One thing that we cannot change is the natural process of aging, as it is a fundamental part of nature’s cycle. That being said, we can always slow down the process, after all, there are individuals that grow old more gracefully than others. We mostly think that it’s because of their genes but that’s not the case every time. Most of the times it is because these elegant individuals are taking good care of their body and skin. A proper diet (including various fruits, vegetables, and berries), healthy lifestyle habits (exercising and meditation) and last but not least, efficient topical skincare solutions. Together all these three pillars strengthen our skin and body’s anti-aging game. Environmental stress, lifestyle, and wrong skincare choices can cause our skin to age prematurely. So when we are aware of what changes we must bring to our daily skincare routine, then even we can easily get that youthful ageless grace and beauty that we see others flaunting.
WHAT DO WE DO?
Beautiful glowing skin is dependent among other factors, on what we eat and include in our diet. Researchers have concluded that eating fruits and vegetables is a safe, healthy way to work towards delaying the signs of aging if not prevent them outright. There are a wide variety of food items that we can consume to be healthy and have good skin, but at the same time, there are unhealthy foods that can make our skin age faster like sugar or junk foods. Fruits and green vegetables contain many phytonutrients (or plant nutrients) that are not exactly necessary for our body or skin but they definitely add to our skin and body health. One of the foods that are incredibly rich in phytonutrients is any berry. Berries are healthy when eaten raw or used as an ingredient in formulation-based products like creams, masks or serums. There are many different types of berries that fall in this category but three of them are extremely beneficial for our skin.
BERRIES FOR SKIN
Berries of all type are powerhouse food items, rich in antioxidants which promotes healthy skin cells and protect against any skin diseases. There are many reasons why berries are helpful for skin. Berries can reduce wrinkles, fine lines, and help to control free radicals. Basically, skin aging is due to pollutants, sun exposure, harsh environment, and food. Research and nutrient analyses have discovered that berries are one of the best ingredients amongst all to protect our skin from sun or pollution. Berries are also high in fiber and contain many nutrients that fight inflammation, etc.
Due to all the above-mentioned benefits berries are used in the formulation to develop face cream, mask, and serum. Berries are even known as one of the healthiest fruits to restore the skin and to protect our skin. Like we discussed earlier, there are many types of berries like raspberries, blackberries, and others but we will discuss the three that top the list to care for our skin. These are Blueberries, Bearberries, and Acai berries.
When we talk about the different types of nutrients present in berries, we’ll find that they are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, phytonutrients, and other natural components. With these nutrients, berries are able to protect our skin from damage caused by the sun, pollution, and oxidative stress. It also helps to promote collagen production. Berries contain antiinflammatory properties that decrease redness and rashes for those with sensitive skin. Berries are very helpful in skincare but those who are allergic to berries should not use any berry-based products.
USING BERRIES FOR SKIN
The berries provide flavonoids, polyphenols, phytonutrients and antioxidants for the skin to prevent anti-aging. Flavonoids are substances useful to prevent several chronic diseases in aging humans. Polyphenols are rich in antioxidants and are known for their anti-aging properties to combat the effect of UV rays and stress. Among all the other benefits or components phytonutrients are full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. It helps to repair the skin cells by restoring it and prevent harmful substances from damaging it further.
TYPES OF BERRIES USED FOR ANTI-AGING
Here, there are three types of berries used to restore the skin from premature anti-aging and to protect it from harmful UV rays and pollution.
1. BLUEBERRIES:
The blueberry bush is a flowering shrub that produces purple hue and bluish berries. It is the king of the antioxidant foods that protect our body and skin from free radicals that can damage the cells causing the skin to age rapidly. It reduces DNA damage and protects our skin from aging. Blueberries also increase blood circulation and make the skin glowing and smoother. Blueberries contain Vitamin C that boosts the production of collagen. As blueberries are high in antioxidants, they help the skin to regenerate the cells and fight against aging.
2. ACAI BERRIES:
Acai Berries are hard to get but they are rich in phenolics. It comes from the acai palm tree from South America and they are bluish-purple and larger than blueberries. It is known as the powerhouse of antioxidants and popular as a superfood. These berries help skin and body by protecting it from oxidants, and several conditions related to the process of aging. This fruit contains many nutrients, fiber and more of antioxidants to protect skin from aging. It is a very powerful and effective ingredient that helps prevent wrinkles, acne, fine lines, etc. i.e. all the processes related to aging.
3. BEARBERRIES:
Bearberries are the species of dwarf shrubs with bright red berries. They generally grow in colder weather of Arctic and Northern America, Europe, and Asia but we can also find them in some regions of Central America. The bearberries are rich in fiber and are mostly used for medicinal treatments. Bearberries contain a natural compound called arbutin for natural skin lightening. It is very effective to lighten skin pigments such as age spots, sun spots, melasma, and blotchy skin tone. It contains phytochemicals, essential oils, and resin, hydroquinones, phenolic glycosides, and flavonoids by which the skin can get a brighter complexion and prevent the skin from damage. Bearberries also help to increase the cell turnover rate with its antioxidants.
