Journal compilation © 2009 Nordic Pharmacological Society. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology, 104, 483–487

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, National Chung Hsing University,
250 Kuokuang Road, Taichung 40227, Taiwan, Republic of China

Source: Arch Product Data Sheet; Code #: 06480 (SAP 125880)

Summary of Technical Literature

Pseudocollagen is considered a true moisturizing glycoprotein taken from living yeast cells extracted by a controlled process that preserves its high molecular weight and ‘native’ structure.  The importance of deriving collagen from non-animal sources is paramount for maintaining environmentally and ethically safe standards in skin care.  Many cosmetic companies still extract collagen and sugars such as mucopolysaccharides from the dermal matrix of animals.  In fact, such a practice is not necessary. 

Yeast derived polysaccharides contain the same effective moisture retentive properties as traditional animal derived sources. Pseudocollagen is a water-soluble solution that is created by extracting the intra-cellular matrix from yeast cells. Similar to the sugar and protein complexes found in the dermis, it consists of a moisturizing complex of sugars and proteins responsible for providing turgor and shape inside the cell.  It has excellent moisture binding proteins, offering a safe alternative to animal derived collagen, imparting mature skin with firmness, moisture, and structural support.  Pseudocollagen is carefully extracted to amplify the moisture binding properties by maintaining the integrity of the glycosidic linkages, which are in fact absent from all animal derived collagen.

Technical Literature

Health and Beauty Benefits

By Mary Beth Janssen 

Hemp seed is considered one of the most nutritious super foods on the planet—packed with protein, vitamin E, omega-3, and GLA. With such powerhouse nutrition, it’s been used during famine to treat severely malnutritioned populations. There’s even an ancient legend that Buddha survived a six-year interval of asceticism by eating nothing but one hemp seed daily. This story may hold a germ of truth, given hemp seed’s astonishing nutritional profile.

Hemp seeds have been used as food since ancient times. They have a delicious nutty taste, and are now incorporated into many food preparations from “health” bars to nut butters, bread to pasta, burgers to pizza, salad dressings to cheese, beverages including milk, lemonade, and beer, and so much more.

For edible purposes, hempseed oil is extracted by cold pressing and the first pressing is the highest quality. Because of its high, unsaturated fatty acid levels (75 percent), which can easily oxidize, it’s not suitable for frying or baking.

Hemp seeds contain 25 percent to 30 percent pure, digestible protein, with a good balance of all eight amino acids essential in the human diet, among others. It has three times the vitamin E of flax and twice the iron and magnesium (a mineral often depleted by industrial agriculture) contained in flax. The vitamin E group or tocopherols are major antioxidants in human serum. These fat-soluble vitamins are essential for human nutrition, especially the alpha-form of which hempseed oil is about 80 percent. These antioxidants as well as sterols not only help stabilize the oil, but impart their protective health and beauty benefits.

Hemp seed oil is extremely rich in essential fatty acids (EFAs), mostly oleic, linoleic, alpha-linolenic, and gamma-linolenic acids. Linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid are the only two that must be ingested and are considered essential to human health. They serve as raw materials for cell structure and are involved in the synthesis of many of our body’s regulatory biochemicals. In hemp oil, linoleic (omega-6) and alpha-linolenic (omega-3) occur in a ratio of 3:1, considered the perfect balance in healthy human adipose tissue, and apparently unique in the universe of plant oils.

Hemp oil’s high level of gamma-linolenic acid or GLA is also significant. GLA affects vital metabolic functions ranging from control of inflammation and vascular tone to initiation of contractions during childbirth. GLA may also benefit cardiovascular, psychiatric, and immunological disorders. Aging and pathology (diabetes, hypertension, etc.) may impair GLA metabolism, making supplementation desirable for many. GLA has primarily been available as capsules of borage or evening primrose oil, but hemp is certainly an economic source, especially in food or oil form, although given its high EFA content it’s now being marketed as a dietary supplement.

EFAs and notably GLA, are of critical importance for healthy skin, making hemp oil a highly effective skin-care product. Its lipid constituents allow it to permeate through intact skin/scalp, directly nourishing skin cells while also carrying therapeutic substances with it into the skin. Products containing EFAs can alleviate inflammation of any kind (skin eruptions, infections, sunburn, insect bites), excessive epidermal water loss (dry, itchy skin/scalp) and improve scar and wound healing. GLA specifically has been shown to be beneficial for psoriasis and atopic eczema.

If you want to protect your skin, think antioxidants.

These have gained a great deal of attention in recent years, and for good reason.
They work to combat the ‘free radical cells’ that damage your skin.

What are free radicals?

Created when oxygen produces by-products during normal cellular metabolism. More accurately, this reactive oxygen ‘steals’ electrons from proteins, DNA and cell membranes, damaging tissue. If left unchecked, free radicals may cause heart damage, cancer, cataracts, and a weak immune system. Free radicals may be involved with aging of tissue; and coupled with sun damage, could promote skin cancers.

