“I believe that sun damage is a disease that can be treated. It is caused by a deficiency in Vitamin A” – Dr Des Fernandes (Environ founder)
Numerous summers spent soaking up the rays, often without adequate UV protection can lead to leathery, pigmented and prematurely aged skin.
Symptoms of excessive sun exposure can manifest themselves decades after UV ray exposure. Even if you have avoided the sun and religiously slathered yourself in sunscreen for the past ten years, your skin can tell a different story if you were less careful in your youth.
“Vitamin A is fundamentally the most important molecule in addressing sun damage and anti-ageing. There is simply nothing else like it” – Dr Des Fernandes (Environ founder)
Vitamin A has powerful, proven anti-ageing properties. Vitamin A ‘normalises’ skin and this becomes particularly important when it comes to sun damage as there is often a lot to reverse.
Thickened skin
Coarse, leathery skin is a tell-tale sign of too much sun exposure (just think Madge from the TV show Benidorm!).
When constantly exposed to UV rays, the skin tries to protect itself by thickening the top layer, resulting in a rough texture that absorbs light rather than reflecting it. This can make skin appear dull. When viewed under a microscope, the cells of a sun damaged skin are loose and there are gaps where the collagen has been broken down, compromising its elasticity and ability to retain moisture.
Vitamin A has been shown to play a major role in increasing the growth of the base layer of the epidermis which makes it thicker and more tolerant to damaging environmental effects.
It has also been shown to compact the cells of the top layer and helping to reflect light, promoting smooth, healthy skin.
Collagen Breakdown
Our collagen production slows down significantly as we age so compounding the problem with UV exposure speeds up the ageing process. Goodbye plump, youthful skin, hello premature sagging and wrinkles.
Vitamin A promotes collagen formation by supporting the cells which make this essential protein.
Applying vitamin A topically and taking it orally gives your body the building blocks it needs to make new collagen, resulting in a firmer, younger-looking complexion and fewer lines.
Pigmentation problems
Sun spots or liver spots are also a tell-tale sign of too much sun and not enough protection. They occur because UV radiation and visible blue light damages the DNA of keratinocyte cells. Keratinocyte cells make up 90% of the epidermis and have several functions, one of which is to communicate with melanocytes (cells responsible for producing melanin). When these cells are damaged, this communication is disrupted resulting in either too much or too little melanin being produced.
Vitamin A ‘normalises’ this process by protecting skin from UV damage. It repairs the DNA of keratinocytes and stops it ‘telling’ the melanocyte to make more melanin.
The vitamin A paradox
“It is a paradox that the most essential vitamin in the skin is damaged by the main feature of the environment that the skin has to encounter (i.e., UV rays). The photodecomposition of the retinyl palmitate form of vitamin A is the main cause of photo ageing. This degradation happens day after day, year in, year out. The irony is that vitamin A is required to restore the cellular health of skin. The reason vitamin A is destroyed is that absorbs these rays and acts as a powerful natural sunscreen” – Dr Des Fernandes (Environ founder).
High levels of retinyl palmitate, such as those found in Environ’s AVST 4 and 5, provide the equivalent to SPF 20. This needs to be reapplied daily to make up for the natural degradation by sunlight.
It is important to vitamin A slowly to avoid a retinoid reaction. This is particularly true with sun damaged skin as ironically this skin is most in need of vitamin A but is also most likely to react to it.
Environ’s unique step up system allows skin to acclimatise to increasingly higher levels of vitamin A, reducing the likelihood of reactions.
Inside and Out
To maximise the benefits of vitamin A it is important to consume it as well as applying it topically. The skin is a mirror of what’s going on internally so if the body is making healthy skin on the inside it is going to look radiant on the outside. Full fat milk, liver and eggs are all good sources of vitamin A, however modern farming methods mean food contains fewer nutrients than in the past. Taking vitamin A in supplement form will support vitamin A levels.
If you just apply vitamin A topically you will see a result. If you just take it orally you will see a result. If you do both you will get an even better outcome.
So if you are paying the price for being an avid sun worshiper, all is not lost. It will not happen overnight but with consistency vitamin A can reverse the damage.
