We talk about how important collagen supplements are for supporting your body and skin from the inside out. They can boost collagen production within your body, as the amount you naturally produce decreases as you age.
However, something people tend to miss out on is antioxidants. These are just as important as taking collagen supplements. They also can have an array of benefits for your body, both inside and out. Many of these antioxidants are in everyday foods that we eat; however, this alone will not provide us with the sufficient amounts of antioxidants that we need – but more on that later on.
A process called oxidative stress can be caused by free radicals (unstable atoms), which damage the body’s cells. Our skin begins to oxidise over time as a result of exposure to UV light, leading to fine lines, wrinkles, and discolouration. These symptoms also begin to happen after collagen begins to degrade from oxidative stress. The free radicals break cells down, and as we age, the body loses its ability to fight the effects. These are alongside the ‘normal’ ageing that we see – but it’s not something you need to put up with.
Collagen supplements are a good place to start when wanting to slow down the ageing process, but antioxidants help boost this. They are chemicals that lessen or assist in preventing the effects of free radicals. No single antioxidant can combat the effects of every free radical though, they each behave differently due to their chemical properties. But they can help by reducing oxidative stress and slowing down skin cell damage.
As mentioned previously, many foods are rich in antioxidants like broccoli, spinach, carrots, berries, and citrus fruits. However, you should keep in mind that the overall antioxidant content in our foods has decreased due to soil depletion from modern farming. So any antioxidant nutrients in fruits and vegetables that make it through this process can then be diminished due to the cooking, processing, preserving, and packaging that is common today. This is why there might be a need for supplementary antioxidants.
Supplements like No.16 Green Superfoods and No.15 Red Superfruits are rich in antioxidants that can combat free radical activity and slow down the ageing process. Both are easy to add to any daily routine. Combining both will help to fortify your anti-ageing nutritional programme.
When looking at supplements that contain antioxidants, you may come across the expression ‘ORAC’, which stands for oxygen radical absorbance capacity. It is mainly used within research purposes where it measures the antioxidative capacity of fruits and vegetables. It can also measure the capacity of nutraceuticals. The higher the ORAC unit, the higher the antioxidant activity, which may help slow the processes associated with ageing in both the brain and body. No.15 Red Superfruits delivers 10,000 ORAC units per serving.
Antioxidants are also vitamins and minerals including, vitamins C and E and minerals copper and zinc. These work together to boost and enhance the skin. Vitamin C is one of the cofactors in collagen synthesis, as it is required by specific enzymes involved in the formation of collagen. Without enough vitamin C, there could be an accelerated collagen breakdown because the enzymes are not able to work efficiently. All four vitamins and minerals are in the Proto-col Complete Collagen gel sachets. Alongside the 8,000mg of collagen, these vitamins and minerals contribute to protecting cells from oxidative stress.
Antioxidants play a vital role within the body and the ageing process. They can easily be incorporated in a supplement form just like collagen – so why would you want to miss out on them?
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