ByDr. Manasi Shirolikar
May 25, 2021 (IANSlife) Health is wealth, and healthy skin could be a self-explanatory display for itself. According to Dr. Stephen Defelice, any food or part of a food that provides medical or health benefits could be defined as Nutraceuticals. He coined the term ‘Nutraceuticals’ from the words ‘nutrition’ and ‘pharmaceutical.’ This coined term also gave birth to a new derivation known as Nutricosmetics.
As stated by Anunciato & da Rocha Filho in the year 2012 and Pearson, 2018, Nutricosmetics can be described “as the consumption of food or oral supplements to produce an appearance benefits, and are also called ‘‘beauty pills,’’ ‘‘beauty from within,’’ and even ‘‘oral cosmetics.” The beauty industry today has seen a fierce growth which has led to hyper-awareness about aging, pigmentation, and skincare.
Nutricosmetics are generally available as supplements containing molecules such as collagen, omega fatty acids, peptides, vitamins, proteins, etc. They are usually available as over-the-counter products. Sunlight (UV radiation), Infrared light, and a persons’ cellular metabolism creates ‘reactive oxygen species or ROS.’ These ROS in turn lead to oxidation of DNA, proteins, and fats in ones’ body and lead to skin aging. However, the body also produces antioxidants that can combat these ROS.
Although results from some studies remain controversial in the literature, the main and generally accepted antioxidants include elements such as -
However, the regular consumption of fruit and vegetables, rich in biologically active ingredients has been pointed to as one of the best strategies against skin ageing. Nowadays, beauty can no longer be dissociated from health and consumers consider nutrition an important pillar in skin beauty.
A study in Thailand compared the efficacy of a combined nutraceutical (containing the combination of soy isoflavones, chaste berry, black cohosh, and primrose oil) on volunteers. The placebo effect took 12 weeks to start showing effects. The volunteers receiving the nutraceutical significantly improved skin elasticity, skin roughness, and wrinkles; yet no visible effect on pigmentation, skin hydration was noticed.
(Dr. Manasi Shirolikar is the Head Dermatologist at a Bengaluru-based online dermatology consultation
platform, Remedico)
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N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe can be contacted at lothungbeni.h@ians.in