Influencing the Cutaneous Carotenoid Status and Skin-physiological Parameters by Ingesting Antioxidants in the Form of Curly-kale Containing Food Supplements

Antioxidants are important radical scavengers protecting the body from the consequences of oxidative stress. They have toAntioxidants are important radical scavengers protecting the body from the consequences of oxidative stress. They have tobe ingested by food rich in fruits and vegetables or by food supplements. The effects of the intake of curly-kale containingfood supplements on the skin are described in this paper. For this purpose, verum and placebo groups had been investigatedfor several months noninvasively in vivo by determining their cutaneous antioxidative status, their collagen-to-elastin index ofthe dermis, and various age-related skin parameters. While in the verum groups the cutaneous antioxidative status and the skinmoisture increased significantly, only small changes were found in the placebo groups. The collagen content in the skin of theverum group showed a tendency towards increasing.Besides a healthy nutrition, a selected supplementation consisting of low-dosed natural carotenoids at a physiological concentrationcan improve the antioxidative capacity of the skin, thus counteracting an age-related degradation of collagen I in the dermis.