| Can CoQ10 benefit skin by defending against sun | | | | the skin to stretch, but the abnormal elastin fibers |
| damage and the ravages of aging? Medical | | | | produced by sun exposure actually degrade |
| research says the answer is yes. | | | | collagen and the result is sagging and wrinkling of |
| The summer sun brightens our days, lifts our | | | | the skin. |
| spirits, and boosts our vitamin D levels, but it's | | | | Coenzyme Q10 can play a role in maintaining |
| also potentially damaging to the skin. Exposure to | | | | more youthful looking skin |
| the sun's rays can accelerate skin aging, causing | | | | CoQ10 is a natural substance found in every cell in |
| wrinkles, sagging, discoloration, and age spots. | | | | the body. It's primary function is to assist in the |
| Wrinkles appear when the skin loses elasticity. | | | | production of energy at the cellular level, and in |
| This may be due to a number of factors, many | | | | that capacity it can be an important resource for |
| of them age-related. As we get older skin cells | | | | maintaining youthful, healthy skin. By boosting |
| divide more slowly and the inner skin, or dermis, | | | | energy production in the cells, The coemzyme |
| grows thinner. The layer of fat cells beneath the | | | | supports the skin's collagen/elastic structural |
| dermis starts to atrophy, as does the network of | | | | framework, slows down the thinning of the |
| collagen and elastin fibers that support the skin. | | | | sub-dermal layer of fat cells, and improves the |
| As a result, the outer skin, or epidermis, is less | | | | skin's ability to retain moisture. |
| resilient and loses much of its ability to retain | | | | CoQ10 is also a powerful antioxidant, and as such |
| moisture. This makes it less elastic, and the | | | | can be an invaluable tool for defending against skin |
| results are sagging skin and wrinkles. | | | | aging. Antioxidants are substances which can |
| | | | neutralize free radicals, which are unstable |
| Sun exposure can accelerate aging and damage | | | | molecules created by the process of cellular |
| skin | | | | oxidation. Free radicals scavenge and damage the |
| Exposure to sun can not only exacerbate the | | | | cells with which they interact, and free radical |
| effects of aging on skin, it can create additional | | | | damage has been implicated as a causal factor in |
| damage known as photoaging. Researchers | | | | many illnesses, including most age-related diseases |
| estimate that about 90% of the symptoms of | | | | and disorders. |
| premature skin aging can be attributed to the | | | | Since exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays is |
| sun's ultraviolet rays, which can damage the | | | | known to create extensive free radical damage |
| crucial collagen fibers that are the skin's major | | | | to the skin, antioxidant CoQ10's neutralizing, |
| structural protein. | | | | healing, and cell repair ability make it an important |
| In addition, sun exposure can cause an | | | | preventative as well as a treatment for |
| accumulation of abnormal elastin fibers. Under ideal | | | | sun-damaged skin. |
| circumstances elastin is the protein that enables | | | | |