Rooibos helps Maintain Skin Fullness for a more Youthful Appearance
PLUMP UP THE VOLUME
Rooibos helps Maintain Skin Fullness for a more Youthful Appearance.
One of the ironies of life is that you always want what you haven’t got, don’t you? If you have curly hair, then you want straight. If you are too skinny, you wish you could put weight on. And when we had that baby face, we could not wait to get rid of that puppy fat in our cheeks and get a more chiseled jaw line. But now we are older, particularly, if like me you are the other side of 50, we’d do anything to plump up our skin and put a bit of that puppy fat back, to make ourselves look younger. We know that from the age of 30, we start to lose collagen and elastin in our skin, which is the framework and the cushioning that keeps our skin looking bouncy and youthful. And that this loss of collagen increases after menopause because of the lack of oestrogen. As much as 30% of collagen is lost in the first 5 years after menopause, speeding up wrinkling and skin sagging.
What isn’t talked about very often is that the loss of fat in our face, also contributes greatly to ageing characteristics. Loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue can lead to sunken eyes, wrinkles and skin folds. Alice Hart Davis, who brings us The Tweakment Guide, recently had a fat transplant treatment into her face, which, whilst it was successful, it isn’t a solution that is affordable or even desirable to most of us.
Rooibos Provides Fat Protection in the Face
Well, this blog is to tell you about a novel property that rooibos has – Fat protection!
Recent studies have demonstrated that fat stem cells, called preadipocytes, lose their ability to replicate and differentiate during ageing. Evidence suggests one factor that contributes to the health status of these fat stem cells, is mitochondria. Mitochondria are organelles found in every cell in your body. They are responsible for producing energy. So, think of them as the powerhouse or the lungs of your cells. But they are also the main source of intra-cellular free radicals, So, it’s perhaps not surprising that they are implicated in the process of ageing and disease. Keeping fat stem cells and their powerhouses, the mitochondria, healthy could potentially protect adipose tissue in your face and help slow down or reverse the signs of ageing. Rooibos is best known for its antioxidant capacity, but these studies show that rooibos can protect and repair fat stem cells, contributing further to its anti-aging armoury.
A Cell Biology Lesson!
So, do we know how this works? Well, to a certain extent, yes, we do! But, first, I may need to refresh your cell biology! We know that in healthy cells, energy, in the form of ATP, is produced by a process of Oxidative Phosphorylation. And this process uses glucose as the food source. This reaction takes place over the mitochondrial membrane and it’s really important that the mitochondrial membrane remains healthy so that the cell can communicate effectively. As cells age however, the rate of cell growth declines and energy levels, or ATP content, is depleted in the cell. And mitochondria health declines, which affects the cell’s signally pathways. The mitochondria become inefficient, forcing the cell to use an alternative energy generation pathway called glycolysis, which produces lactate. So, lactate levels are also a measure of the cell health.
Our Heroes
So, along comes our hero, Rooibos. But let’s not forget there are in fact two hero’s, red rooibos and green rooibos, a bit like Batman and Robin, or perhaps we should call them Roy and Bos (Did you see what I did there ;0). Both red and green rooibos have reparative effects on these aged fat cells.
Red Rooibos has a positive effect on mitochondrial health, restoring energy levels or ATP content and balancing oxidative phosphorylation, allowing cells to communicate effectively. Green Rooibos has a much greater impact in stimulating cell growth and proliferation in aged fat stem cells. And green rooibos increases glucose consumption. Aspalathin and other flavonoids found in green rooibos are known to be involved in the regulation of glucose uptake. Treatment of these aged fat cells with Green rooibos also reduced lactate production, indicating less reliance on glycolysis to supply the energy needs of the cell. So, treatment with rooibos, particularly green rooibos, preserves the function of fat stem cells and helps restore the health of these cells, If rooibos protects and repairs fat cells, let’s slather on the rooibos and plump up the volume to help maintain skin fullness and a more youthful appearance. That’s why MAYSAMA Green Rooibos Pressed Serum is more than an antioxidant serum. If you'd like to hear more of the science behind the brand, please subscribe to MAYSAMA's Mailing List and You Tube Channel. You can also find us on Instagram and Facebook at maysama_beauty. Take care friends and keep your skin healthy