- Antonio Jose Caruz Arcos
- The conversation*
January 14, 2023
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Natural aging can be accelerated by pairing the sun with a lime caipirinha
Summer afternoons, hot sun, a poolside BBQ with friends and a lime caipirinha. What could go wrong?
Quite simply: genetic skin lesions. But why?
The book of life DNA is not immutable. Life itself damages them and, accordingly, reduces the ability of cells to survive.
This is exactly the origin of natural aging. And that aging can be accelerated by elements we didn’t expect, like the combination of sun and lemon.
But let’s start at the beginning. Our genome has 3.3 billion letters stored in 23 chromosomes. It’s data that isn’t impressive when presented in this way. But if we do a little math and convert it into pages of text in Word, we can get a better picture of the amount of information.
If the text of the genome were written in Arial size 11 with a single space, it would occupy 250 km of A4 sheets.
Since we have two genomes in each of our cells (one inherited from father and the other from mother), the “pages” of our genome would add up to 500km of genetic content.
This extensive text contains the recipe for “cooking” each of our cell pieces. And to integrate them all into a complex system that encompasses everything from reproduction, to the metabolism of food, to thinking and consciousness the most amazing human quality.
The problem is that DNA can be altered by mutations that “undermine” the original text. In many cases, the cause of these mutations lies in the cell activity itself, essentially in respiration.
In practice, it is estimated that in each cell every day there are about 50,000 chain breaks, 10,000 nucleotide changes, 5,000 mutations caused by chemical products (e.g. tobacco derivatives), 2,000 injuries caused by the famous free radicals and 10 crosslinking events between the two DNA strands. Fortunately, our cells are able to heal most of these genetic wounds.
The most persistent damage is the socalled crosslinking of DNA helices, which is unusual and very dangerous. Their repair is more difficult and it is calculated that 40 injuries of this type are enough to kill a cell. This is because they completely block tissue regeneration and cause accelerated aging.
Cocktails in the sun, detox diets and accelerated skin aging
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There is no shortage of cases of patients who have been hospitalized for combining the sun with fruits like grapefruit
The scientific literature is replete with reports of patients admitted to hospital wards with seconddegree burns because of prolonged exposure to the sun and touching or eating fruits such as lemon and grapefruit (grapefruit).
These foods cause acute photodermatosis because they contain toxins known as furocoumarins — which induce crosslinks to form in DNA when exposed to sunlight. The immediate consequences are usually cell death, inflammation and blistering of the skin.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With low levels of exposure, even if there are no obvious burns, prolonged exposure will result in permanent dark spots, accelerated skin aging, and a higher chance of developing cancer.
It also describes cases of people who, on the advice of digital influencers, have gone on “detox cures” with the abuse of lemon, grapefruit or celery with harmful effects on the skin.
Another source of skin problems is the consumption of wild plants such as Chenopodium, medicinal plants such as Plantago, contact with fig leaves or the use of cosmetic essential oils (e.g. Psoralea).
There are also essences contained in perfumes or hygiene products, such as tangerine, which contain large amounts of mutagenic furocoumarins. Recently, the International Fragrance Association has emphasized the importance of developing robust methods for identifying and quantifying these toxins in cosmetics.
The European Commission has already limited the content of furocoumarins and set strict limits for the marketing of sunscreen and tanning products. And essence makers are already producing toxinfree essences with specific aromapreserving treatments, amid growing concern over the issue.
Of course, “natural” doesn’t always mean “healthy”. Sometimes natural products need to be chemically treated to make them safe to use.
For skin care and the survival of our DNA, it is necessary to take advice from real experts not follow the advice of fashion YouTubers.
*Antonio José Caruz Arcos is Professor of Genetics at the University of Jaén, Spain.