On the list of life’s annoying inevitabilities, developing fine lines and wrinkles has got to be pretty close to the top. Reducing said fine lines and wrinkles, then, is a priority for many of us.

Increasing the concentration of carotenoids in your diet and supplement regime can be a really great hack if you’re looking to develop younger looking, more radiant skin. Carotenoids are amazing for skin health, their benefits range from anti-ageing and pigmentation correction to sun protection and blemish prevention.

Carotenoids have actually been shown to lower real-time biological age; an increased level of carotenoids in the blood has been associated with slower cellular ageing, according to a recent study at the Seoul National University in Korea. Upping your intake could help to get rid of wrinkles and turn back the clock on a cellular level.

If reducing wrinkles and fine lines, and looking and feeling more youthful, are things you’d like to achieve, allow us to walk you through the potential benefits you could yield from adding more carotenoids into your daily food and supplement routine. In this article we outline the best diet for anti-ageing and explain how and why supplementing with carotenoids could help you to achieve younger looking skin.

Carotenoids are a class of phytonutrients that can be found in the cells of some plants, vegetables and fruits. Carotenoids are the plant pigments that are responsible for colouring fruits and vegetables yellow, orange, red and pink. Carotenoids appear all over nature, and help plants to photosynthesise, i.e. to absorb sunlight for energy. But they can have incredible anti-oxidant and anti-ageing effects on humans too.

There are more than 600 varieties of carotenoid but for anti-ageing effects we are most interested in the carotene class of carotenoids, which includes alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lycopene. These carotenoids are converted into vitamin A by the body, and can have a potent antioxidant effect.

Carotenoids are effective at both preventing and improving the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and the most potent anti-ageing carotenoid of them all? Lycopene.

Oxidation and free radicals are leading causes of ageing - they are responsible for the break-down of cells over cells over time which leads to everything commonly associated with age-related degeneration, from reduced skin elasticity to memory inhibition. Lycopene can help to counteract this with its potent antioxidant properties.

In the anti-ageing department, lycopene has been shown to inhibit something called ‘collagenases’, which is where the skin’s natural collagen levels are broken down by age. Lycopene’s propensity to inhibit this breakdown is one of the reasons it’s lauded by beauty experts everywhere for its tendency to keep skin plump, hydrated and looking younger for longer.

LYMA contains Lycored Lycopene™, an ultra-stable carotenoid that has been technology-enhanced to deliver you the best results, beyond those that could be obtained by including lycopene-rich foods in your diet alone. Lycored Lycopene™ is sourced directly from phytonutrient-dense tomatoes and concentrated into a highly bioavailable, microencapsulated form to preserve and protect its unique characteristics. Clinically dosed at 30mg per day, LYMA’s Lycored Lycopene™ could help to reduce outward signs of ageing, leaving you feeling more confident and radiating good health.

Carotenoids, being the powerful antioxidants that they are, can also help to fend off inflammation in the body more generally. Inflammation has been shown to contribute to premature ageing , a compromised immune system, macular degeneration leading to blindness, and heightened anxiety and insomnia, among other maladies.

Carotenoids, and lycopene in particular, have also been shown to help to protect against certain forms of cancer.

Carotenoids must be consumed through diet or by supplementing - your body cannot make them itself.

Foods that are rich in carotenoids include:

• Tomatoes
• Sweet potato
• Watermelon
• Red and Yellow Pepper
• Carrots
• Grapefruit
• Mango
• Oranges
• Pumpkin
• Papaya
• Butternut Squash

Carotenoids are fat-soluble meaning that it is best to consume these nutrient-dense foods with a serving of fat for improved bioavailability. A drizzle of olive oil over your tomatoes, for example, or a serving of full-fat yoghurt or coconut yoghurt topped with a fruit salad of mango, orange and watermelon.

You should bear in mind, however, that it is difficult to obtain all the carotenoids you need from the food you eat, no matter how jam-packed your diet is with pink, red, yellow and orange foods. By supplementing with LYMA you are guaranteed a recommended daily dose of 30mg of Lycored Lycopene™, the most researched and clinically trialled lycopene on the market.

In addition to Lycored Lycopene™, LYMA’s formula contains three additional notable anti-ageing compounds:

● Cognizin® as formulated at 250mg in LYMA is the world’s leading nootropic. Cognizin® has been extensively clinically tested for efficacy with robust peer-reviewed data. Supplementing with Cognizin® has been shown to improve memory, slow cognitive impairment and even help with dementia prevention.

● Cynatine® HNS is one of the world’s leading nutricosmetics for protecting and repairing the health of skin, hair and nails as you age. Cynatine® HNS is a stable form of keratin - a ‘building block of beauty’ - and LYMA’s cutting-edge delivery systems ensure that it is delivered directly to the cells of the body that need it most.

● HyrdoCurc™ is a highly available form of curcumin - the active compound found in turmeric - and is highly antiinflammatory and effective at fighting free radical damage in the body. As discussed above, it is this free radical damage, coupled with oxidative stress, that is responsible for the breakdown of cells over time, and thus the ageing process more generally.

For all these benefits and more, try LYMA. Our patented ingredients are unrivalled in their efficacy and could see you feeling more resilient, mentally sharper, more easily able to concentrate and focus , and leave you with glowing, radiant, happy and healthy skin. LYMA delivers results you can rely on and leaves you with a confidence you can feel.