While free radicals are produced by normal human metabolism, they can be increased by smoking, alcohol, exposure to heavy metals, and radiation. Antioxidants counteract this process by binding to the free radicals, transforming them into non-damaging compounds, or repairing cellular damage. It would seem logical, then, to include antioxidants in your daily regime.  

To the rescue 

Antioxidants are the antidote to free radicals. They can be taken orally or applied directly to the skin.  

What are antioxidants? 

In order for antioxidants to have any benefit they have to be in sufficient quantities in the tissue. Common antioxidants that are taken orally, or eaten, are Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium and the carotenoids, (fruits and vegetables having the most deeply or brightly-colored fruits and vegetables, i.e.: spinach, carrots, red bell peppers, tomatoes).

What are topical antioxidants?

Topical antioxidants may reduce UVA damage. UVA is the wavelength that mostly produces visible signs of sun damage and has some carcinogenic effect.

Topical antioxidants that have been studied in creams or ointments are Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Glutathione, Lipoic Acid, Coenzyme Q10, Soy- isoflavanone. It has been shown that combining some of these have additional benefit.

Others such as selenium, zinc and silymarin have not been studied for their effects.  

Which are the antioxidants? 

Antioxidants can be divided into those that are fat soluble and those that are water soluble.  

Fat soluble is:  

• Vitamin E, coenzyme Q10 and lipoic acid  

 Water soluble is:

• Glutathione and Vitamin C  

 Vitamin E:

• The antioxidant effect can be more effective if combined with other antioxidants i.e.: coenzyme Q10 and Vitamin C

•  Is found in fresh vegetables, oils, seeds, nuts, cumin, and soy. Animal studies have shown that Vitamin E protects against UVB damage, although this effect has not been proved in humans. (UVB is much more carcinogenic than UVA, and causes sunburns).   

• Commonly used to help wound healing. However, studies in human burns did not show Vitamin E helping and about a 1/5 of patients reacted to vitamin E with a contact dermatitis).  

• Topical Vitamin E is commonly used by pregnant women in the belief that it prevents stretch marks. There is no evidence for this, and sometimes an acute allergic dermatitis is produced causing an inflamed uncomfortable rash.    

Coenzyme Q10 (also known as Ubiquinone)

• Found in fish and shell fish 
• It penetrates well into skin, and is claimed to reduce the breakdown of collagen after exposure to UVA light  

• It may reduce the depth of wrinkles but this has not been confirmed in studies   

Lipoic Acid  

• This is well absorbed into the skin, and converted quickly into dihydrolipoic acid in the cells. It has an anti-inflammatory effect. A three per cent application of Lipoid Acid has been shown to reduce redness in the skin after UVB exposure.

•  This antioxidant is produced by amino acids, eysteine, glycine and glutamic acid

Vitamin C

• Also known as Ascorbic Acid

• Oral Vitamin C improves wound healing and may enhance the immune system

• The lack of vitamin C produces scurvy, which produces fragile skin and bleeding gums

• reduces sun damage, fine wrinkles, and may lighten dark skin pigmentation

•  The lack of vitamin C produces scurvy, which produces fragile skin and bleeding gums 

Green Tea (Tea Polyphenols)

• Has shown to reduce the carcinogenic effect of certain chemicals and ultraviolet rays on the skin of animals. We are still awaiting good evidence for benefit in humans 

•  Produces anti-inflammatory effects

• Reduces the redness caused by UV light

DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone)

• Occurs naturally in our bodies
•  When taken orally, DHEA is a powerful antioxidant that may have an anti-aging effect and help thicken skin and reduce pigmentation 

• It is not know if there are any long-term negative effects from oral injection 

 Soy-isoflavones

•   When used topically it may increase collagen and decrease redness and damage from ultraviolet rays  

About the author:
Richard Thomas, MD, FRCPC is Assistant Professor of Clinical Dermatology, Department of Dermatology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

Source: Women’s Wellness Today

Coffee grounds contain over 300 naturally occurring antioxidant compounds. They remove toxins out of your skin and have the same pH balance as your own skin, which allows it to battle acne and blemishes. Coffee is a natural astringent, detoxifier and exfoliant. It moisturizes dry skin, heals cuts and abrasions faster and soothes chapped hands and feet. It protects your skin from lines and wrinkles with it’s powerful antioxidant power. It helps slough off dead skin cells and stimulates circulation all the way down to a cellular level. It makes age spots fade away and makes the skin look silky smooth all over.

You can also rub coffee grounds all over your cellulite thighs while you're in the shower. Studies show that massaging coffee grounds into the skin helps smooth away cellulite and get rid of the orange dimpled look by the caffeine in the coffee grounds constricting blood vessels so that the skin appears tighter, firmer and smoother.

The décolleté, or neck and cleavage, is often neglected and in need of TLC.

