Nutricosmetics What are you talking about?

We often hear of products being offered to us as nutricosmetics, but what exactly does this term refer to?

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Nutricosmetic is a food product with specific nutrient concentrations that, in small doses, supplement the diet.
• The most commercialized and used are those that redensify the skin and prevent sagging, nourish it and prevent wrinkles from becoming pronounced, or enhance the tan.
• Although they should not be abused, nutricosmetics have to be safe, bioavailable and pass the purity test.

What is a nutricosmetic?

This newly minted word refers to a series of products that, taken orally, have some beneficial effect on the skin or its attachments (hair and nails). These products must have special characteristics that are defined. A nutricosmetic, according to European regulations, is a food product "whose purpose is to supplement the diet", and which consists of "concentrated sources of nutrients", marketed in capsules, powders or other pre-dosed forms and "to be taken in small quantities" . For this reason, among the components authorized for this type of product, we mainly find vitamins A, D, E, K, group B, PP and C, minerals, fatty acids, antioxidants, polyphenols and mainly plant extracts.

Its use

Among the most commercialized and used nutricosmetics we find products to redensify the skin and, nourish it and prevent wrinkles from becoming pronounced, protect it from the sun or enhance the tan. Other products are intended to prevent hair loss and strengthen hair while strengthening nails. And no less important are those intended to combat cellulite.

When food is not enough

The question is, but if what they incorporate are nutrients, isn't a good diet enough? A balanced diet should really provide enough nutrients, what happens is that sometimes the needs of one or another nutrient can be increased by different factors, including age and stress, so the diet will not be enough to provide those certain nutrients and will need to be supplemented.

With age, for example, the body decreases the production of elastin and collagen, essential substances to maintain the structure of the skin, which causes wrinkles and sagging. Hydrolyzed collagen and hyaluronic acid from fish are part of the formulation of some nutricosmetics to help the skin avoid the formation and depth of wrinkles and prevent sagging.

, and the polyphenols extracted from the skins and seeds of grapes or red fruits act as cellular antioxidants, reducing the aging of the tissues. In special stages of life, such as menopause, hormonal changes also influence the skin and hair, since when the production of estrogens ceases, the skin dries and destroys more easily and capillary density is lost, some nutricosmetics designed to that stage of life incorporate soy isoflavones, which act as phytoestrogens.

At certain times of the year, or due to other factors such as stress, hair turnover accelerates and falls more, at that time it is important to provide more nutrients that help the hair to come out with strength and density and there certain things come into play. vitamins, amino acids, minerals and trace elements that help to stop hair loss, strengthen it and prevent capillary and nail fragility.

One of the factors involved in the formation of cellulite is poor return circulation in the lower extremities. Another, that localized fat accumulates in the adipocytes of the affected areas (mainly thighs, buttocks and abdomen) and, therefore, the connective tissue is destroyed, accumulating fluid. That is, an edema occurs. For this reason, nutricosmetics for cellulite usually incorporate venotonic and aniedematous actives (such as horse chestnut), connective tissue restructuring agents such as horsetail or organic silicon, and lipolytics such as green tea or L-carnitine.

Are Nutricosmetics Safe?

The European Union requires manufacturers of nutricosmetics that they are safe, that is, that they are stable and that the ingredients are part of the composition of the product in the recommended amounts; that are bioavailable in the body (that is, once ingested the nutrients reach the skin, hair follicles, etc.) and are also required to carry out purity tests on the products.

However, they must be used rationally, since for example an excess of antioxidants can have the opposite action to that expected, that is, an oxidative action that damages the tissues. On the other hand, (A, D, E and K) accumulate and their excess is also harmful. Therefore, they are good but should not be abused.

A very important aspect of nutricosmetics, and that should not be forgotten, is that in no case can they replace a healthy and balanced diet, and they should be used only as a supplement that will help enhance the effects of traditional cosmetics and improve the appearance.