Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/191415
C is for Clear Vitamin C and Skin by Chanda Zaveri Ascorbic acid, commonly known as vitamin C, is perhaps the most well publicized of all vitamins, yet it is still one of the least understood. Even though more than 80 years have passed since it was first isolated by Hungarian scientist Albert Szent-Györgyi, its precise biological function has remained an enigma—but experts agree it is necessary for optimal skin health. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant. It combats disease, including cancer as well as cardiovascular, degenerative, and infectious diseases. It slows the rate of free radical damage, provides protection against photoaging, is necessary for wound healing, reverses DNA damage, balances hormones, increases fertility, and is essential to collagen production. So how exactly does this necessary vitamin work in the body, and why is it so popular in skin care products? Here's what you need to know. Where It Comes From Vitamin C is not naturally created by the human body and therefore must come from our diet. This is because four distinct enzymes are required for the body to make its own supply of vitamin C, and humans lack one of those four enzymes—L-gulonolactone oxidase. Biologists believe our ancestors once had this enzyme, but eventually lost it through evolution. Since vitamin C is readily available in the food supply, losing the ability to create it helped conserve the body's energy for more important purposes. 26ASCP Skin Deep November/December 2013