Antioxidants in a Nutshell—Pistachio, to be Precise

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Pistachio advertisements from one manufacturer have hit the American mainstream media hard in recent months, recruiting actors, artists and athletes to tout the "power of pistachios." Anyone who wached the Superbowl may have noticed. And now, research published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition corroborates this claim.

It's well-known that reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during UV exposure can induce skin damage and aging. And antioxidants can protect against these effects by quenching ROS. In a new study, researchers used a validated three-dimensional (3D) human skin equivalent (HSE) tissue model to test pistachio antioxidants.

According to the article abstract, lutein and γ-tocopherol were identified as the predominant antioxidants in pistachios, and treatment with these compounds prior to UVA exposure protected against morphological changes. Furthermore, pistachio antioxidants preserved skin's thickness, organization and fibroblast morphology; although this protection was not confirmed by keratinocyte proliferation or apoptosis.

Additional research is warranted but all in all, these researching findings are "the nuts."

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