Cocoa butter, also called Theobroma oil, is from the seeds of the Theobroma cocoa tree of South America. Cocoa butter is formed after the seeds have been fermented, dried, roasted, and pressed. It dates back 3,000 years, and was used by the Mayan and Aztec civilizations for nutritional and medicinal purposes.
Although cocoa will not help with your stretch marks, it is a rich source of polyphenolic compounds with a high amount of flavonoids which will help with UV damage, neutralizing free radicals, and chelates metals that enhance reactive oxygen species (ROS) (specifically Iron & copper). Flavonoids applied to the skin also have anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties.
There are two processes that causes skin aging, intrinsic or exogenous. Intrinsic aging is the natural process of aging as we get older. Exogenous aging is caused by the external environment. One of the main causes of exogenous aging is photo-oxidative damage. UV damage is linked to overproduction of ROS, which causes inflammation. ROS and reactive nitrosative species (RNS) generated by UV can damage critical cellular components such as DNA, proteins, and lipids. Plant polyphenols have been found to possess anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidant properties and DNA repair activity. In vitro and in vivo systems have found plant polyphenols have protective effects on biochemical processes that are mediated by UV radiation which in turn can help with subsequent photoaging. Studies have found that oral and topical application of cocoa polyphenols in the flavanol family can offer effective photoprotection. In hairless mice, topical application is shown to prevent UV induced wrinkle formation in hairless mice.
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