SPECIAL EDITION: BEAUTY FROM WITHIN
Ceramides
Discovered by a German physician in the late 19th century, ceramides are lipids that occur naturally in the skin but gradually disappear with age causing wrinkles and dry skin.
Phytoceramides from plants such as wheat began appearing in topical creams in the 1990s but are now firmly established in the nutraceutical category, with studies demonstrating that oral phytoceramides hydrate the skin more efficiently than creams.
In 2013 the FDA approved US company Aveya’s claims that ceramides extracted from sweet potatoes help restore skin cells while France's Ceramoside range from Seppic contains concentrated phytoceramides along with digalactosyl diglycerides (DGDG) which it claims aids absorption of the ceramides.