, how they differentiate into specialist cells and how they mature, not just in our skin but throughout our whole body… It is fundamentally the most important molecule in addressing sun damage and anti-ageing. There is nothing else like it”.

Environ Vitamin A Treatment

Lorraine Perretta, Head of Nutrition at the International Institute for Anti-Ageing (IIAA), agrees that taking vitamin A orally is key. “It’s important to feed the skin internally as well as externally. Unless you eat liver a few times a week, you will find it very hard to get adequate vitamin A levels from your diet, so I’d recommend at least 5000 ius a day.”
 
Adapted from a post in the September 2017 IIAA Bulletin