Vitamin C Food Source

connective tissues that give shape and elasticity to skin and blood vessels. As the body ages and those connective tissues lose strength, skin becomes thinner and blood ves­sels are more fragile. Sun exposure accelerates the breakdown of connective tissues, making older people who’ve spent years in the sun more susceptible to bleeding and bruising. The sun’s rays also deplete stores of vitamin C, the very vitamin that the body needs to protect cells and tissue from free radical damage.

Eating lots of fruits and veggies high in vitamin C, like citrus fruits, tomatoes, and broccoli, will provide a sufficient amount of vitamin C, but everyone (and their skin) will benefit by taking 60 milligrams of vitamin C every day.

Research has shown that topical products with vitamin C can prevent the damage caused by years of sun exposure and heal bruising in older skin. And when vitamin C is combined with vitamin E, the effects are even more powerful. Vitamin E and vitamin C work synergistically to repair tissues, so that same vitamin cocktail should help prevent bruising.

In a Duke University Medical Center study, two different formulas were applied to the back skin of nine volunteers who were then exposed to simulated sunlight. Those who received an antioxidant serum containing vitamins C and E had a 96 percent reduc­tion of sunburn cells and up to eight times the antioxidant protection of those who received the control formula.

One such formula, C E Ferulic, helps boost the antioxidant reservoirs the body dips into to help heal itself from bruises. However, since sunscreens and antioxidant formulas work in different parts of the skin and through different mechanisms, the formula must be applied to the skin first to neutralize oxida­tive stress. Once it’s absorbed, then the sunscreen can be applied.