If your skin is able to resist external aggressions, it is because it has effective defense mechanisms.
However, to make his life easier, it is possible to provide him with a few key elements.
Human machinery is so fabulous that it is capable of using the raw material at its disposal in multiple ways.
Thus, vitamin C meets both metabolic needs such as the body's ability to assimilate iron and immune needs such as your body's defense against bacterial and viral infections.
Among the multiplicity of effects that vitamin C offers, we find protection against oxidative stress caused by the environment and that created within the body.
However, not all sources of vitamin C are equal. Navel, acerola, orange… Why are some more enjoyable than others? Which ones to choose? The MyPureSkin team guides you on the path to your skin health.
Vitamin C is essential for the proper functioning of many parts of your body, you only need to remember the problems of scurvy that sailors have long faced to understand this.
Roles of vitamin C and health claims
Known chemically as “ascorbic acid”, vitamin C is a large molecule that is involved in many cellular reactions.
It is said to be an enzymatic cofactor because it makes certain reactions possible and accelerates others. It is vital to skin health since it is essential for the formation of collagen fibers within fibroblast cells.
As ruled in 2012 by the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), vitamin C found in food supplements helps, among other things, to contribute:
- for the normal formation of collagen necessary for the normal functioning of blood vessels, bones, cartilage, skin, teeth and gums;
- normal energy metabolism;
- normal functioning of the nervous system;
- normal mental functions;
- normal functioning of the immune system;
- reducing fatigue;
- to the regeneration of vitamin E in its reduced form;
- digestive absorption of iron;
- protecting cells against free radicals (antioxidant effect).
The different sources of vitamin C
If it is established that it is necessary to obtain vitamin C through our diet because the human body does not produce it, the question arises as to what is the best source.
Synthetic or natural?
In this regard, an alternative exists to extracting vitamin C from a natural source such as orange: synthesis.
Having become possible since the 1930s, the production of a synthetic vitamin C almost identical to natural vitamin C has made it possible to deploy a global policy to combat deficiencies.
The costs of producing this vitamin C designed in the laboratory, as opposed to the resources necessary for the extraction from natural sources, has in fact been the accelerator of its large-scale diffusion.
However, even if the differences are negligible in terms of effects of a synthetic vitamin C to a natural vitamin C, the other active ingredients present in sources such as fruits are of indisputable usefulness.
Indeed, molecules such as flavonoids, which are found in particular in acerola, navel or orange, work in synergy with ascorbic acid to potentiate its effects and offer other health benefits.
In other words: if vitamin C alone can be synthetic as well as natural, the other active ingredients linked by nature to its natural version benefit from being consumed.
In this sense, natural vitamin C tends to be preferred by some premium dietary supplement brands seeking to offer their customers the best options available on the market.
Navel, acerola... what to choose?
However, a question continues to arise: which source of natural vitamin C to choose?
In a study carried out by the team of Doctor Brenner L Freeman in 2010 ¹ , an orange with a particular shape and pronounced bitterness called “navel” was scrutinized for possible synergies of its active ingredients.
It appears that 8 combinations of 2 to 3 phenolic compounds correspond to synergies. If such figures can be difficult to understand, it is enough to remember that these naturally present substances make it possible to increase the antioxidant power of navel to such an extent that it becomes a profitable source of vitamin C for producing natural preservatives. destination of other food products, as Dr. Brenner explains.
However, it is possible to do even better for the health of your skin.
In another study carried out in 2018² by the collaborators of researcher Anand Prakash, we discover the reasons why the acerola fruit was nicknamed “superfruit”.
We learn, among other things, that acerola contains 50 to 100 times more vitamin C than orange or lemon.
Furthermore, a plethora of phytonutrients are present there, including phenols, just like in navel, which gives acerola exceptional nutritional potential.
Optimal concentration and claims according to authorities
The legitimate question, in light of these findings, remains: why is a natural nutrition source richer in vitamin C more desirable?
By consulting certain organizations whose authority is recognized in European countries (like ANSES in France), it is possible to determine the maximum concentration of vitamins and trace elements for which health benefits are not accompanied no side effects or risks.
To calculate such a value, the institutions in question rely on specific studies, such as the SU. VI. MAX, started in 1994 by Serge Hercberg, then director of the Inserm “Nutritional Epidemiology” unit.
It is interesting to note that it is, among other things, on the basis of this study that the slogan “eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables per day” was composed and used in mainland France.
Regarding vitamin C, it is prescribed that it is at 60 µmol/L concentration of vitamin C in blood plasma that an average adult can have maximum antioxidant power.
Such a state allows at least, again according to the authorities mentioned, protection against:
- The risks of cardiovascular diseases;
- The risks of neurodegenerative diseases;
- The risks of cancer (skin among others);
- The risks of cataracts.
If the prescribed concentration is an average that can apply to any young adult, it is important to note that different factors, such as age and environmental factors (such as diet) must be taken into account to adjust this value to each individual.
Thus, ANSES warns for example that “vitamin C needs are increased in certain pathological situations (fracture, infection, anti-cancer treatment) but also depending on lifestyle (intense physical activity, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking) ”.
Finally, to achieve a blood concentration of 60 µmol/L, ANSES recommends, according to the latest update (2016), a daily consumption of vitamin C in adults of 110 mg/day.
MyCollagenLift: source of nutrition at all ages
Faced with the observation of modern diets losing nutritional quality, the MyPureSkin team sought to offer its customers a solution capable of supporting the skin at all ages towards better antioxidant protection.
To achieve this, our employees have developed an exclusive formula, based on ingredients whose 100% natural origin is the guarantee of uncompromising effectiveness, while respecting your skin health in the short and long term. .
Furthermore, the synergy at work in the resulting food supplement is of absolute relevance for mature skin facing an aging process which causes it to lose suppleness, firmness and hydration.
Indeed, MyCollagenLift is a concentrate of targeted nutrition including:
- Marine collagen peptides whose molecular weight allows them to be very bioavailable (i.e. easier to assimilate by your body);
- Hyaluronic acid to help you achieve a good level of hydration;
- Wheat oil ceramides to complete this moisture-maintaining effort for your skin;
- Vitamin C from acerola fruit helping to protect your cells from oxidative stress;
- Vitamin E also acting as an antioxidant;
- Organic silicon used to structure your skin while increasing your defenses against the harmful effect of free electrons.
Ready to give your skin a gift? Make a meaningful choice with an ultra-effective vitamin C by starting a 3-month course of MyCollagenLift today for visible results in 4 weeks.
- Study by Dr. Brenner L Freeman on the synergistic and antagonistic interactions of phenols present in navel type oranges: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20722912/
- Study by researcher Anand Prakash on the properties making acerola a “superfruit”: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6098779/