Your skin, hair, and nails are critical elements for your body structure. They provide a covering to protect blood vessels, nerves, muscles, and maintain fluid management, while withstanding environmental and temperature challenges. The skin is an important sensory organ and affects metabolism, immunity and detoxification. It protects you against UV radiation, and helps make vitamin D. Your skin, hair and nails also give you identifying characteristics and provide your unique look.

From a nutritional perspective, skin, hair, and nail health represents an outward glimpse of your nutritional status. Insufficient intake of nutrients affects the structural integrity and vitality and is seen as thinning, loss or dry, breakable hair, thin and easily breakable or ridged or misshapen nails, wrinkles and loss of elasticity or crepe skin, flaky or peeling skin, and other factors. These clues indicate that your skin, hair and nails need more attention.

Skin health is especially important as it is the largest organ of the human body. Skin cells shed or exfoliate daily and every 10-30 days, the outer layer of your skin has replaced itself. Your skin depends on substances like collagen, keratin, hyaluronic acid and sulfur for its structural make-up and to keep it hydrated. At the same time, it needs antioxidants to protect against constants stressors like UV radiation/sunburn, climate/weather, germs, chemicals, scrapes and bumps.

Hair grows about 1 cm per month. Nails grow more slowly at 0.3 cm per month. These tissues need similar nutrients to grow and be healthy.

We are excited to bring you a brand-new product - BEAUTY by Mary Elle, co-founder of Wellness Resources. These are some of her favorite ingredients and most important anti-aging and structural fortifying nutrients that work synergistically together.

Biotin

Biotin supports many structures in your body like skin, nails, and hair along with other internal metabolic functions. Biotin contributes to keratin production, which is a structural protein that makes up skin, hair, and nails in humans. Inadequate biotin may also contribute to thinning and loss of hair on the scalp and body hair. A red, scaly rash around the eyes, nose, mouth, and around the perineum may occur with insufficient biotin.

Clinical trials with oral supplementation of biotin have shown improvement in nail strength, firmness, and thickness and reduce splitting.

Biotin is a water-soluble B vitamin. It is found naturally in nuts, legumes, whole grains, unpolished rice, and egg yolk. It is also produced by normal gut flora. Many individuals either do not eat these foods or have underlying gut flora imbalances, which may affect your biotin needs.

Antiseizure medications, lipoic acid, pregnancy and breast-feeding, and consumption of raw egg whites may affect biotin levels and increase your needs.

More information about biotin may be found in the article B Vitamin Deficiency: Are You at Risk?

Verisol^® Bioactive Collagen Peptides

Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body. Collagen is found in the deep layers of your skin and throughout your body. It provides critical structural support to your hair, nails, skin, joints, teeth, bones, blood vessels and even your heart valves. Collagen provides elasticity, durability, toughness, and strength to these tissues. Age, excessive sun exposure, stress, poor digestion and/or diet, hormone changes, and smoking affect collagen integrity.

Oral intake of bioactive collagen peptides helps activate cells within the deep layers of your skin to naturally increase collagen production. This provides support for the scaffolding and matrix of your skin, which in turn helps reduce cellulite build-up, and increases skin elasticity and hydration.

The production of healthy fingernails and toenails depends on collagen along with biotin and other nutrients. Research studies demonstrated improvement with nail strength and growth in women who used Verisol bioactive collagen peptides. Women experienced fewer broken and less brittle nails and overall improvement to the entire nail bed.

Randomized controlled trials demonstrated Verisol® Bioactive Collagen Peptides improved skin health. Results showed that women who used the bioactive collagen peptides experienced statistically significant reduction in eye wrinkle volume after four weeks of use. Improvement in wrinkle reduction was the greatest when the collagen peptides were used for 8 weeks and longer.

Dietary rich sources of collagen like bone broth or animal skin are often not consumed in today’s modern world or specialty diets. Collagen peptide supplementation helps support renewal and turnover of your soft tissues.

More information may be found with the article Anti-Age Your Skin with Collagen and Collagen Peptides Support Joints, Skin, and Muscle Structure and Function.

MSM Sulfur

MSM Sulfur is mineral necessary for making different proteins that promote luster and growth in hair and skin. It is also used by your bones, mucous membranes, joints, and connective tissue for their make-up and function.

MSM Sulfur is also used by glutathione, a master antioxidant system that affects all tissues and detoxification. Of all the minerals used by your body, MSM is considered the beauty mineral for your outer and inner self. Studies demonstrated improvement in skin aging as seen with fewer wrinkles along with improved hydration and elasticity with 1000 mg/day of MSM sulfur.

Cynatine HNS (solubilized keratin)

Cynatine HNS is a highly bioavailable, patented from of keratin. Keratin is a key structural protein that is essential to form hair, nails, and the outer layer of your skin.

Clinical trials showed that individuals who used Cynatine HNS had significantly better quality and stronger hair with less hair loss. Compared to the placebo group, participants who used Cynatine HNS for 90 days experienced a 64.7%, or three times the improvement in hair shininess and brightness compared to the control group. In addition, after 90 days of Cynatine HNS use, nail strength and integrity improved with less breakage and less yellow discoloration.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with 50 women showed improvement in skin health with use of Cynatine HNS. Participants received 500 mg of keratin plus vitamins and minerals for 90 days versus a placebo. Those who received the Cynatine HNS with vitamins, and minerals experienced statistically significant measurable improvements in skin moisture, elasticity, appearance, integrity, with wrinkle reduction.

