Plant sterols - phytosterols - deserve a huge place in your health and beauty program.

Consider getting them both from your diet and by applying natural oils such as Argan.

Plant sterols are natural components found in fruits and vegetables. They're vegetable fats and free alcohol that enhance our immune systems.

When it comes to skin, they increase elasticity, reduce wrinkles, and help repair damage caused by age, sunlight, and wounds.

When you apply plant sterols topically to your skin, they help maintain the integrity of cell membranes. This reduces inflammation, so it's effective for red, irritated, itching inflamed skin.

They also improve skin cell metabolism and aid in retaining water, thus helping to keep your skin moisturized. That is, smooth, plump, and juicy. Not dry, scaly, flaky, and itchy. 

According to The National Institutes of Health, there are over 200 different phytosterols. The highest concentrations are found in vegetable oils, beans, and nuts. 

The mainstream food industry is even fortifying food with phytosterols in free or esterified form. Sterols resemble cholesterol and compete with it to be absorbed by your digestive system. Therefore, one reason for the popularity of sterols is the belief eating them will lower cholesterol blood levels. 

The cosmetics industry uses phytosterols from soybeans as an active ingredient in creams and lipsticks. 

That makes them a neutrocosmeceutical - a healthy natural substance (neutraceutical) used as a cosmetic. That's a long word, but it applies well to plant sterols.

Applied topically to skin, sterols have demonstrated anti-aging benefits. They protect skin from the photodamage caused by sunlight, slowing down the destruction of collagen. And they stimulate the production of new collagen. Thus, they not only help prevent new wrinkles but help flatten current wrinkles.

The Phytosterols You Eat Also Make You Beautiful

Plant nutrition is incredibly powerful for your health in many ways.

When you eat them, they're absorbed into your blood plasma to benefit all your cells.

Therefore, your skin cells absorb them from your blood too, and they are important for keeping your skin's surface lipids (fat) healthy and strong.

The typical western diet is high in processed foods and low in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. It provides us only with 150-400 mg of phytosterols every day.

The amount scientists believe is needed to lower the cholesterol in your blood is 2-3 grams. Clearly, we need to eat more whole plant foods to optimize our health and skin beauty.

Your Skin on Cholesterol

Your body does need cholesterol - the right amount in the right places - and one reason is it helps keep your skin firm and plump.

However, it should come from the cholesterol your liver manufactures. When we apply cholesterol directly to skin, it causes inflammation and acne.

However, phytosterols also naturally strengthen your skin by mimicking the function of cholesterol. Yet they do so without irritating your skin. Instead, they are anti-inflammatory.

Phytosterols help strengthen your skin's barrier. That is, the part of your skin that keeps the dirt and bacteria out of your body.  

Phytosterols also:

* Increase your skin's elasticity

* Smooth your skin, decreasing roughness

* Increase the collagen that keeps your skin firm and wrinkle-free

* Increase production of hyaluronic acid - to keep water in your skin so it remains hydrated . . . plump and healthy-looking

Oils for Your Skin

Natural plant oils are often rich in phytosterols. They include Argan and Cactus Seed (also known as Prickly Pear).

The argan tree is native to Morocco. Many people around the Mediterranean area now grow them and harvest the oil from the tree's kernels.

Like olive oil, argan is rich in the phytonutrient squalene - so you can regard argan as one more component of the Mediterranean Diet.

People in Morocco and surrounding areas have traditionally used argan oil to keep their skin, hair, and nails strong and beautiful. 

That's especially important to them because they live in a hot environment where they get a lot of direct sunlight.

The prickly pear sort of looks like a mango, but comes in a variety of colors and does have prickly spots like a cactus. Like the argan tree, it's native to Morocco.

Therefore, it's fitting that many skincare products mix argan and prickly pear oils, just as local Morocco women have probably done for thousands of years.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/phytosterols-safe-use-cosmetics-skin-care-products-anuj-kabra/

https://arganoildirect.com/argan-oil-and-the-amazing-benefits-of-plant-sterols

https://blog.zenmed.com/plant-sterols-the-basics-of-healthy-skin/

https://arganoildirect.com/the-chemistry-of-moroccan-argan-oil

https://www.healthline.com/health/argan-oil-for-skin

https://www.victoriahealth.com/editorial/beauty-benefits-of-prickly-pear