Get ready for your summer skin and take astaxanthin

Sunny and warm summer days are getting closer, so preparing the skin for summer is necessary and providing quality protection from the inside. So let’s see how you can get your summer skin ready.

Various creams, lotions, and oils with a protective factor nourish and protect the skin on the surface to get your summer skin ready.  Still, for our skin’s complete preservation and radiant appearance, it is essential to nourish the body and skin from the inside. How do you achieve this? The answer lies in astaxanthin – a potent carotenoid.

Prepare your summer skin: Skin exposure to UV radiation

During the spring and summer months, we naturally spend more time outdoors, and our skin is more exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It is essential to know that the intensity of UV radiation depends on the time of day and season, so it is strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. during the spring and summer months1. Whether it is sports activities outdoors, walking, or sunbathing, our skin and subcutaneous tissue are under the direct influence of UV radiation, which accelerates the formation of pigment in the skin and thus affects the darkening of the skin. Also, UV radiation affects the synthesis of vitamin D in the body.

People who expose their skin to the sun for a long time (farmers, workers on construction sites, and similar occupations) gradually, in the majority of cases, experience hardening of the skin, accelerated aging, and various diseases, including skin cancer, and research shows a growing connection of ocular melanoma with UV exposure1.

Moderate sunbathing during the summer can bring beneficial effects on health. Still, many people spend too much time continuously exposed to the sun’s UV rays, which create free radicals in the body through photooxidation and consequent damage to tissues (membranes, lipids, proteins, and DNA cells). Creating a reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a central mechanism leading to (premature) skin aging (2)

How do astaxanthin and preparing your summer skin go together?

Fair-skinned people, as well as people with light eyes, genetically have a greater predisposition to getting sunburned, so their skin can be severely damaged when exposed to the sun. To prevent such damage, using the antioxidant astaxanthin, a carotenoid that allows the skin to adapt more quickly to UV radiation, is essential.

Astaxanthin affects the beauty and glow of the skin. It protects it from the harmful impacts of UV rays, reduces and prevents the formation of hyperpigmentation, and improves the elasticity and moisture of the skin3.

Although we find astaxanthin in some food (algae, salmon, krill, lobster, etc.), we cannot get enough of it in our daily diet. Therefore, the recommendation of numerous health authorities is to use astaxanthin in the form of a food supplement but from a natural source. Namely, natural astaxanthin shows many times greater antioxidant potential and stability than the synthetic form.

Literature:

1. American Cancer Society medical information (2019), https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/radiation-exposure/uv-radiation.html
2. Davinelli, S., Nielsen, M.E., Scapagnini, G. (2018) Astaxanthin in Skin Health, Repair, and Disease: A Comprehensive Review. Nutrients. 10, 1-12.
3. Tominaga, K., Hongo, N., Kataro, M., Yamashita, E. (2012) Cosmetic benefits of astaxanthin on human subjects. Acta Biochim. Pol. 59, 43-47.