Antioxidants: How much are you getting?

As we age, our bodies will need all the extra help it can get to function optimally. Most times a person's age shows on the skin; the sagging, wrinkles and age spots. However, some people experience accelerated/premature skin aging and this is due to the attack of free radicals in the body.
These free radicals are mostly produced by toxins in the environment like tobacco/gas smoke and ultraviolet radiation from the sun and tanning beds.

Antioxidants are substances that help the body fight these free radicals and protect it from its damaging effects thereby improving the quality of the skin and the general well being of the body.

Source

These are the names of some antioxidants so you might want to check your supplements to be sure you are getting what you should.

• Hydroxytyrosol: Still not well known and primarily found in the olive (fruit, leaves and pulp), this powerful antioxidant is touted to have the highest level of free radical absorption activity ever reported for a natural antioxidant.
Read more about Hydroxytyrosol here 

• Astaxanthin: This carotenoid is still not widely known but is said to improve eye and heart health and also protect the skin from ultraviolet radiation.
Read more about Astaxanthin here

Foods that are great for the African skin.

It has been said that you don’t get a glowing skin by just using cosmetics. Nutrition plays a major role too. So I stumbled on foods that are especially good for the skin while looking for materials for a project. I made more research and it seemed like most beauticians/nutritionists agree that these food items should be eaten by every woman especially the African woman as often as she can for that glowing skin.  I must say I didn’t know some of this information and this isn’t a comprehensive list. Just the three I didn’t know about.

Spinach: When I saw this I remembered with mixed feelings the way my mum used to make us eat spinach stew on some Sundays. We would all sit at the table and she would unleash a healthy looking cane and warn us to finish eating our ‘green stew’. We would eat in tears and wonder why we had to eat ‘green’ when we can have the delicious ‘red’ stew we were sure kids all over the world were having at that time. 

That was many years ago though. I totally love it now. Spinach contains lutein. Lutein, a nutrient known to be involved in eye health, has now been found to also play a role in the health of the skin. Lutein improves skin hydration, elasticity and lipid content. Lutein gives us healthier skin, provides deep protection from the harmful blue light of the sun, and may help prevent skin cancer.  Lutein is also found in eggs. In fact, its bioavailability from an egg is higher than from spinach. But I do know I would indulge in vegetables. I am not really an ‘egg’ person.