Our Guide To Cellular Beauty: The Most Effective Ways To Support Skin*

Skin care starts from the inside and works its way out. Of course how you treat your skin externally certainly has significant results—and might have a more immediate payoff (say, a sheet mask that instantly boosts hydration or a peel that fades dark spots ASAP). But supporting skin health from the inside has long-term benefits. That's where the real power is.

It's a concept we call cellular beauty, and it means skin health can only be optimized when you start at the cellular level: From there, glowing skin will follow.* Ideally, for years and years to come. 

Antioxidants neutralize free radicals in the body. Free radical damage—caused by pollution, sun, stress, food, and many body processes—is the leading cause of premature aging, dark spots, dullness, and elasticity loss. We often encourage using topical antioxidants for targeted areas (personally, I use an antioxidant serum every day on my face and decolletage), but ingesting antioxidants means systemic, full-body benefits.*

And what about combining these strategies? "Using both oral and topical antioxidants can optimize cells to absorb oxygen radical waste," says board-certified dermatologist Zenovia Gabriel, M.D., FAAD. "You can help do that by taking oral antioxidants."*

Sometimes, we just need a little help caring for our skin internally. In these cases we turn to smart supplements that nourish and encourage skin cell health and functions via impressive bioactives working together to support your skin’s hydration, elasticity, and rejuvenation.* Take mindbodgyreen’s cellular beauty+: It’s a one-of-a-kind cosmeceutical supplement deeply rooted in clinical research, to support inner beauty for your outer glow.* Truly, there is no other dietary supplement that combines these four premium, curated, science-backed botanicals and bioactives in one product. 

Allow me to explain: In this formula, we included several of the hero antioxidants mentioned above—formulated with the most bioavailable forms at levels with clinical results. To start, there's astaxanthin (specifically, AstaReal®, a highly researched astaxanthin extract sustainably derived from green algae), an phytonutrient that’s clinically shown to protect skin cells5 and help preserve the collagen layer: It has photoprotective and anti-inflammatory properties, shown to help reduce fine lines and age spots, and supports skin hydration, elasticity and smoothness.*

Then we layered in ubiquinol (as Kaneka ubiquinol®), which is the most bioavailable6, bioactive form of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10).* It’s the best-of-the-best as far as this antioxidant goes. As I’ve noted, CoQ10 is necessary for cellular energy production7—but endogenous levels of CoQ10 decline with age, and thus we see changes in cellular function and rejuvenation. Ubiquinol is clinically shown to increase CoQ10 levels8.*

There’s also premium pomegranate whole fruit extract (as pomma+®), which is harvested in sunny California orchards. The extract is good for promoting cellular resilience and has anti-inflammatory properties for healthy aging, such as skin photoprotection9 from UV damage.*

Finally, there’s the much beloved phytoceramides. Ceramics are naturally occurring lipids in your skin barrier that decline with age, and due to external factors such as UV damage. Phytoceramides have been clinically shown to reduce wrinkles, while significantly improving natural levels of skin hydration10.*

Your skin microbiome, we are learning, plays a huge role in our overall health. A weak skin microbiome has decreased ability to protect you from damage, infection, stressors, and external aggressors. We are still learning the best ways to fuel and nurture this microbiome with topicals, and the available research suggests using skin-barrier protecting creams and products can help sustain healthy flora. 

Inflammation wreaks havoc on the skin—resulting in premature aging and skin conditions like acne and eczema. But a little bit more on how inflammation comes about. Inflammation is your body’s reaction to aggressors. Inflammation's purpose is to help heal and fight whatever is causing the irritation. The problem arises when your body doesn’t have a break from said inflammation, i.e., a prolonged state of oxidative stress. Chronic oxidative stress leads to damage, as the cells are adequately allowed to repair and rejuvenate themselves.  

Inflammation is often the result of free radicals. Free radicals "activate pro-inflammatory genes, which unleash a cascade of progressive inflammation," explains Jessie Cheung, M.D., board-certified dermatologist. "[This causes] immune cells to recruit other immune cells to the damaged sites, creating more oxidative stress and cellular injury." 

So, for example, consuming inflammation-causing foods sets off an internal response that results in a cell-damaging vicious cycle. While everyone's triggers are going to vary, there are a few common culprits like alcohol14, foods with a high-glycemic index15, sugars, dairy16, and whatever allergens you may experience individually. Additionally, things like pollution trigger free-radical damage in the body, setting off this response in skin cells. And while we’ll get to internal factors affecting your cellular health in a bit, things like stress and lack-of-sleep can also induce an inflammatory response in the body. 

Sleep hygiene and mental health go hand-in-hand, and thus I like to pair them together. Let’s start by talking about sleep. Sleep is the most critical time of the day for your body and skin to repair itself. This is because as your body enters the REM cycle, a plethora of skin-supporting hormones are released, such as melatonin and HGH (human growth hormone). “Melatonin is critically important for your skin and plays a significant role in skin repair from environmental exposure, UV light, stressors, pollution, and so on," says hormone expert and board-certified dermatologist Keira Barr, M.D.. "If you're not resting, you're not generating that melatonin, and your skin isn't repairing itself." And the release of HGH helps rebuild body tissues17 and spurs increased cell production to replace cells that were damaged throughout the day. 

Now, let’s say you’re not sleeping—this likely causes an uptick of stress. And on the flip side, stress often causes sleepless nights. Now, the stress hormone is called cortisol. "Cortisol plays a significant role in our collagen and elastin. So those supportive tissues in the skin really give us that supple youthful appearance," she says. "Well, cortisol breaks those tissues down, so you'll see accelerated fine lines and wrinkling. But the other thing is that it also impairs repair." 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the best ways to support skin health is keeping hydrated. Listen, this advice makes me roll my eyes just as much as the next person—but there is often a reason that cliches are as such: It’s because they hold up. Yes, there is some truth to why those with the most beautiful, glowing skin almost always say that drinking lots of water is how they maintain the glow. (Of course, they likely do other things than just drink water—remember tending to your health is holistic.) 

The right balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids is essential for skin health. It's been found to improve skin barrier function, inhibit UV-induced inflammation, and hyperpigmentation, attenuate dry skin and itch elicited by dermatitis, and accelerate skin wound healing.