The Dry Skin Solution-Part 1

Did you know that back in medieval France, King Henry II’s wife, Princess Catherine, believed that if she ate chicken combs she would become beautiful? Even before that (in the 700s) Yang Guifei, one of the four beauties of ancient China, also ate chicken combs.

Chicken combs, as it turns out, contain a lot of a substance known as hyaluronic acid. Recent clinical studies show that ingesting hyaluronic acid actually can increase the moisture content of the skin. This shows up as more hydrated, and “beautiful” younger-looking skin.

Nowadays, hyaluronic acid is not just made from chicken combs, but also from microbial fermentation. It’s found in many skin supplements. It’s also used as an injectable filler to reduce wrinkles.

What makes Hyaluronic acid special?

Well, let’s dive into how this ancient beauty enhancer actually works. Keep reading or listen.

Hyaluronic acid in the “matrix”

Before we dive into the skin, let’s talk a bit about the “matrix.” All tissues, including the skin, have what’s known as an “extracellular matrix” (ECM).

This matrix is made from two types of substances: proteins and “proteoglycans.”

The proteins are fibrous and give the tissue structure and elasticity. This means they help to retain the shape (i.e. structure) of the tissue. The main proteins in the matrix are collagen and elastin.

Proteoglycans, on the other hand, are a gel-like substance made from carbohydrates. This substance fills in the spaces and keeps things moist and hydrated. One of the main proteoglycans is hyaluronic acid.

You can think of the matrix as a thick gel-like substance (think: egg white).

Collagen is a protein that helps to maintain structure. One of its main roles is to help the cells join together by forming a kind of a scaffold within the matrix. This allows tissues to maintain their shape and stiffness, while allowing flexibility. It helps reduce sagging.

Hyaluronic acid (a.k.a. hyaluronan, HA, or HLA) allows tissues to be squished without breaking. It’s a type of carbohydrate made from sugars bound together in very long chains.

Hyaluronic acid also has a special ability to attract and hold onto water. Because of its special chemical structure, it can hold 1000x more water than its own solid volume.

It is found in several lengths (i.e. thousands and even millions of sugars long). The longer the length, the better it is.

Both the proteins (e.g. collagen) and the proteoglycans (e.g. hyaluronic acid) work together, along with other substances. Together they form complexes and cross-link to create the gel-like matrix.

This matrix is constantly being remodeled and rebalanced by the cells to ensure optimal structure. elasticity, and water retention (hydration). It changes when tissue ages, gets wounded, or develops a tumour.

It’s this matrix around skin cells that keeps skin healthy and beautiful.

Hyaluronic acid in the skin

For skin health and a “youthful” appearance, the skin needs structural support, moisture, and good blood flow. Structure and moisture for the skin is made from not just the cells, but also from the important “matrix” that they secrete and surround themselves with. Blood supply is needed to bring nutrients and oxygen to the skin, while removing waste.

In the skin, the proteins (e.g. collagen) and the proteoglycans (e.g. hyaluronic acid) are secreted by cells called “fibroblasts.”

Hyaluronic acid is found throughout the body, but is most important in the eyes, the joints, and the skin. In fact, half of the body’s hyaluronic acid is found in the skin.

Hyaluronic acid helps to retain water to keep skin hydrated and plump. It also does this in the eye and the fluid cushioning the joints (synovial fluid). This is why when the amount of hyaluronic acid in the body decreases with age, this increases dry and sagging skin, as well as joint pain.

This is what makes hyaluronic acid a great moisturizer for your skin.

“HA is extremely abundant in the dermis under normal circumstances. It is also a major ingredient in moisturizing creams, due to its tremendous hygroscopic (hydrating) properties, which also helps to explain why injected HA-based fillers excel at “plumping up” the dermis.” Maytin, E.V., 2016.

Your skin replaces about ⅓ of its hyaluronic acid every single day. This means that each molecule only sticks around for a couple of days before it’s naturally recycled and replaced with a new molecule.

The hyaluronic acid in the matrix of the skin cells help to keep it hydrated and prevent sagging.

