Everyone’s trying their best to make their skin glow and look radiant. No one wants to see wrinkles and fine lines on their face as they make us look old. However, aging is a process that can’t be stopped. Unfortunately, it sometimes comes sooner rather than later for some people.
Even though it can’t be stopped, the good news is that there are a number of things we can do to delay the process and keep our skin healthy and radiant. And, we’re not talking about expensive treatments. As a matter of fact, a few lifestyle changes and healthy habits can do wonders for the state of our skin.
What Makes Our Skin Age?
As we already mentioned, aging is a natural process that (unfortunately) can’t be erased from our genes. Just like the rest of our body, our skin ages as years go by. With each passing year, there’s an extra line on our face.
Our skin is getting looser, and it’s getting harder and harder to keep it in shape. The skin is the body’s biggest organ. It’s made up of collagen and elastin. The latter is an elastic protein that stretches or contracts to allow tissues in our body to keep their shape.
As we age, the production of elastin in our bodies decreases, resulting in loose skin. At the same time, our skin starts losing fat and slowly becomes thinner.
Gravity and genetics do the rest, with the end result being a hell of a mess. Our genetics play a major role in the aging of the skin. This is why some people look older than they really are, while others look as graceful as ever as they age.
With that being said, there are a number of other factors that influence how fast our skin ages. Here are some of the biggest ones:
1. Excessive Sun Exposure
There’s no doubt that sunlight is great for our skin and overall health. It helps our body to synthesize vitamin D and has a great number of benefits for our health. However, too much of it can damage your skin beyond repair.
The ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun has been associated with rapid wrinkle development. Apart from that, too much sunlight can also hasten the appearance of dark spots on your skin, which can make you look much older.
When it comes to sunlight, always wear sunscreen when outside in the summer and limit your sun exposure to prevent wrinkles and fine lines on your skin.
2. Smoking
Smoking is a bad habit for your health obviously, but you may not have been aware that it’s destroying your skin as well.
According to studies, wrinkles are more common in smokers due to restricted blood flow in the facial skin. The toxic chemicals in cigarettes aren’t doing your skin any favors as well.
If you like to keep your skin in shape and always look like the best version of yourself, stop smoking. It might be hard, but you can do it. Your skin will better and better with each cigarette-free day, so you’ll have all the motivation you need to succeed.
3. Unhealthy Diet
What you eat has a profound impact on the health of your skin (and your overall health as well). Eat too much junk food and sugar and you can bet it’s going to show up on your skin.
Many experts believe that unhealthy diets are the main reason for accelerated skin aging. Trans fats are especially dangerous. They can trigger inflammation in the skin and ruin your looks. Even worse, they can potentially cause much bigger problems than wrinkles.
If you don’t get enough vitamins and other nutrients in your diet, you can’t expect your skin to look good.
Now that you know what makes your skin age faster, it’s time to change your habits. Eat a healthy diet, quit smoking, don’t drink too much alcohol, cut sugar off your diet, and try to be more physically active. It may sound like a lot, but if you want your skin to look young forever, that’s what it takes.