Photo courtesy of islandteashop.com.
Many synthetic cosmetics try to cover up skin damage, but the truth is that the best way to give ourselves a clean youthful complexion is to feed our skin with the nutrients and anti-aging compounds that nature has already provided us with.
Mankind has yet to outdo Mother Nature in this department, as the scientists at the School of Life Sciences at Kingston University, London, found out at the end of a recently concluded study. It found that out of 23 plant extracts, white tea has the highest concentrations of antioxidants that minimize wrinkles.
“We’ve carried out our tests to identify plant extracts that protect the structural proteins of the skin, specifically elastin and collagen,” said Professor Declan Naughton, who led the university team that worked in conjunction with Neal’s Yard Remedies, a maker of natural and organic bath and beauty products, which provided the study with all of the plant materials that were tested.
Photo courtesy of Neal’s Yard Remedies.
The significance for researching natural ways to protect proteins, according to Naughton, is that “elastin supports the body’s natural elasticity, which helps lungs, arteries, ligaments, and skin to function. It also helps body tissue to repair when you suffer wounds and stops skin from sagging. Collagen is a protein found in connective tissue in the body and is important for the skin’s strength and elasticity.”
Within the study, some plant extracts were found to have antioxidant properties that either have a protective effect for collagen or elastin, but not both.
The nine plant extracts that have protective properties for both collagen and elastin, in order from greatest to least benefit are:
- White tea
- Bladderwrack (a seaweed)
- Cleaver
- Rose Tincture
- Green Tea
- Rose Aqueous
- Angelica
- Anise
- Pomegranate
At the study’s conclusion, “we were surprised to find such a high activity for white tea extracts in all five tests that were conducted. The early indicators are that white tea reduces the risk of inflammation, which is characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis and some forms of cancer, as well as wrinkles,” said Naughton, who added, “We were testing very small amounts, far less than you would find in a drink.”
Naughton is one of the country’s leading specialists on inflammation. The full study has been published in the BioMedical Central journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
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