White tea, glucosamine - interesting ways to limit or reverse skin aging and wrinkles

Chemical Byrne

Hello all.
Its probably unusual for a fella to post here but anyway, i'm almost 29 and recently I've started to notice the that I'm developing nasolabial folds (between cheek and nose) and that my forehead is getting a bit wrinkled.

I've done a fair bit of research over the last few days and I've tried insofar as possible to stick with actual research and not the sort of tabloidish hearsay you see in magazines or health sites. I apologiese for the text heavy nature of this post but I do think there is some great info here.
In a nutshell I've learned that ageing is pretty much due to:

- sun damage, sun damage, sun damage. This is the big one apparently.
- reduction in collagen and elastin synthesis in the skin as we age
-the above point combined with increased activity of MMP( an enzyme that decomposes collagen and elastin) as we age causes an tipping of the balance of collagen deposition and degradation and the result is a reduced amount of collagen and elastin in turn resulting in a loss of firmness, wrinkles and, later, sagging.

But I have seen that there is hope yet.

-White tea has been shown to be extremely effective in reducing the activity of MMP's, up to 89% inhibition in fact (Ref A & J), although this was an in vitro study. In vivo, it has also been shown to significantly improve resistance to UV photoaging in mice (Ref . There are also innumerable other benefits to white and green teas. I've provided some additional information on green and white teas here for your information (Ref R-U)

-Addition of vitamin C to teas can dramatically improve the absorbtion of skin benefitting catechins in the intestine, (Ref G). As catechin have an antioxidant and photoprotective effect on the skin, an increased uptake could conceivably provide addition skin benefits.

-Glucosamine, typically taken as a supplement to aid cartilage health, has been shown to increase skin moisturisation through stimulation of hyaluronic acid sythesis in the skin. It may improve tone and lessen the appearance of wrinkles. (Refs D, K)

- Hyaluronic acid would appear to be a major factor in skin hydration, plumpness and appearance and it is something that declines with age. Used as an oral supplement in itself or even topically it has been shown to improve the appearance of wrinkles, moisturisation and firmness. (Ref F, M & M)

- Drinking enough water to stay hydrated has been knocking around as a way to improve skin appearance for ages. Some of the studies suggest this is the case although there is a literature review paper that casts some doubt about this efffect. Either way, keeping well hydrated is a good thing to do regardless. (Ref O, Q, P).

- Consumption of excess dietary sugar is known to degrade collagen. Basically glucose molecules bind to the collagen protein molecules causing a loss of structure. (Ref V - X). A study on rats showed that AGEs significantly degrades skin structure. (Ref Y).

This has all been very interesting and I've decided to put the findings of these studies to the test on myself to see if they have any impact.

I've put all of these resources into a publicly accessible folder inmy google drive for you to look through. They might be of some benefit for people to read.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B9Pld72cqYCVfm9pRUtIeDdQdUFNVWlqTjd0Y2phM0Y5czlwVnprVS1LR3dBMTFlcmpEMzQ&usp=sharing

I've started taking oral glucosamine sulphate 500mg/day, oral hyaluronic acid 150mg/day and drinking 3L of fluids part of which will comprise 3 cups of white tea with vitamin C in each cup to boost catechin uptake. I'm taking photos each day to track any changes.

I have never really paid my skin any attention in my 28 years but over the last week I have begun a skincare regime consiting of a morning routine of washing with Tesco Proformula Facial Wash followed by application of a Nivea Men moisturiser with SPF-30. Night time routine consists of washing with exfoliating scrub and moiturising with Tesco Pro Formula with vitamin E. Needless to say, smoking and alcohol are gravely deleterious to the whole body, skin is no exception. I don't smoke anyway and only very rarely drank (once or twice a year) but I have given up completely now. I have already cut out excess sugars from my diet (no fizzy drinks, only the very very odd sweet or bar) since the new year to help lose some weight so that should at least contribute to keeping AGE's in some sort of check.

My skin was always quite oily and I suuffered from mild amount of whiteheads and spots always but I noticed that this has pretty much resolved since I improved my diet and started drinking a good amount of green tea, 3-4 cups per day probably about 6 months ago. Incidentally I also had very bad dandruff for years and I'd be tearing my scalp off if I didn't wash my hair for 2 days. But this seems to resolved also since using green tea, which to my amazement was an effect which is confirmed in this paper - (Ref R).

Anyway, sorry for the long post but I just thought that it would be worth sharing this information. I am a little perturbed now that I'm showing some signs of ageing but for girls I can imagine that it would be much more of a worry. I hope this helps someone.

