Anti-aging of the human skin and body organs takes place throughout one’s lifetime.
Your skin is the largest organ of your body that has the biggest contact area with your external environment.
It serves as a barrier that separates your body from the harsh conditions of your environment.
It not only protects your body from every external environmental damage, it prevents water loss from your body.
As the largest organ, your skin shows obvious signs of ageing due to age, ultraviolet radiations (UVR) exposure, chemical pollution and other factors.
It is mainly characterized by the accumulation of macromolecular damage, impaired tissue renewal, gradual loss of physiological function integrity, and increased risk of death.
If you are like me, interested in slowing down this process of aging or completely reversing it, then read on…
Aging is caused by a combination of internal factors (such as hormone levels, genotypes, metabolism, etc.)
Plus external factors such as ultraviolet radiation, nutritional levels, chemical pollution, etc.
Here are a few causes of Aging:
Aging refers to your body’s ability to adapt to your environment’s physiology and psychology, which progressively decreases and gradually leads to death.
A healthy lifestyle is a life-long way of carefully doing things.
For a healthy younger-looking skin and body, you will need to feed your body with good nutrition and regularly engage in physical activities.
Restful sleep on a daily basis and adequately managing stressful situations are also part of this healthy lifestyle among many others.
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to living healthy, just try your best and do what suits your personality.
Sitting for long periods have several consequences like weight gain (since calories are stored instead of being burned).
Others side effects of sitting for long are dementia in older people, back pains, the high risk of chronic diseases and an early death.
Physical activities range from just getting up from your desk, stretching, to running.
Your physical activity may not be as dramatic, but just moving parts of your body, helps blood flow, which in turn, makes you look younger.
Here are a few ways to incorporate physical activities into your lifestyle:-
Regular Physical activities help your brain function better, alleviates stress, improves your mood
& wellbeing and helps you maintain a healthy body weight.
It is not possible to choose life’s circumstances that come your way, but you can choose how you react to them.
Only you can choose how you let stressful situations affect you, because not coping well with stress can take its toll on your health and longevity.
Learning how to manage stress with deep breathing exercises is one of the things that can add years to your life.
Stress, when unattended to for a long time, leads to an early death. Stress kills! Kill it before it kills You!
Modern science has proven that an imbalance in nutrition and poor eating habits are important causes of skin aging.
Nutrition is closely associated with your skin’s health and is required for all biological processes of skin from youth to an advanced age.
Your nutrition level and eating habits can repair damaged skin and can also cause damage to your skin. Which would you choose? Damage or repair?
Good Nutrition includes but is not restricted to the following: –
Water is a vital constituent of your body and facilitates maintenance of balance and tissue function in your body.
When in your body, it serves the role of nutrient, solvent, transportation carrier, maintains body volume, and regulates your body temperature.
Lack of sufficient water in your body can cause tissue dehydration and functional disorders (such as aging and inflammation).
Your skin is no exception, and the texture of your lips and your body reflects your body’s moisture status.
Vitamin deficiency affects skin health. The lack of vitamins in your body can cause skin disorders.
The lack of vitamin C, for example, causes symptoms of scurvy such as fragile skin and impaired wound healing.
They are your skin’s antioxidant defence ingredients, and are mostly taken from your food.
The content of vitamins in your diet is closely related to your skin’s antioxidant capacity and physiological functions.
Colourful fruits and vegetables are full of anti-aging antioxidants. These valuable substances are in the actual pigments that make up the colour of these foods.
It is advised to eat a wide array of colours to improve your health and slow down the aging process.
These minerals are required by your body in tiny amounts and they include iron, iodine, zinc, copper, selenium etc.
Despite being less abundant in your body, trace elements have strong physiological and biochemical effects.
They are closely related to your skin’s immunity.
Zinc works with other minerals and vitamins to heal your skin of acne, lesions, fine lines and wrinkles.
Copper is involved in the synthesis and stabilization of your skin proteins.
Studies have shown that copper aids in improving skin’s elasticity, reducing facial fine lines & wrinkles, and promoting wound healing.
Iron is a catalyst for bio-oxidation. Studies have shown that ultraviolet radiation & iron content in women’s post-menopausal skin cells increase rapidly.
This reduces their skin’s antioxidant capacity, and leads to aging.
The lack of Selenium in your diet weakens the UV-B-induced antioxidative ability of your skin, making it more sensitive to oxidative stress due to ultraviolet radiation.
The primary function of protein is to construct and repair your skin tissues, help with physiological functions and supply your body with energy.
All tissue cells in your body are constantly renewed, and your skin’s renewal cycle is estimated at 28 days.
Adequate intake of protein maintains this level of renewal & repair.
Excess protein is advised against, due to kidney load, while its deficiency has severe consequences like anemia, slow growth, irritability etc
Countries around the world recommend standard protein intakes based on age, sex, work and physiological period.
This table….. highlights the relationship between trace elements, vitamins, diet and your skin.
During restful sleep, especially at night, your body goes through a repair, healing and rejuvenation process. Skin cells regenerate faster at night.
"When it comes to your beauty routine, sleep may be the closest thing there is to a fountain of youth."
Collagen, a type of protein is produced in higher quantities by your body when you
sleep. The more of it you have, the less the wrinkles.
Levels of the stress hormone is reduced during your sleep, enabling your muscles to relax which helps your skin to repair daytime damage.
Below are a few ways to ensure that you get good shut-eye whenever you need it:
Skin aging is a complex and long biological process, which is affected by genetic and environmental factors.
Although stem cell transplantation, injection of hyaluronic acid, and retinoic acid have certain effects, each method has corresponding disadvantages.
It has become evident that skin aging can be effectively managed through dietary requirements.
Improving your skin aging through diet should not be rushed, it is a long-term process, since food & nutrients travel a long way to get to your skin.