A Market Overview of Nutricosmetics

The aging population spends billions of dollars each year on vitamins, minerals, botanical extracts, and antioxidants in an effort to maintain a youthful appearance of the skin and promote overall well-being. Hormonal imbalance, inflammation, smoking, exposure to UV radiation, and environmental stressors contribute to the aging of the skin by production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can potentially damage cell membranes, proteins, and DNA. This overload of oxidative stress and a production of free radicals can eventually break down connective tissues and collagen, and release chemicals that lead to cellular and molecular events that are evident as signs of aging, such as the formation of wrinkles, uneven skin tone, dyspigmentation, inflammation, immunosuppression, photoaging, photo-carcinogenesis, and sagging skin. Nutricosmetics provide nutritional antioxidant supplementation to support endogenous antioxidant enzymes that may help to internally regulate oxidative stress and help to achieve a healthier skin appearance from the inside out. This article reviews the various theories behind the process of skin aging, the role of antioxidant enzymes in the prevention of skin aging, and the endogenous and exogenous antioxidants that may help to minimize the effects of oxidative stress.