By Janine Falcon

“Most clothing leaves the décolleté exposed, so it gets more chronic UV exposure than we’re aware of,” explains Dr. Frances Jang, a cosmetic dermatologist in Vancouver. This is something we barely think about until our late 30s, when suddenly we notice something’s different and, as usual, not in a good way. “It’s like thinking we don’t eat junk food and being shocked at the reality when keeping a food diary reveals the truth,” says Jang. “Once those signs of damage become visible, many women in their 30s and 40s just give up wearing anything revealing.”

Common characteristics of a neglected décolleté are fine wrinkling on the upper chest and in the crease of the cleavage, brown spots, thinning skin and redness. Most of these can be attributed to sun damage, says Dr. Diane Madfes, a dermatologist in New York City and consulting dermatologist for Garnier Nutritioniste. Décolleté skin is thinner, has fewer oil glands and is more sensitive than the skin on the face, making it vulnerable to irritation as well as sun damage.

Best Health Magazine, Summer 2009

Source: Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Panel

Findings

Limited Use Ingredients

Prohibited / Restricted Ingredients

Unsafe Ingredients

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

About the Panel

The seven CIR Expert Panel voting members are physicians and scientists who have been publicly nominated by consumer, scientific, and medical groups; government agencies; and industry. Expert Panel members must meet the same conflict of interest requirements as individuals serving on FDA advisory committees. Three liaison members serve as nonvoting members representing government, consumers, and industry. With participation of these liaison representatives from FDA, CFA, and the Council, the CIR Expert Panel creates a unique forum for open discussions on issues affecting public safety.

CIR staff members conduct extensive literature searches, compile data, and prepare draft reports on high-priority ingredients. They organize the literature into several categories: chemistry (including physical properties and manufacture), use (cosmetic and non-cosmetic), general biology (with absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion data), and animal toxicology (acute, short-term, subchronic, and chronic studies, as well as dermal irritation and sensitization data).

The staff also prepare a clinical assessment of the ingredients that may include epidemiologic studies, along with classic repeated insult patch tests. In vitro test data are also gathered and incorporated into the review.

At each stage of the process, CIR seeks the input of all interested parties during a formal 60-day comment period.

If the open scientific literature contains insufficient information, the Expert Panel will call on industry or other interested parties to provide unpublished data or to undertake specific studies. After multiple opportunities for public comment and open, public discussion, a final safety assessment is issued.

By Mariusz J.A. Sapijaszko, MD FRCPC (Dermatology)

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is a nutrient that your body is not able to produce itself and therefore you need to eat those healthy fruits and vegetables that contain it. You've heard that vitamin C is used to help treat colds, but did you know that it is also used to prevent and even reverse ageing skin? Vitamin C has been studied for a few decades to determine its effect on the skin. Although the jury is still out whether or not it is as beneficial as professed, it has shown to be helpful for some people. Learn more about sun damaged skin on skincareguide.ca/conditions/sun_damaged_skin.html

How Vitamin C Works:

It works in two ways:

1. Antioxidant: Ultraviolet radiation can generate oxygen free radicals that cause aging of the skin. Vitamin C can act as a first defense, against some of these radicals (plasma/water-generated radicals). Vitamin E on the other hand, works against another type of radical; the fat-soluble radicals within the plasma membranes. It makes sense that Vitamin C and E are used together to defend against both types.

2. Collagen: Collagen is a key component of most tissues. Vitamin C works as an essential factor for the normal formation, maintenance and structural stability of collagen.

Will Eating Oranges Help My Skin?

You might think that eating a bunch of oranges will improve your skin, but unfortunately it's not that simple. In fact, eating Vitamin C does not appear to increase its levels in your skin to any significant degree. Topical creams and lotions containing Vitamin C however can be absorbed. The difficult part is first, keeping the Vitamin C stable enough in the lotion for it to be beneficial and secondly, for it to be able to penetrate the skin. Both of these factors are difficult to achieve with Vitamin C due to the nature of its composition. In order for it to penetrate the skin, a low pH (acidic environment) and high (>10-15%) concentration of Vitamin C are needed before it is effective. Not all Vitamin C products are alike and not all of them meet these two essential elements.

What Are the Benefits?

There have been a number of studies conducted both on animals and humans, many with very encouraging results. Animal studies have shown Vitamin C can protect against UVA and UVB damage such as redness, formation of abnormal cells and immuno-suppression. In human studies, topical Vitamin C has resulted in some improvement in collagen production, perhaps leading to better looking skin.

So in summary, Vitamin C has shown positive results as UVA/UVB protection, decreasing pigmentation and increase collagen production, all factors in aging your skin. It is important to note that using one solution alone will not resolve your photo-damage. It starts with protecting your skin, taking care of it, and using the best combination of products for your skin type to fight photo-damaged skin.

About the author:

Mariusz J. A. Sapijaszko, MD FRCPC is the Director of the Western Canada Dermatology Institute located in Edmonton, Alberta. He is also the Clinical Assistant Professor at the Division of Dermatology, University of Alberta, in Edmonton. His areas of expertise include cosmetic and laser surgery.