Beautiful skin doesn’t have to be complicated. Keeping your skin looking young is actually much easier than you may think.
It all starts with one simple principle: Your inner health reflects the outer health of your skin.
It really makes perfect sense when you think about it. Instead of spending hours slathering the latest anti-aging lotions and potions on your skin day after day, you can focus on maintaining your health to not only improve your quality of life but also improve the appearance of your skin.
Of course, the products that you put on your skin do matter. Many over-the-counter cosmetics are full of harmful chemical ingredients that will only do more harm than good when it comes to the health of your body. And here we are again … back to protecting the health of your body to improve the quality of your skin. It always comes full circle.
If you want to improve your health and your skin at the same time, it pays to be strategic. One important antioxidant that has received quite a bit of press lately for its heart healthy benefits is resveratrol, commonly found in red wine. A powerful antioxidant, resveratrol can protect your heart and improve your health. And as you could probably guess by now, this will lead to fresher, softer, noticeably healthier skin because your skin mirrors the inner health of your body.
How does this work exactly? Resveratrol activates a gene called sirtuin. These genes send signals to all of your cells to neutralize premature aging. Sirtuins put a stop to cell death and give your body – and your skin – the time it needs to repair internal damage.
Here are a few more important ways that resveratrol preserves your health:
- Increases life span: Harvard Medical School scientists discovered that high doses of resveratrol extended the life span and improved the overall health of mice.1 Scientists fed the mice a high-calorie, high-fat diet and gave half of the mice resveratrol.
Even after reaching the ripe old age of 114 weeks, less than 33 percent of the resveratrol group of mice had died. But more than 50 percent of the mice not taking the antioxidant died by that age.
- Protects against damage from a high-calorie diet: The mice in the study above taking resveratrol lost weight, boosted their metabolism and doubled their stamina in exercise.1 This effect is often called the French Paradox. The French normally eat a diet high in fat. Yet they have some of the lowest obesity rates in the world. But here in the US, many of us are obsessed with low-fat, low-calorie diets, yet America is struggling with an obesity epidemic.
This French Paradox can be attributed to enjoying red wine regularly. It’ll give you that healthy dose of resveratrol to neutralize much of the damage caused by a high-calorie diet.
- Fights cancer: Resveratrol may the key to stop cancer cells in their tracks. This antioxidant prevents cancer cells from dividing, growing and multiplying to spread disease throughout the body.2
- Long-term anti-aging protection: A 2003 study done by David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School focused on the long-term anti-aging benefits of resveratrol. The antioxidant was able to provide the same life extending results as a calorie-restricted diet when used on yeast. This single compound extended the lifespan of yeast by up to 70 percent.3
This brings us back to the reason why red-wine loving cultures like the French and others living along the Mediterranean live a long, happy life. Resveratrol boosts an enzyme in the body called Sir2, which stabilizes DNA to increase life span. This same enzyme also can slow down decline in old age to improve both the quality and quantity of life.
Yhe simple answer can be found in your glass of red wine. In addition to its anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular benefits, resveratrol can be used topically to neutralize damage in the skin caused by sun exposure.
Resveratrol in red wine will protect your health and your skin from the inside out. When used in a moisturizer, resveratrol will give your skin the antioxidant protection it needs on the surface to stay strong, healthy and fresh – no matter what your age.
Best Wishes for Health and Beauty,
Tara Smith, ARNP, NP-C
 [Ed. Note: Tara Smith, ARNP NP-C, is a board-certified nurse practitioner for Dr. Sears’ Center for Health & Wellness in Royal Palm Beach, FL. Her medical concentration is on aesthetics, teaching and family practice. Tara is conducting research trials into novel ways of naturally boosting the human growth hormone and working on a new book, on anti-aging for women.] |
1 Baur, J., “Resveratrol improves health and survival of mice on a high-calorie diet,” Nature Nov. 16, 2006;444:337-342
2 Bishayee, A., “Cancer Prevention and Treatment with Resveratrol: From Rodent Studies to Clinical Trials,” Cancer Prevention Research Apr. 28, 2009
3 Pilcher, Helen. “Red wine ingredient makes yeast live longer,” Nature Aug. 26, 2003