Caffeine as the New Sunscreen?
Is it possible that in future we will forego the sunscreen and rub coffee on instead?
We’re interested in some of the new findings about the benefits of caffeine, not least because one of our Natural Botanical Soaps contains coffee! (Great for cooks’ garlicky or fishy hands!)
An interesting study by the Univerisity of Rutgers in New Jersey suggests that caffeine may indeed lower the risk of skin cancer.
The latest results concentrate on the theory that caffeine can inhibit a protein in the skin called ATR which can trigger skin cancer.
Previous research conducted at the university and going back more than ten years has shown that mice which were given caffeinated water to drink and then exposed to UVB rays that damaged skin cell DNA, were able to kill off a greater percentage of damaged skin cells, reducing the risk of going on to develop skin cancer.
In developing a group of genetically modified mice, they were able to show that they had 69 per cent fewer tumors than regular mice, and developed four times fewer invasive tumors.
Now the research focusses on topical application of caffeine – directly to the skin in other words – and showed that regular mice had 72 percent fewer squamos cell carcinomas.
The research could lead to the development of a caffeine extract for sun care formulations.
“Although it is known that coffee drinking is associated with a decreased risk of non-melanoma skin cancer, there now needs to be studies to determine whether topical caffeine inhibits sunlight-induced skin cancer,” said Allan Conney, director of the Susan Lehmann Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research.
Caffeine extract has already been widely used in a variety of skin care products, namely as an anti-aging agent, thanks to its high anti-oxidant properties.
It has also been incorporated into a hair care range to prevent hair loss, developed by Switzerland-based company Alpecin. The caffeine extract contained in the formulation is said to help stimulate hair follicle growth at the root level.
http://news.rutgers.edu/medrel/news-releases/2011/08/rutgers-study-more-e-20110815
Top of the page