Bamboo Extract

Bamboo extract provides high amounts of the natural mineral silica. This is not to be confused with silicon or silicone that are used in the construction or medical industry. Silica provides integral support to your skeletal frame. It is necessary for bones, connective tissue and soft tissue matrix, tendons strength and durability and helps collagen production for skin and nails.

In addition to these benefits of silica, preliminary cell studies have demonstrated that bamboo stem extract contains antioxidants that protected skin health and coloring changes. Recent animal studies also found bamboo stem extract helped protect against skin irritation and immune reactivity caused by application of a benzene derivative used in biochemical research.

More information may be found in the article Silica – Supports Your Bones, Joints, Nails, and More.

Injuv^® Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic acid is a very popular compound for anti-aging skin, repair and structural support. Hyaluronic acid is prized for its effect on skin rejuvenation, protection and repair because of its molecular structure that attracts water. It helps maintain supple skin. Hyaluronic acid helps firm skin tone and reduces fine lines and wrinkles. In addition, hyaluronic acid’s hydrated matrix helps the natural flow of nutrients into skin cells and removal of metabolic waste from the different layers of your skin. This supports connective tissue repair and aids in maintaining younger-looking skin.

Your body naturally makes hyaluronic acid to help repair layers of your skin from scrapes, cuts and trauma. That natural production declines with age, but may be augmented with oral and topical cosmetic support. With age, moisture levels within the skin and hyaluronic acid decline. External factors like heat, dry climates, and sun exposure can dry out your skin. Hyaluronic acid helps lock in moisture, which helps skin tone and reduces fine lines and wrinkles.

More information may be found in the article Hyaluronic Acid Prized for Skin, Joints, Dental and Body Repair.

Grape Seed Extract

Grape seed extract is a personal favorite of mine. Like many plant-based compounds, it has a diverse range of antioxidant and protective actions due to its proanthocyanidin content. This antioxidant compound travels throughout your body and protects skin, cartilage, joints, and teeth. It also helps protect your nerves and microglial cells, blood vessels, heart and cholesterol health and aids your immune system in managing irritants like germs and allergens. It supports collage flexibility and strength. It promotes mineralization of teeth and helps inhibit germ gangs in the mouth. It aids in protecting your skin against sunburn and aging from sun exposure.

Additional information may be found at Grape Seed Extract: Versatile and Valued Antioxidant.

Green Tea Extract

Like grape seed extract, green tea extract is an excellent antioxidant for the skin. Green tea extract contains different types of antioxidants such as epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG. Your skin depends on these EGCG and other antioxidants to protect against UV radiation and chemical compounds you encounter.

A blend of cell studies and clinical trials suggest that green tea extract provides effective antioxidant support for skin aging and hair loss. Studies demonstrated its antioxidant protective effects against sun exposure and sunburn.

A fascinating December 2019 animal study demonstrated that green tea extract intake for 7-days positively influenced and protected the natural flora or microbiome of the skin as well as the gut flora in response to UV stress. Green tea extract provided a type of “prebiotic effect” to the skin barrier and a positive working relationship with the gut flora.

More information may be found in the article Get Glowing Skin with Green Tea Extract.

Ceramoside® Ceramides

Your skin is also made up of ceramides. These are bioactive special fats that are the building blocks of your skin. Ceramides help renewal of skin cells to keep its barrier function intact. They also help skin cells with immune regulation and maintain homeostasis in times of irritation and stress.

Various animal and human studies have demonstrated that plant-based ceramides support skin hydration and strengthen the skin barrier. Improvement was seen in dry, patchy, irritated skin and reduction in a dry flaky scalp with use of ceramides in adults. The Ceramoside ceramides ingredient is extracted from wheat; however, is very pure and does not contain gluten or other wheat allergens.

More information may be found in the article Ceramides Increase Skin Moisture

Lycopene

Lycopene is part of the carotenoid family like beta-carotene, lutein, and astaxanthin. These nutrients are well-known for their antioxidant effects for the skin and other organs and tissues. They provide “photoprotective” effects or provide direct light-absorbing properties and scavenge free radicals induces by UV-radiation.

Lycopene helps reduce redness and irritation from sun exposure. It provides anti-aging effects as it helps skin elasticity, texture, hydration, and age spots.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover study published in the 2017 British Journal of Dermatology demonstrated lycopene and lutein both provided significant skin support. Adults were given lycopene for 12 weeks and then lutein for 12 weeks with two weeks of no support. The best results occurred with lycopene intake, but both carotenoids were helpful for skin protection. Lycopene intake inhibited UVA and UVB induced upregulation of inflammatory signals in the skin. Lycopene was also shown to decrease the activity of the enzyme MMP-1 involved with collagen breakdown.

Rich dietary sources of lycopene are found in tomato paste, pink grapefruit, and watermelon. The best sun protection results occurred with long-term use, which allowed lycopene to build-up in the layers of skin.

Looking at family photos is a trip down memory lane. It is also a chance to see how well you and your family members have aged. When your body is stressed or lacking nourishment, it circumvents the best of all nutrients to your brain and internal organs. If those recent photos or the trip to the hairstylist have triggered comments that reflect hair loss or poor quality hair, a dry, flaky, scalp, or old, sagging skin, and wrinkles, you need to give these tissues some tender loving care.

Adequate hydration, good sleep, and a healthy diet are the first places to start. Extra support with biotin, collagen, keratin, ceramides, MSM sulfur, grape seed extract and lycopene can help fortify those tissues when they need a little extra help. Is that family reunion picture giving away your age or have you “not aged a bit”?


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