Face first I think it's safe to say that no one wants to get wrinkles. And there's certainly no shortage of crèmes, serums, and lotions meant to help fight them lining cosmetic counters. But the answer to those lines burrowing their way into your forehead and the corners of your eyes may be a whole lot simpler -- not to mention less expensive -- than those products promising rediscovered youth in a 1-ounce jar. A recent study conducted in the Netherlands found that vitamin K plays a key role in protecting the skin against the effects of a disease called pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), which is characterized by severe wrinkling of the skin. The researchers discovered that vitamin K activates one of the enzymes responsible for protecting the skin's elastic fibers from becoming calcified. Based on previous research, they also knew that people suffering from PXE are unable to metabolize vitamin K. So, putting two and two together, they concluded that this nutrient must be involved in the elasticity of skin. While this particular study didn't investigate it directly, the researchers did speculate that vitamin K very likely would play the same protective role in healthy subjects as well. Of course, they also didn't study vitamin K in terms of anti-wrinkling effects. But preventing wrinkles from occurring in the first place is an even better approach than fighting them back after the fact. And since vitamin K is so good for you in so many other ways, it certainly won't hurt you to try it. For complete details on just how beneficial this vitamin is, as well as Dr. Wright's recommendations for supplementing with it, refer back to the article "Vitamin K: What's it good for?" in the July 2000 issue of Nutrition & Healing. And for more information on all-natural skin anti-wrinkle techniques, be on the lookout for the upcoming January issue of Nutrition & Healing, where Dr. Wright will share some of his wife Holly's best anti-aging secrets. Subscribers can download these issues for free from the Nutrition & Healing online archive by visiting www.wrightnewsletter.com and logging on with the username and password listed on page 8 of your most recent newsletter. If you're not already a subscriber, check out the website for details on becoming one, or to order Dr. Wright's report titled The Doctor's Secrets for Living Younger -- Year After Year, which offers practical, natural tips on how to stay looking -- and feeling -- as young as possible for as long as possible. Source:
"Vitamin K shows potential in the fight against wrinkles," NutraIngredients.com (www.nutraingredients.com), 10/19/07
"Martix Gla protein is involved in elastic fiber calcification in the dermis of pseudoxanthoma elasticum patients," Laboratory Investigation 2007; 87: 998-1,008 | 
