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

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.