Antioxidants have been making a buzz in the health and beauty industries for quite a while now. This wellness trend is popular for being a key ingredient in many skincare products. While there’s more to antioxidants than being a wrinkle buster, the skincare benefits of these wonder substance make it truly deserving to be in everyone’s skincare bucket list.

Find out below why products containing antioxidants are worth including in your daily skincare routine.

Neutralizes free radicals

Long before they’ve been used as ingredient of anti-aging products, antioxidants already exist deep down under your skin. The antioxidant defense system of the body includes enzymatic antioxidants like glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase, as well as non-enzymatic antioxidants like vitamins C and E, uric acid, glutathione, and ubiquinol.

These antioxidants exist in your body for a good reason, and that is to protect you body against free radical-induced cell damage. Highly reactive chemicals called free radicals are produced by the body to protect against viruses, bacteria, and damaged body cells. The body can also be exposed to free radicals from environmental sources like air pollution, cigarette smoke and sunlight.  However, too much free radicals in the body can be harmful as this may cause oxidative stress that can damage major components of cells like the DNA. Antioxidants are the ones that counter this possible damage by neutralizing free radicals.

Prevents you from developing wrinkles and other signs of extrinsic aging

Scientific theory states that free radicals have something to do with age-related skin damage.  Too much free radicals can cause damage to your DNA, fatty tissue, and proteins.  With accumulated free radical-induced damages, age-associated functional losses may occur.

Likewise, your skin is constantly exposed to environmental factors that can induce the generation of free radicals, which may lead to damages in skin structure and defensive barrier.  This may cause extrinsic skin aging which may result in skin dullness, roughness, sagging, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation, loose skin, easy bruising, and overall dull appearance.  Likewise, skin aging may cause the development of skin tags, cherry angiomas, seborrheic keratoses, sun spots and sebaceous hyperplasias, among other lesions and skin alterations.

Enough supply of antioxidants can effectively disarm free radicals and counter the effects of extrinsic aging.  Fortunately, the body produces antioxidants during normal body metabolic activities. For instance, glutathione is one of the most important antioxidants produced by the body. It provides skin benefits like aging defense and detoxification.

Prevents and Repairs Ultraviolet Damage

The Ultraviolet (UV) light of the sun, specifically ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB), can cause visible injuries to your skin.  Repeated UVA exposure degrades collagen production and causes formation of wrinkles, while UVB may cause sunburn, one of the familiar short-term effects of too much sun exposure.

Antioxidants play a key role in of the prevention and repair of ultraviolet photo damage. A study showed clinical improvement of signs of photoaging after 3 months of antioxidant use.

Including antioxidant-rich food in your diet

However, the antioxidative enzymes inside your body become less effective as you age. Your body may need a little help from additional antioxidants.  One of the ways to obtain additional antioxidant is a balanced nutritional diet that contains foods high in antioxidants.  Thus, don’t forget to include in your meal plan fruits like mangosteen, prunes, raisins, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, cherries; and vegetables like broccoli flowers, red bell peppers, onions, eggplants.  Additionally, beef, nuts, dark chocolate, and whole grains are said to be good sources of antioxidants.

Making antioxidants part of your skincare routine

You can also obtain the benefits of antioxidants by applying them on the skin through topical skin products.  When choosing skincare products to include in your beauty routine, pick those that contain a variety of antioxidants like Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Glutathione, Superoxide Dismutase, Ubiquinone, and omega-3 fatty acids.

Antioxidants are more than just a fleeting trend in the beauty industry. With the long list of health and skincare benefits antioxidants can provide, make sure that you’re getting enough of these wonder substances through your diet and skincare regimen.