Raechele Cochran Gathers, MD Antioxidants are one of those things that we hear a lot about. We hear enough to know that antioxidants can be a good thing, but what exactly are antioxidants, and what do they do? Antioxidants are important to the health of your body, and antioxidants are also crucial for healthy skin and hair.
What are Antioxidants?
Antioxidants are substances that prevent or delay cellular damage. Antioxidants are crucial for improving the appearance of your skin and improving the growth and integrity of your hair.
Free Radicals + Oxidative Stress = Aging
One of the ways your body, skin and hair ages is due to cellular breakdown and damage from something called free radicals. Free radicals can occur from exposure to sun, pesticides, environmental toxins, cigarette smoke, alcohol consumption and other stressors. Free radicals are highly unstable and reactive molecules that have an unpaired electron. In the quest for an electron, free radicals attack your cellular DNA, proteins and fats, leading to damage to the structure of these important molecules.
Damage from free radicals is called oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is caused by an imbalance between free radicals and your body’s ability to counteract free radical damage via antioxidants. Oxidative stress and cellular damage are associated with many health problems, including cancers, heart disease, diabetes and even Alzheimer’s disease.
Lobo, V., Patil, A., Phatak, A., & Chandra, N, CC BY-SA 4.0
Antioxidants are crucial for combatting premature aging and illness, since they work to check the damage caused by free radicals. Antioxidants donate an electron to unstable free radicals, making them more stable and less damaging to your body.
Antioxidants in Skin and Hair Care
The skin and hair are areas where there is lots of oxidative stress! Because your skin is your largest organ, it’s exposed to many damaging outside factors: Pollution, sun, chemicals, pesticides, heat. For your skin, oxidative stress can lead to wrinkles, mottled skin, dark spots, and even skin cancer. This is why antioxidants are so important for the skin. Antioxidants neutralize troublesome free radicals. Once an antioxidant interacts with a free radical, the chain reaction of cellular damage is halted.
While there are many antioxidants for the skin, Vitamin C is a popular choice, and more people are using daily vitamin C serums to counteract free radical damage on the skin. Tomato infused products are also used for their antioxidant properties.
Common Antioxidants
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
- Ferulic Acid
- Polyphenols (green tea is a good source)
- Catalase
- Co-enzyme Q10
- Lycopene (tomatoes are a good source)
- Resveratrol
- Selenium
- Other plant extracts
Matcha Green Tea
Antioxidants for Hair
Your hair can also suffer oxidative stress from things like sunlight, pollution, heat, chemical treatments, relaxers, etc. Free radicals in the hair can degrade the structure of your hair, making it weaker, and more prone to split ends. Oxidative stress on the hair can also lead to a porous cuticle, tangles and frizz, which can decrease your length retention and dull the appearance of your hair.
Oxidative stress on the scalp can also increase inflammation. Scalp inflammation can lead to issues like flaking, itching, shedding and even alopecia. Antioxidants are as important for the hair as they are for the skin. Antioxidants for the scalp and hair can include tea rinses, and antioxidant scalp serums that contain ingredients such as rosemary oil and avocado oil.
Conclusion
Antioxidants are key to skin and hair care. Using antioxidant products on the hair and scalp, in addition to the skin, can help halt damage and inflammation from free radicals, and improve the integrity and appearance of your skin and hair.