Skin, the inside story

When it comes to skin health and visible aging, the matrix’s collagen and hyaluronic acid are big players.

As we age, our skin gets “looser” and start to show fine wrinkles. It becomes thinner and the cells produce less collagen and hyaluronic acid. This is common and occurs naturally over time in everyone. It’s thought to be, at least partly, related to hormone changes. It’s referred to as “intrinsic aging.”

Intrinsic aging is partly because of the natural reduction in amounts of collagen and hyaluronic acid in the skin. Over time our skin simply makes less. This is mostly true for the outermost layer of the skin, the “epidermis.”

At the same time as intrinsic aging, other external factors can affect our skin’s appearance as well. The result is considered premature aging, or “extrinsic” aging. For example, ultraviolet (UV) light from chronic sun exposure causes deeper wrinkles, dryness, lines, colour changes, reduced elastic ability (elastosis), and taking on a “leathery” appearance. This UV aging is referred to as “photoaging.”

Because our faces are exposed to the sun, about 80% of facial skin aging is from UV exposure. The other 20% is from smoking cigarettes, air pollution, and certain medications (corticosteroids). These all have a similar damaging effect and contribute to extrinsic aging.

With chronic exposure to UV light, there is a change in both the type of collagen and size of the hyaluronic acid molecules. The long chains of hyaluronic acid become more degraded into  smaller chains. These smaller chains are inflammatory. The overall result is less flexible skin that wrinkles more easily and becomes drier.

Extrinsic aging does this due to oxidative stress and an increase in an enzyme (“metalloproteinase”) that breaks down collagen and hyaluronic acid.

The right foods and nutrients play a big role in protecting our skin against both intrinsic and extrinsic damage. The science is clear that Antioxidant nutrients are particularly effective for protection against extrinsic damage. Learn how by visiting the link to the webinar Skin, the inside story

Vitamin A creams are sometimes used to help the skin’s appearance. They work by helping to prevent breakdown of the collagen in the skin.

Hyaluronic acid has another interesting role in the skin. It helps wounded skin heal. When skin is wounded, a large part of the fluid secreted is hyaluronic acid. In fact, you make more hyaluronic acid when skin is injured or wounded specifically to help the wound heal. It’s even thought that scarring from wounds increases with age due to the reduced amount of hyaluronic acid in the skin.

The bottom line is that aging skin is partly the result of a change in the collagen, and lower levels of the large hyaluronic acid molecules in the matrix.

How ingested hyaluronic acid helps the skin

Several studies have shown that ingesting hyaluronic acid can moisturize the skin. But how can swallowing it help your skin?

Ingested hyaluronic acid helps moisturize the skin in three ways:

• Hyaluronic acid is absorbed by the gut and gets to the skin;
• Hyaluronic acid helps to increase the number of skin cells called fibroblasts;
• Hyaluronic acid promotes increased production of hyaluronic acid from fibroblasts.

So, it doesn’t just get to the skin to help retain moisture, it helps the skin make more cells and more hyaluronic acid as well.

“The amount of HA in the skin is one of the main factors that determines the skin moisture content. The metabolites of ingested HA moisturizes the skin.” Kawada et al., 2014.

FUN FACT: Your friendly gut microbes help your body digest and absorb hyaluronic acid from foods and supplements.

Summary

All of our skin ages over time. These happen naturally (intrinsic factors), as well as can be worsened with exposure to ultraviolet radiation, smoking, air pollution, and certain medications (extrinsic factors). These cause skin to dry out and wrinkle because they lower the amount of collagen and hyaluronic acid in our skin. The collagen is critical for maintaining good structure and firmness, while the hyaluronic acid maintains moisture and hydration.

Ingesting collagen and hyaluronic acid can actually counteract some of these effects. Several clinical studies show that they improve the skin’s moisture content, and even improve blood flow. Both of which help with the skin’s health and appearance.

Next time in the dry skin solution: A closer look at the different types of collagen, the benefits of supplementing with Collagen and Hyaluronic acid. the supporting nutrients that increase Hyaluronic acid, and the specific benefits to menopausal women

references available upon request