4. RASPBERRIES
Raspberries are small red berries that usually grow during the winter season. The raspberry plant is perennial and belongs to the rose family. These berries are available in different colors based on their types like red raspberries, blue raspberries, white raspberries, etc.
Raspberries are extremely rich in Vitamin C and other antioxidants. Like other berries, raspberries also contain phytonutrients that reduce oxidative stress from our skin. It effectively reduces the damage caused due to free radicals. It increases skin brightness by reducing dark spots and uneven skin tone.
The Vitamin C present in raspberries increases collagen synthesis to support our skin structure and keep it smooth and firm. The antioxidants repair DNA damage and make our skin healthy.
5. CRANBERRIES
Cranberries are berries that grow on evergreen shrubs. The US and Canada are two of the largest producers of cranberries. It is mainly used to make juice, jams, spreads, etc. but it is also used to create nature-inspired skincare products.
These berries are an incredible source of Vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, C, and E along with proteins and fibers. Cranberries, with their protein and fiber content, improves muscle and skin health. Vitamin A reduces fine lines and wrinkles, Vitamin B1, B2, and B3 increases immunity, protein metabolism, and moisturizes skin whereas Vitamin C protects our skin from photoaging, increases collagen synthesis and gives an even skin tone. Vitamin E in Cranberries works as an excellent moisturizer for our skin.
Similar to Acai berries and blueberries, Cranberries also contain phytochemicals or phytonutrients that are rich antioxidant sources helping to combat oxidative stress on our skin and body.
6. GOJI BERRIES
Goji berries, also known as wolfberries, are found in Central Asia where they are also used in making many different cuisines. These berries have a lot of benefits for the health of our skin and body.
Goji berries contain high antioxidant content due to the number of phytonutrients present in them like Carotenoids and Zeaxanthin. These phytochemicals provide the pigment to the plant and also act as antioxidants for our body. Along with that, Goji berries are also rich in Vitamin C that protects and brightens our skin.
7. GRAPES
Grape, although known as grapefruit, is a berry that grows on vines and once these berries are collected, they do not ripen any further (anti-climacteric). Grapes are well-known to make wines by fermenting them. However, grapes also are very beneficial for our skin anti-aging.
Many anti-aging skincare products contain Grapeseed oil in them because of its high content of Vitamin E. It acts as a light moisturizer that does not clog pores and controls the amount of oil on our face. Grapeseed oil contains antioxidants, Vitamin C and K in it that help to protect our skin and body from the free radical attack and repair the damage caused by oxidative stress on our skin and body.
Therefore, this was about the uses of berries according to the types of berries used to prevent skin from anti-aging. There are many products which contain berry extracts in them and here are some of them that we love, Bee Elite Essentials Ageless Bee Venom Face Cream, Bee Elite Essentials Ageless Bee Venom Face Mask and Bee Elite Essentials Ageless Bee Venom Face Serum.
FAQs
Acai berries are considered to be superfoods because of the number of nutrients they contain. It is an excellent antioxidant that protects our skin from oxidative stress and repairs the damage that already occurred to our cells and DNA. It also contains Vitamins that help fight wrinkles, protect against photodamage and give us even-toned skin.
Bearberries are edible berries that are used for various medicinal purposes. For our skin, bearberries are used for their content of Arbutin. Arbutin helps in decreasing dark spots and brightens up our skin.
Blueberries are low-calorie food with incredible antioxidant properties because of its high phytonutrient content. It also contains Vitamin C that boosts collagen synthesis, neutralizes free radicals and protects our skin from photodamage. What are the benefits of Acai berries?
What are Bearberries used for?
What are the health benefits of Blueberries?
CONCLUSION
The active ingredients in most of the berries are the powerful phytonutrients that stop the process of aging. The product contains berries that we highly recommend due to its natural compounds that can help our skin to prevent wrinkles, fine lines, sagging, dark spots, and other visible signs of aging. Products like lotion, cream, face mask and serums with berries can stop the process of aging with its various nutrients and antioxidants. It will also help you to protect our skin from harmful UV rays, smoke, and pollution. Berries will help you to improve our skin tone, brighten the skin, and most importantly prevent the aging process.
Know more about berries and other interesting anti-aging skincare ingredients in our article Exciting facts about anti-aging skincare. It discusses different ingredients that help us in the process of skin anti-aging with their extraordinary skin-loving properties.
REFERENCES
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3663177/
https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-berry-research/jbr152
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28503264
https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/aging/anti-aging-tips/10-anti-aging-foods1.htm