Free Radicals and Antioxidants

Hello everyone, welcome back to another skincare post. My last skincare post on Vitamin A seemed to go down pretty well so I thought I would do another one. This week I am focusing on Free Radicals and Anti - Oxidants in skincare. When I was researching Vitamin A and Vitamin C these two words seemed to pop up a lot. I  had not heard of them before and so I did some research and they seem to be a key player in skincare, especially in the likes of anti - ageing. Like my last skincare blog post I am going to try and explain this is as easily as I can and how I understand it to be - again I am not a professional so do not take any advice before consulting with somebody who has more experience! 

What are free radicals? 

This took me ages and a lot of research to understand ( I was not good at science in school!!!) 


The cells in our body our made up of molecules which in turn are made of atoms. Inside these atoms there is protons, neutrons and electrons. The protons and neutrons make up the middle while the electrons are around the outside. 

In simple terms a free radical is an unpaired electron in an atom. Something has happened to cause this and they are now unbalanced. An electron must always ensure it is paired with another electron if not it will look for some way to pair with an electron to ensure stability within the atom. 

The electron looks for another source to become stable and so it will "steal" an electron from the nearest atom available. This atom will be a healthy cell and once the free radical takes the electron that cell that was once healthy is now also a free radical and now it is looking for a way to become stable triggering a chain reaction. The more free radicals we have in our body the faster the ageing process will happen. They can also result in dead and lifeless skin.


Where do Free Radicals come from? 

Free radicals are naturally in our body already through a process of oxidisation. Similar to bacteria it is OK and sometimes even good to have some free radicals in our body. The problem is when we have too many. 

Free radicals can come from poor diet, the environment e.g. pollution in the air, smog and cigarette smoke, stress in our lives, illness and UV penetration. 


How do we treat/ get rid of free radicals?

After reading all the bad free radicals can do to the skin, I wanted to know HOW we can get rid of free radicals or even help to improve the damage they have caused. The one answer that popped up time and time again was Antioxidants. I have heard this word so many times before but I was not too sure what it actually was and how it worked. 

What are Antioxidants?
Antioxidants are basically what fights and cleans up the "bad" stuff in our body. They are most likely found in foods and work when our body digests them. Antioxidants work by replacing the missing electron in the atom. There is no need for the neutron to now take one off a healthy cell and therefore the chain reaction is stopped. 

Where can we find Antioxidants?
We will most commonly find antioxidants in the forms of Vitamins. The most popular ones are Vitamins A, C & E. We can source these Vitamins through the foods we eat and we are also seeing them become more and more popular in skin care ingredients. I have already done a separate post on Vitamin A which you can find here . I am going to do a separate blog post on the other two C & E.  

Basically we have to increase our intake of fruit and vegetables. After researching and putting together this blog post I am now closer to understanding why certain foods are good for us and how certain things actually affect our body. Again I have to point out I am not a professional, I am just really interested in skincare and I thought I would put together a series of posts on how I understand topics that are being talked about in the skincare world. If you are looking to start something new into your routine always ask the advice of a professional!!! :)

I hope you all enjoyed this post and sorry it took me so long to post ( it took me quite awhile to get my head around!) Keep an eye out for some more skincare posts.

Lots of Love,
Shauna 
xoxo