Your Skin, Sunshine, Biophotons and OPCs

Excessive exposure to the sun, spending long hours under a baking sun at a summer holiday beach, does result in inflammation, collagen destruction, and acceleration of the skin’s aging process.
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Excessive exposure to the sun, spending long hours under a baking sun at a summer holiday beach, does result in inflammation, collagen destruction, and acceleration of the skin’s aging process. The wrinkled skin of people who have been constantly exposed to sunshine bears witness to this process. It is crystal clear that antioxidant protection of the skin by way of creams and lotions will help inhibit its premature aging due to overexposure to sunlight. This is because what we call “sunshine” is in fact the incoming flow of photons. Photons are tiny particles of energy produced by the sun. Although it is undeniably true that moderate exposure to sunlight does contribute to our overall health, it is also a fact that, due to their high energy content, photons can easily destabilize the things they hit and thus cause free radicals. As with most other things in life, it's the dose that makes the difference.

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It is a little known fact that the human organism as well as other biological systems are the source of spontaneously emitted photons. These photons are called "biophotons". Because they are not caused by heat, they are characterized as “non-thermal”. Although they exist in the visible and ultraviolet spectrum, biophotons cannot be detected by the naked eye. Their intensity is ultra weak. Still, biophotons are what makes our bodies slightly “luminescent.” The phenomenon is called “ultra weak photon emission” or “UPE.” Now, when solar photons hit the skin, they produce free radicals. Normally, the skin’s scavenging systems deal with these free radicals, but when those systems are overburdenend, exhausted or depleted, an excess of untrapped radicals creates biophotons. Following an overload of solar radiation the skin emits measurably more biophotons than when it is exposed to a healthy dose of normal daylight. This phenomenon formed the basis for testing the hypothesis that OPCs exert their anti-inflammatory (anti-reddening) effect by directly scavenging free radicals.

The body's biophoton emission can be measured by a so called photomultiplier, a “camera” that catches the emitted biophotons, turns them into electrons and then multiplies the electrons into a measurable signal. All of this, takes place in a dark or poorly lit room or environment, because broad daylight or plain sunlight will completely overwhelm the biophoton signal and "overrrule" its measurement. To measure the effect of OPCs on UPE, i.e. OPCs' capacity to scavenge free radicals generated in the skin after UV exposure, Dutch biophoton-experts Eduard van Wijk, Roeland van Wijk and Saskia Bosman, designed and performed a clinical trial in which they recorded the quantity of biophoton emission after exposure of the skin to UV-light: "Using ultra-weak photon emission to determine the effect of oligomeric proanthocyanidins on oxidative stress of human skin." ([i])

To precisely measure the quantity of UPE in the above described test, the researchers instructed 25 participants to cover both hands 1 hour prior to the biophoton recording. The last 15 minutes before the start of the recording the participants were situated comfortably in a poorly-lit room in front of the recording device. Measurements were performed in 3 cycles: 1) recording spontaneous emission from both hands, to establish “baseline emission"; 2) UV exposure of the left hand, followed by recording of the biophoton emission; 3) UV exposure of the right hand, followed by recording of the biophoton emission. UV exposure resulted in an increase in UPE in both hands. Repeated UV-exposure resulted in a long-term increase of spontaneous UPE. This is likely due to depletion of the antioxidant capacity of the skin resulting in over-sensitivity of the skin to UV radiation.

Within each subject, the natural UPE of the right and left hand were found to be significantly correlated, meaning that both hands emitted the same amount of biophotons. Likewise, UV-induced UPE of the right and left hand were also significantly correlated. UV exposure resulted in a long-term (8 hours) increase of spontaneous UPE. This is likely due to depletion of antioxidant capacity of the skin. Application of a cream containing 0.5% of Masquelier’s OPCs on one hand immediately after UV exposure resulted in a significant decrease in UV-induced UPE of approximately 30% when compared to the (untreated) other hand. Application of the OPCs-cream also reduced UV-induced long-term increase in spontaneous UPE. The latter effect is an indication that OPCs prevent UV-caused depletion of the skin’s antioxidative capacity.

According to the biophoton researchers: “In summary, the results of our investigation demonstrate that the use of an investigative protocol based on left–right symmetry of UPE from the dorsal [upper] surfaces of the hands is a simple non-invasive approach that can be utilized for the routine evaluation of anti-oxidant efficacy of topical formulations on human skin. Results also demonstrate that the specific topical OPCs cream formulation tested in this study reduces UV-induced UPE in skin most likely by scavenging free radicals generated by UV in the skin. Additionally, the OPCs cream reduces long-term effect of UV on spontaneous UPE suggesting it protects the skin’s anti-oxidant system from depletion. Moreover, the results indicate that the free radical scavenging effects of the OPCs cream account for its capacity to significantly decrease UV induced skin erythema [reddening] and together with the earlier studies further supports the potential benefits of the OPCs cream formulation particularly to protect against the harmful effects of UV exposure.” Note that the effect was seen when the OPCs-cream was applied after exposing the skin to UV-light. 

To the extent that we condemn the sun and a polluted environment as the sources of free radicals, we've lost sight of the fact that the body itself also produces oxygen radicals. Oxygen radicals are a byproduct of life's perfectly normal and vitally important production of energy. What's more, in the human body, they also help to destroy intruding bacteria. The ambivalent role of oxygen radicals has often prompted the use of the name of the Roman god Janus, who was known for having two faces looking in opposite directions. Almost 5 percent of intercellular oxygen radicals is used for a meaningful purpose. Under normal ‒ healthy ‒ circumstances, the rest is neutralized by endogenous antioxidant enzymes, by food-borne antioxidants, and by antioxidants we take in the form of a dietary supplement. All by itself, the use of an antioxidant skin cream can be appreciated as helpful in the short term and as the occasion (exposure to the sun) arises. Provided that these skin care products contain significant amounts of significant antioxidants, they do protect the skin from free radical damage. Yet, a far more sensible approach to the total problem of free radical induced aging is to accompany the use of creams and lotions with the oral intake of antioxidants such as Masqueliers OPCs.

[i] Using ultra-weak photon emission to determine the effect of oligomeric proanthocyanidins on oxidative stress of human skin; Eduard P.A. Van Wijk, Roeland Van Wijk, Saskia Bosman. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology; doi:10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2010.01.003;