Stay Young Longer
Stay Young Longer
As much as we would all love, there isn’t a magic potion to make us stay young forever. You may start to notice your skin doesn’t have that same youthfulness it once had. The lines on your forehead begin to form permanent creases. This is the reality of aging. Luckily by taking care of ourselves both internally and externally we can slow the aging process and maintain our youthful looks longer. Although we can’t stop the aging process we can set a better foundation for the future. Think of your skin as a house, without a proper foundation (our body) it would fall to the ground. The following tips are the best ways to keep you looking your best.
Hydration
Our bodies need to stay hydrated in order for all the organs and cells in our body to function properly. Remember, our skin is the largest organ in our body. Without enough water the skin can become more vulnerable to skin disorders and premature wrinkling. Water is essential to helping maintain optimal skin moisture and delivering vital nutrients to skin cells. Water helps replenish the skins tissue and assists to help increase skin elasticity resulting in the delay of aging, such as fine lines or wrinkles. So drink your 8 glasses of water daily to keep your skin looking younger longer.
Sunscreen
Simply put, anti-aging starts with sunscreen. Any and all skincare routines must include the daily use of a broad spectrum sunscreen, even when the sun isn’t shining. Did you know that up to 80 percent of the sun’s harmful ultra violet rays can pass through the clouds? Sunscreen is the best anti-wrinkle, anti-sagging, anti-dark spot and even anti-skin cancer product you can use for your skin. A study also found that daily use of sunscreen decreased the skin aging by 24%. It has been well known for years that unprotected UV exposure accelerates aging, but studies now prove that wearing sunscreen actually reduces wrinkles as well. So don’t forget to apply that sunscreen of SPF 30 or greater daily and every two hours when in the sun.
Stay Active
Exercising is beneficial in many different ways. Exercising doesn’t just keep you lean or muscular, exercising actually slows cell aging. Activity does this by turning off the aging process in your chromosomes, which has to do with telomeres (caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosome’s/control’s aging). As we age, telomeres become shorter. A study also found that frequent exercisers also have more supple and elastic skin. Staying active doesn't only keep your body healthy but also helps keep skin younger longer.
Healthy Balanced Diet
Eating a healthy diet full of anti-aging foods won’t erase your laugh lines, or make you feel in your early 20’s again, but it can boost the quality of your skin, improve immunity and overall health. Foods like carrots and sweet potatoes are high in vitamin A which restore and regenerate damaged collagen, fighting off fine lines and wrinkles. Foods high in Vitamin C such as oranges help with collagen production and healthy skin elasticity. Watermelon and cooked tomatoes are loaded with lycopene, an antioxidant which acts as a natural sunblock. We can’t forget red wine, which is loaded with resveratrol, an antioxidant which helps maintain muscle, which is very important as we age.
Sleep
There are many benefits of a good night’s sleep. It helps with better memory, attention, and concentration, reduces risk of stroke and, improves our mood which is beneficial to those around us. What we don’t realize, is we are aging internally as well. A study done by UCLA found that just a single night of insufficient sleep ( less than 7 hours) can make adult cells age quicker. With time this also has the potential to cause health issues such as diseases like multiple sclerosis and cancer. Sleep deprivation not only affects your body negatively, but also your skin by lowering its moisture level and PH causing dull skin, wrinkles and, under eyes circles, not cute! A healthy night’s sleep won’t just keep the wrinkles away longer but will help you stay healthy too.
