Why you need to eat more antioxidants!

We're totally passionate about Skin Health at The Bothy and we want you to have your best skin possible. We completely love facials, loving the fact that you can see the difference to someone skin immediately and know that the benefits of the facial will grow and continue for 4-6 weeks as your skin cells regenerate.

But whilst we can affect the texture and tone of your skin, it's harder for us to work with the biological changes that happen to your skin as you age. We always tell our clients to wear SPF, even on cloudy, cold days in the depths of Winter but what else can you do to keep your skin as healthy as possible...

We've been reading a brilliant book called 'How Not To Die' by Dr Michael Greger, MD. There's so much information about the power of food and what you can eat to prevent common diseases. Quite often we just don't eat enough fresh, plant based food - there's too many other, more convenient processed foods to eat!

Revered Biochemist Earl Stadtman is quoted as saying 'Ageing is a disease. The human lifespan simply reflects the level of free radical damage that accumulates in cells. When enough damage accumulates, cells can't survive properly anymore and they just give up.' A little bit like charging your phone battery over and over - each time, its capacity gets less and less.

Here’s the science

As we eat, energy from the plants or animal we’re eating is transferred into our body as high-energy electrons. These high-energy electrons are highly sought after as they enter our cells. Unfortunately oxygen likes to get it’s grubby hands on these high-energy electrons and if they do manage to connect, the oxygen turns into ‘superoxide’ or a free radical. If this free radical attaches to your DNA it can damage your genes and cause ageing, wrinkles, cancers & diseases (called ‘oxidation’ or oxidative stress).

How do we slow down Oxidation and therefore ageing?

However your body loves to fight back and it does so using ‘antioxidants’. So if you want to slow down the oxidant process you can eat lots of foods rich in antioxidants. You can tell whether a food is rich in antioxidants by slicing it open, exposing it to air and seeing how quickly it goes brown. Apples and bananas don’t have a lot of antioxidants in them, whereas mangos and lemons do! Antioxidants can keep your food from oxidising, and they can help neutralise the free radicals in your body too - reducing the risk of many chronic diseases.

Foods packed with antioxidants...

Dark Chocolate

Pecans

Blueberries

Strawberries

Raspberries

Kale

Beans

Beetroots

Spinach

It's also worth bearing in mind that Vitamin C is an antioxidant, so by splashing on some lemon juice you're increasing the antioxidant value of your meal! Or perhaps try a daily grapefruit to begin your day with a punch.

Quite often I snack on roasted cauliflower, with ground cumin and lemon juice. Would you believe that cauliflower is packed with Vitamin C, add some lemon juice and some antioxidant packed cumin and you have a seriously healthy and delicious snack. I roast my cauliflower for 25mins and serve hot with humous.

Thanks so much for reading... We're passionate about Skin Health and Wellness. If you'd like to meet us and find out more about how we can help give you your best skin, please email revive@thebothywellness.co.uk. Or book online at BOTHY ONLINE BOOKINGS.