Isoflavones
Isoflavones are derived from soy and help keep skin young looking. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that diets rich in soy products, as they are in Asian countries, are closely linked to lower incidences of breast cancer and cancer of the uterus, cardiovascular disease and postmenopausal symptoms. It is now generally accepted that such properties are due to isoflavones, a class of plant compounds that is particularly abundant in soybeans. Isoflavones interfere with cell metabolism. In the skin, they’ve been shown to stimulate the production of the skin’s structural components (collagens) and to inhibit matrix metallo-proteinases (enzymes that degrade the underlying network of proteins that make up the skin’s support layer).