A savior for skin problems? A thorough explanation of the skin-beautifying effects of green tea

Introduction

It is becoming common knowledge that green tea is good for the skin. However, few people have a deep understanding of the mechanism behind its effects or its specific benefits.

This time, we will explain the scientific reasons why green tea is effective in maintaining beautiful skin.

Why is green tea good for your skin?

Ultraviolet rays are the biggest enemy in accelerating skin aging. When ultraviolet rays hit the skin, active oxygen is generated, which oxidizes cells.

Skin that is subject to oxidative stress can lead to blemishes, wrinkles, and sagging.

In addition, the phenomenon of "glycation," in which sugar binds to the proteins that maintain skin elasticity, also accelerates skin aging. Glycation causes the skin to become dull and yellow, and lose elasticity.

However, the catechins and vitamins contained in green tea are known to have the ability to suppress these oxidation and glycation reactions, helping to protect the skin from oxidative damage and keeping it looking youthful.

The main skin-beautifying effects of green tea are as follows:

1. Prevents dark spots and freckles : Inhibits melanin production and removes active oxygen
2. Prevents wrinkles : Promotes collagen production to improve skin elasticity
3. Anti-oxidation of skin : Reducing damage caused by active oxygen
4. Skin moisturizing effect : Vitamin C promotes collagen production

Skin-beautifying ingredients contained in green tea

The reason why green tea is said to be good for the skin is closely related to three main ingredients.

1. Catechin
2. Vitamin C
3. Vitamin E

Catechin's skin-beautifying effects

1. Eliminates active oxygen that causes spots, wrinkles, and sagging skin

The first ingredient is catechin, as mentioned above.

The active oxygen generated in the skin by exposure to ultraviolet rays promotes the production of melanin, which causes blemishes, wrinkles, and sagging, and destroys collagen and hyaluronic acid.

However, catechin effectively removes these active oxygen species , suppressing oxidation of the skin and helping to maintain youthful skin.

The catechins contained in green tea have different antioxidant properties depending on the type, but one catechin called epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is known to have particularly strong antioxidant properties.

EGCG penetrates deep into the skin and is expected to have the effect of inhibiting the breakdown of collagen.

2. Suppresses AGEs, the cause of skin aging

If you continue to eat an unhealthy diet, the proteins that support the elasticity of your skin can bind with sugar and become denatured. This phenomenon is called glycation, or the Maillard reaction.

Substances called "AGEs" produced by glycation accumulate in the skin and cause aging phenomena such as dullness and wrinkles.

The catechins contained in green tea have the effect of suppressing this glycation and inhibiting the production of AGEs , helping to maintain the youthfulness of skin.

In recent years, cosmetics that focus on green tea catechins have been gaining attention among people with skin problems such as blemishes and freckles.

These cosmetics were developed based on the scientific evidence that oxidative stress on the skin caused by ultraviolet rays is the cause of age spots and freckles.

The strong antioxidant properties of green tea catechins can help inhibit oxidation of the skin and provide a whitening effect.

Vitamin C's skin-beautifying effects

The second ingredient is vitamin C.

Tea contains many vitamins, especially vitamin C, which is found in greater amounts than other vegetables.

Furthermore, because it is protected by tea catechins, it is less likely to break down than the vitamin C found in other foods .

In addition, vitamin C is water-soluble, meaning that you can effectively absorb vitamin C by drinking hot tea.

Vitamin C not only promotes collagen production and gives the skin firmness and elasticity, but also enhances the skin's moisturizing effect and helps retain moisture in the skin, preventing dryness and leading to plump skin.

In addition, by suppressing the production of melanin pigment, it prevents pigmentation that causes blemishes and freckles, leading to clear, bright skin.

In addition, vitamin C has a strong antioxidant effect, although not as strong as catechin.

It works to neutralize active oxygen, which damages cells and accelerates aging, and helps prevent skin oxidation and maintain a youthful appearance.

In this way, vitamin C supports skin health from various angles, including promoting collagen production, inhibiting melanin production, and providing antioxidant and moisturizing effects.

Vitamin E's skin-beautifying effects

The last one on my list is Vitamin E.

Catechins and vitamin C are often the focus of attention as nutrients contained in green tea, but vitamin E also plays an important role.

Vitamin E protects cell membranes and prevents lipid oxidation.

The cell membranes of the skin are made up of lipids.

When these lipids are oxidized by active oxygen, harmful substances called lipid peroxides are produced. Lipid peroxides damage cell membranes, causing skin function to decline and leading to blemishes, freckles, dryness, rough skin, sagging skin, wrinkles, etc.

Vitamin E is like a guardian angel for skin cells. From the perspective of anti-aging, it can be said that Vitamin E is extremely powerful.

However, unlike vitamin C, vitamin E is water-insoluble, so you cannot get enough of it just by drinking tea. In addition to drinking it, we also recommend eating tea leaves.

Don't throw away your tea leaves! You can actually eat them! The health benefits of edible tea leaves

Eating 6 grams of tea per day provides approximately 15% of the vitamin C and 50% of the vitamin E required by an adult male per day.

By the way, matcha contains powdered whole green tea leaves, so you can efficiently consume catechins and vitamin E.

By incorporating sweets and dishes that use matcha into your diet, you can easily achieve beautiful skin.

Vitamin E is more easily absorbed when taken with oil, making it ideal for tempura batter.

The rich, matcha-flavored batter reduces the greasiness of the ingredients and the antioxidant properties of vitamin E prevent the oil from oxidizing, allowing you to enjoy fried foods in a healthier way.

How to choose and drink green tea

Drinking Sencha brewed with hot water on a daily basis will help maintain healthy skin.

In particular, we recommend that you drink green tea before and after exposure to ultraviolet rays.
The following teas are rich in vitamin C. Drinking them every day can help improve your skin.

• Gyokuro
• Matcha
• Deep-steamed Sencha
• New Tea
• Premium Sencha
• Regular Sencha

On the other hand, teas such as bancha, hojicha, and genmaicha contain only half to one-third of the catechin and vitamin content of sencha, so they are not suitable for drinking with the aim of maintaining beautiful skin.

summary

What do you think? If you think about buying expensive skincare products, drinking green tea every day is the best cost-effective shortcut to beautiful skin.

By consuming tea in a variety of forms, such as drinking green tea on a daily basis, pouring matcha over ice cream, or boiling brewed tea leaves in a vegetable dish, you can efficiently consume both catechins and vitamins, allowing for more comprehensive skin care.

You may be able to fulfill your wish to be beautiful from the inside out.