Can green tea help with under eye wrinkles?
Anti-ageing is probably one of the top things that the foundation of skincare is based upon. Ageing evokes a feeling of apprehension in a wide population across the globe. Most of us dread the development of fine lines, wrinkles, and sunspots as we age. Because of constant squinting, our eyes might be the most vulnerable part of our face prone to developing very prominent signs of ageing, which include crow’s feet just at the lateral canthi or tear troughs beneath the eyes.
Prevention is key when it comes to building a routine that revolves around anti-ageing strategies. Green tea has long been popularized as a solution to many problems of the body and this can be owed to the anti-inflammatory, anti-hair fall, and weight loss-aiding benefits of green tea. However, green tea has also been claimed to be an excellent anti-ageing agent, particularly the one that aims to minimize and reduce the appearance of wrinkles on the skin. Before we get into analyzingwhether this claim is true or not, let’s understand what wrinkles are and why our skin develops them in the first place.
What are wrinkles and why does our skin get them?
As we grow older, our skin cells (just like the rest of the body tissues) gradually lose the ability to regenerate and repair. As a result, cells die faster than they can be replaced with younger, healthier cells; all while giving your skin a dull appearance. Additionally, this process also affects important substances like proteins (collagen and elastin) of your skin, resulting in decreased elasticity and plumpness. Likewise, your skin also experiences a drastic decrease in the synthesis of natural moisturizing factors like ceramides and humectants like hyaluronic acid. This is a natural process that is bound to occur irrespective of anything. However, this natural process of ageing can be accelerated by several deteriorating factors like smoking, sun exposure, a sedentary lifestyle, negligent self-care, stress, and environmental pollutants.
An important (possibly the most dreaded) sign of skin ageing wrinkles. Though many factors contribute to the development of wrinkles, UV exposure has to be the most significant one. When your skin is exposed to UV rays, these rays act on your DNA and induce cellular destruction which further leads to the synthesis of reactive oxygen species (also known as free radicals). These reactive oxygen species (ROS) induce additional cellular and protein damage. Collagen and elastin are the most important proteins needed by your skin to stay taut, plump, immensely hydrated and younger-looking. When UV induced damage reaches these proteins, their network is destroyed and your skin becomes saggy and wrinkly over time. Plus, UV rays also induce the formation of MMPs, which are a category of enzymes directly responsible for the degradation of the collagen network.
Why do we get wrinkles underneath our eyes?
Collagen damage is the reason why you get wrinkles under it near your eyes. This is also aggravated by lifestyle habits, like frequent squinting of eyes to look at a bright/ distant object or smiling.
Is green tea helpful in minimizing the appearance and development of wrinkles under the eyes?
Green tea is becoming increasingly popular in terms of an anti-ageing product. This can be attributed to the constituents of green tea, which include epicatechin and Epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) that are potent polyphenols present in green tea. These substances are powerful antioxidants that aim at scavenging the number of free radicals in your body. As the number of free radicals decreases, cellular and protein damage reduces to a great extent. Other antioxidants like phenolic acid work similarly by scavenging free radicals. Additionally, phenols extracted from green tea also induce the formation of new collagen and elastin.
