While the world continues to slowly turn its attention to natural remedies over artificial ones, very few alternatives have the same effect that some of the most effective artificial remedies have.??
Take for instance Botox. It’s hard to replace a treatment that offers an instant fix such as a Botox treatment. There hasn’t been an extract or an application of any kind that tighten up human skin the way Botox has been able to, thus far.
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Maple trees are best known for their maple syrup and lovely fall foliage. But it turns out that the beauty of those leaves could be skin-deep, claims a recent study.?
The findings showed that extracts from summer or fall red maple leave formulated into a powder could be incorporated in skin care products to prevent wrinkles.
"You could imagine that these extracts might tighten up human skin like a plant-based Botox, though they would be a topical application, not an injected toxin," said Navindra P. Seeram, principal investigator from the University of Rhode Island in the US.
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"We wanted to see whether leaf extracts from red maple trees could block the activity of elastase," said Hang Ma from the varsity.
The researchers zeroed in on phenolic compounds in the leaves known as glucitol-core-containing gallotannins (GCGs) and examined each compound's ability to inhibit elastase activity in a test tube.
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But these compounds can do more than just prevent wrinkles. In a previous study, Seeram had shown that these same GCGs might be able to protect skin from inflammation and lighten dark spots, such as unwanted freckles or age spots.
And the fact that the extracts are derived from trees would be appreciated by consumers who are looking for natural, plant-based ingredients in their skincare products, the researchers said.
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Maple leaves have been historically been used by Native Americans in their traditional systems of medicine, it's time we use it in our own systems.?