And ferulic acid makes three: the mighty triad of Vitamin C, E, and ferulic acid.
Last time we left off with the teaser for yet another plant antioxidant, a little less known than the vitamins we discussed so far. The molecule in question is ferulic acid. It is prevalent in many plant foods, as it serves as a bridge between lipids and polysaccharides that make up plant cell walls, such as the bran portion of grains, fruits, leafy greens, as well as coffee. It’s a powerful antioxidant in its own right, boosting the skin defenses that slow down the signs of ageing.
As we mentioned before, when it comes to environmental factors ageing the skin, UV damage leads the way-UV radiation causes oxidative stress in skin, which can age the skin and cause skin cancer. This happens through the creation of so called reactive oxygen species (ROS), or free radicals. Free radicals initiate and propagate the so called chain reactions within the components of the skin, meaning that one radical can create a cascade of destruction which can damage your DNA, proteins and lipids, with the end result of aged skin appearance, or even skin cancer.
When applied to skin before UV exposure, ferulic acid protects it from the worst adverse effects of UV, especially fibroblasts-the cells in the dermis that make collagen. It can also bind metal ions, such as iron or copper, making them less reactive (they also can do their share of skin damage). It has a brightening effect on skin, too.
If you read the post on vitamin C, you know that it is notoriously unstable even in the jar-it reacts with air upon sitting, and this process is sped up with light and metal ions. To a much lesser extent, the same can be said of vitamin E. However, with addition of a little ferulic acid, the serum containing both vitamins C and E becomes much more stable-at one month kept at 45 oC (113 F), 90 % of vitamin C was still kept, and 100% of vitamin E (We assume that where you keep your creams never gets that hot).
Now, here comes the really interesting part-if your serum contains all the ingredients we talked about so far-vitamin C, vitamin E and ferulic acid, it becomes much more effective than the individual ingredients alone. When added topically, the combination of the three doubled the skin protection from UV rays when compared to vitamins C + E. Their ratios are important: for the magic to truly take off, you need 15% vitamin C to 1% vitamin E and 0.5% ferulic acid. Personally, the serum containing all three ingredients is our absolute favorite product (we make our own, but you can certainly buy them, too).
You might wonder-could this be my new natural sunscreen? The answer is no. Sunscreens are more like shields for your skin, especially mineral-ones (which we recommend, due to better safety profile than organic sunscreens, the white mask effect be darned. We’ll do a post on sunscreens at some point, so stay tuned). They stay on the surface of your skin, shielding it from the sun’s rays, and if you use mineral sunscreens, they are stable, but they can be washed off. The ingredients featured here actually penetrate the skin to some extent, where they can neither be rubbed nor washed off, but, as we discussed, they do get consumed. So think of this not as a replacement for sunscreen, but its complement.
The mighty triad of C, E and FA achieves what none of them can do alone. Each of these molecules is good for us because they are so reactive, which is unusual-normally, reactive molecules attack you in some fashion-they sacrifice themselves to protect our DNA, our lipid membranes, our proteins. For that same reason, they don’t last very long, either on our skin, or in the jar. In this particular combination, however, they also help each other-vitamin C replenishes spent vitamin E, and FA stabilizes vitamin C and E, each promoting the others’ activity, as well as prolonging the product’s shelf life. The whole ends up being much bigger than the sum of parts. The interplay of these three molecules is endlessly fascinating to us, not only because of the fortuitous effects they have, but because of their message, too: even in a jar, just like in life, a lot of good things can happen with a little help from one’s friends.
Dr Lasio