Bored_lad

Its not unusual for guys to post here at all there's a good few of us on here.

I agree with nearly all of your points and am just going to comment on some of them.

The first one on sun is 100% true no study has disputed this and it is a well known fact the only way to prevent this is by using suncream daily of at least 15spf. Look for a suncream that has full UVA/UVB protection and it is also recommended that you reapply every too hours. It is also essential to wear sun cream daily for the whole year not just the summer.

Next the white tea. This is one I am unsure of I have read bits of the study myself but the things that stand out to me is that firstly there has only been one study which was in 2009 and ssince then there have been no further studies relating to the issue that I can find. Another thing to note in that study is that if you read the method you will see "White tea powder was extracted in a similar manner except it was extracted in cold water" this is extremely important and something everyone I have talked to who uses white tea to prevent aging has over looked.

Moving onto Glucosamine this is something I have not read too far into however one thing I do know fron when I looked into it a while back most of the studies were done on the topical use of glucosamine which is completely different to take glucosamine orally which is often used for arthritis.

Now on to hyaluronic aicd this is extremely important for moisture retention in the skin and keeps skin moisturised. It has become really popular in recent years and again the benefits are greater when used topically rather than orally.

I will finish this post later when I get home by editing it.

Chemical Byrne

Hi! Thanks for your comments!

I'm curious as to why you think cold water extraction might be an issue ? I've a study there that explains how extraction of catechins is positively correlated with water temperature and duration of brewing, although that is with green tea but I'd imagine the same would apply to white tea. Vit c helps also with absorption and is an AOx in itself too!

I'm thinking of cutting my moisturiser with SPF 50 in a 50/50 mix. Would this be a good or bad idea?
A serious amount for f discipline is required with sunblock.

Do you know if there are many people using white tea?

I've 150 mg hyaluronic acid on order from bulk powders. I know those studi s indicate a significant effect but iv also seen that the half life in bloodstream is of the order of 10-15 minutes so there is a question mark over that in in my opinion.

Chemical Byrne

I'm also curious about AGEs. I have porridge every morning believing it to be very healthy. However the fact that its starchy and starch rapidly converts to glucose is now a concern to me. In a roundabout way would porridge contribute significantly to formation of AGEs?
Any thing that ve read on porridge suggests it is nothing but beneficial..

Chemical Byrne

To my great surprise I actually noticed this morning when I got up that the crows feet wrinkles were nearly imperceptible, pretty much totally gone on the left side in particular, whereas 2 days ago they were fairly visible.

At the minute I'm putting it down to my skin being very well hydrated due to a good night's rest and drinking plenty water, a little & often, about 3L spread over the day.
There is simply no way on earth any type of supplementation could have had any such effect in such a short time. If an effect were to occur, I would expect it to take at least a month to become in any way noticeable since this is roughly how long it takes skin to turn over.
Either way, it was surpriseing to see although at nearly 4pm they have returned somewhat. Strange.

Chemical Byrne

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

To my great surprise I actually noticed this morning when I got up that the crows feet wrinkles were nearly imperceptible, pretty much totally gone on the left side in particular, whereas 2 days ago they were fairly visible.

At the minute I'm putting it down to my skin being very well hydrated due to a good night's rest and drinking plenty water, a little & often, about 3L spread over the day.
There is simply no way on earth any type of supplementation could have had any such effect in such a short time. If an effect were to occur, I would expect it to take at least a month to become in any way noticeable since this is roughly how long it takes skin to turn over.
Either way, it was surpriseing to see although at nearly 4pm they have returned somewhat. Strange.

It's probably due to sleeping on one side of your face.

retro:electro

I'm sorry but I think you're completely obsessing over something that is probably either a dehydration line or due to sleeping on the side of your face. You saw one little line and decided to completely overhaul your lifestyle and skin regimen, no alcohol ever again, really? You sound like you looked into this waaay too much and are now completely obsessed with it. Most of those lines go away after plenty of fluids and a good nights sleep. No need to obsess and fixate so much.

Chemical Byrne

It's probably due to sleeping on one side of your face.

Which? The lines appearing or disappearing?

I didn't give up alcohol because of this. I'd drank only very rarely (2-3 times a yr) for the past few years and I've given it up entirely since christmas. I was never a big drinker and I actually hate the taste. Beer is stink.

But over the past few years my lifestyle and diet was kinda crap. Regardless of skin issues i wanted to improve things, lose weight and become fitter. The wrinkles is just something I'd like to keep under check if possible.