Preventing your age from showing on your face
Our skin is one of the most obvious indicators of our age and if you ask someone to predict how old you are, it's your skin they'll be looking at to make their estimate. For this reason, anti-aging skin care is one of the surest ways to look younger and healthier to ensure there are no awkward moments when someone mistakes your sister for your daughter.
Using the right techniques, it's possible to reduce your appearance by up to 25 years, maybe more, and not only look better, but feel better too..
Protecting your skin with the right nutrients
The first facet of anti-aging skin care is in our diet, and the healthier we eat, the smoother and healthier our skin will be. This is logical when you consider that it is our food that provides our body with the necessary building blocks to care for our skin and all other tissues and muscles in the body.
You are literally what you eat, and if you want healthy skin, you need a healthy diet. When thinking specifically about trying to look younger, there are three main things we need in our diet – antioxidants, vitamins and fats..
Antioxidants
First, antioxidants, found in foods like citrus fruits and fish, help protect our skin cells (and all other cells) from oxidation and free radical attack. We've already touched on this idea briefly, but to reiterate that every cell in your body is under constant attack from free radicals, which damage cell walls when they come into contact with them.
Enough of those bombardments and eventually that microscopic damage becomes macroscopic and your skin looks tired and wrinkled. What's worse is that this damage can eventually seep into your DNA, at which point your cells will mutate and appear damaged when dividing. In worst case scenarios, this can lead to the formation of cancerous tumors.
Antioxidants can neutralize these free radicals so they are less available to attack the skin. This means that your skin cells are under less fire and therefore look healthier. At the same time, this will help protect the skin and other cells against cancer by decreasing the chance that the DNA behind the cell walls will be damaged or mutated..
There are numerous sources of antioxidants in your diet, but the best way to ensure you're getting enough of them is to just eat plenty of fruits and vegetables that tend to be chock-full of them. Antioxidants also include things like resveratrol and CoQ10..
You may recall from our section on nootropics that they improve mitochondrial function and this makes sense given that harmful oxygen is a common by-product of mitochondria and this can end up damaging cells and eventually DNA otherwise..
Resveratrol is found in red grapes and red wine and is actually believed to be the reason why people living on the mainland are much less likely to suffer from heart disease and other conditions!
Vitamins
Meanwhile, vitamins, particularly vitamins A and E, are used in rebuilding the skin and are a great way to encourage the body to heal scars and wrinkles. These are used to help stimulate the production of collagen and other important substances that give skin elasticity and will generally keep your skin looking younger and healthier. Again, this all comes from a nutrient-dense diet.
fats
Meanwhile, essential fatty acids will provide your skin with oil to keep it supple and prevent it from becoming dry and flaky. Omega 3 fatty acid will act as a source of oil for the skin and a source of antioxidants. Saturated fats in general are an important part of your diet and will help keep your skin naturally hydrated, while stimulating the production of hormones that help keep your skin glowing.
Fats get a bad rap when it comes to your health, but more recent studies show that we scapegoat them by mistake. Fat does not raise LDL (bad) cholesterol, nor does it make us fat. Fat is really an important part of our diet! Oh, and eating lots of protein is also important. Protein provides the body with all the building blocks it needs to create more tissue, and that includes skin (not just muscle!).