Excitement about green tea in scientific research seems to be growing. Nearly 600 research articles were published on this herb or its ingredients in 2014 alone. These are part of the total of more than 5,500 articles published on green tea since the 1940s. The good news for folks with troubled skin is that some of the more recent of these have focused on the benefits of green tea for restoring skin health.
A significant review on this topic appeared at the end of 2014, in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment, titled, Polyphenols as novel treatment options for dermatological diseases: A systematic review of clinical trials. It turns out that the stars of the show for polyphenols are the main ingredients found in green tea.
Based on the findings of this review, among the several conditions of troubled skin that can benefit from polyphenols are alopecia, acne vulgaris, fungal infections, hyperpigmentation and photoaged skin.
Let’s take a look at just one of these, acne vulgaris, to see what the research shows about what green tea can do.
Acne Vulgaris
Acne vulgaris, or simply acne, is characterized as the chronic appearance of blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, and greasy skin. This condition develops when normal secretion of sebum (skin oil) from hair follicles becomes blocked. The blockage forms a plug that can become infected and inflamed, which results in redness and possibly scarring.
The main culprit in developing an inflammatory skin infection is a species of bacteria known as Propionibacterium acnes, shortened to P. acnes for convenience. This is a common and generally harmless bacterium that lives on everyone’s skin. It becomes infectious when follicles become plugged. This means that P. acnes is not necessarily the cause of acne as much as it is an opportunistic agent that makes things worse.
Mainstream medical approaches to treating acne revolve around the direct skin application of harsh oxidants such as benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. Medical doctors also may prescribe antibiotics in extreme or otherwise intractable cases, although P. acnes long ago developed resistance to this treatment.
Green Tea to the Rescue
Recent research on the use of green tea against acne can be summarized by the following five key studies.
Study 1. Journal of Drugs in Dermatology (2009). A topical 2% green tea lotion reduced the mean acne severity index from 2.05 to 1.25 after 6 weeks of treatment., a decrease of 39.02%. The main conclusion was that green tea is an effective and cost-effective treatment for mild to moderate acne.
Study 2. Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences (2010). A topical 3% extract of green tea caused a significant reduction in sebum production. The authors concluded that this extract is ideal in all aspects and can be helpful in skin disorders such as acne.
Study 3. Archives of Dermatological Research (2012). The main active components of green tea, collectively called green tea catechin, led to a significant decrease in the number of clogged hair follicles and pustules in acne patients. Furthermore, this extract was found to suppress inflammatory hormones that are associated with infection by P. acnes. The study also showed that green tea catechin has a therapeutic effect at the molecular level on multiple pathways that lead to inflammation from acne.
Study 4. Journal of Investigative Dermatology (2013). The most powerful of the green tea catechins, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), was shown to target almost all of the pathogenic features of acne. It reduces the production of inflammatory hormones, it modulates sebum excretion, and it inhibits the growth of P. acnes. This study also entailed a clinical experiment that showed the topical application of EGCG to significantly improve the symptoms of acne.
This most recent study came out of the Acne Research Laboratory at the Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea. It clearly represents one of the most important current areas of research involving green tea for herbal skin care.
Take-Home Lessons on Green Tea
Recent research tells us that green tea and its main components are effective natural ingredients for treating acne. However, that is not the only valuable lesson from this research. The other one is that, since green tea is important for skin health in general, it is equally valuable in preventing skin from becoming troubled in the first place.
In other words, green tea is great if you have troubled skin and it is great if you want to prevent having it.
Of course, green tea is not the only herb that helps with oily skin, clogged pores, or bacterial infection. Indeed, many herbs provide these kinds of benefits, particularly when combined with green tea in formulas such as the Purifying Toner by Jadience Herbal Formulas.
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Your skin is much more than a protective barrier. It is a vibrant, dynamic organ with a huge surface area of about 16 to 22 square feet. It plays crucial roles in regulating the excretion of water, minerals, and metabolic waste products, in managing body temperature, and in conveying sensations of touch.
The ability of skin in all of these roles is mirrored by its appearance. Skin health is intimately intertwined with how it looks. Youthful, flexible skin indicates good health. Aging skin is a sign of diminished health.
Dietary habits and lifestyle choices, including skin care, correlate with the appearance and health of skin. Excess weight and high blood sugar induce biochemical reactions that disrupt the very structural framework of skin. They accelerate skin aging. Additional influential factors on skin aging include overexposure to ultraviolet light, excess alcohol consumption, tobacco abuse, and environmental pollution.
Key Components of Skin
On a biochemical level, the most abundant substances that make up skin are keratin, melanin, collagen, and elastin. Keratin strengthens the epidermis, the outermost layer of skin. Melanin is the pigmentation of skin that gives depth to skin color. Collagen is the key fibrous protein that holds skin together. Its function is to maintain skin firmness. Elastin, another fibrous protein, combines with collagen to give skin its elasticity.
Additional substances act as cementing and gelling components that hold skin cells together, bind to water, and enable nutrients and oxygen into the skin. These have a variety of fancy scientific names, such as glycoaminoglycans, glycoproteins, hyaluronic acid, and chondroitin sulfate. Aren’t you glad you asked?
Skin is also comprised of several layers of different types of cells that include blood vessels, lymph vessels, nerves, and specialty cells that make the ingredients of healthy skin, including new cells. New cells are important for migrating to the outer layers of skin and replacing older cells as they age and slough off.
Changes Underlying Aging Skin
Changes in any of the above components of healthy cells, from biochemistry to cellular renewal, can underlie skin aging
The primary underlying symptoms of aging skin include the loss of fibrous tissue, the slowing down of cellular renewal, the reduction of vascularization, and the acceleration of cellular dehydration. Even the deepest layer of skin, the hypodermis, starts to flatten as skin ages. This hypodermal flattening is due to a reduction in adipocyte (‘fat cell’) formation, which contributes to the thinning of aging skin.
The complexity of these changes has attracted a considerable amount of scientific interest. A particular focus of such studies has been and continues to be discovering how to slow down or even reverse the deterioration of skin as it ages. Fortunately, many natural ingredients in herbal skin care products have been found that do exactly that.
Anti-Aging Herbal Skin Care
A quick search on PubMed, the online medical database at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, shows that dozens of herbs have anti-aging activities. Each herb addresses one or more of the biochemical or cellular components of aging skin.
One of the top herbs in this regard is ginseng. This herb has been well-known for centuries for its health benefits. When it comes to skin health, the active ingredients of ginseng have been shown to enhance microcirculation, drive collagen synthesis, and direct healing of skin wounds. These activities occur in response to overexposure to UV light, one of the most common factors that induces skin aging.
Other herbs in anti-aging skin care formulas show additional activities for promoting skin health. A few examples include angelica root, white peony, and even green tea. These are the kinds of herbs that are the most important ingredients in any skin care product that specifically addresses skin aging.
An excellent anti-aging herbal skin care product that includes these and many additional herbal ingredients is the Vitality Anti-Aging Serum by Jadience Herbal Formulas. The combination of herbs in this formula is designed to strengthen, rejuvenate, and nourish skin to keep it looking young.
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