3. LIFESTYLE
How you live also shows how you will age. A healthy lifestyle ensures that you age healthily. Here are the habits that cause premature aging, so stop doing these.
Smoking: Not only to your lungs, smoking also affects your skin. Research has shown that exposure to cigarette smoke significantly increases skin wrinkles and dryness. This is because cigarette smoke depletes your body of Vitamin C, which is a key ingredient for keeping skin plump and moist.
Even if you don’t smoke, being exposed to the smoke is also equally damaging to the skin. Researchers say that exposure to cigarette smoke is as damaging to the skin as exposure to sun's ultraviolet rays.
Reduce the amount of cigarettes you smoke everyday and then modify your habits when you smoke, like when you are stressed or after lunch, eat a fruit, play a sport or go out for a walk. Make it a routine and see the changes.
Alcohol use: A drink or two doesn’t harm much. True, when you are young but when older, alcohol is pretty difficult for the body to metabolize and contributes to aging skin by dilating small blood vessels in the skin and increasing blood flow near the skin's surface. Over time, these blood vessels can become permanently damaged, creating a flushed appearance and broken vessels on the skin’s surface.
Socializing doesn’t have to be all about drinking. Cut down your intake to look your age or even younger.
Stress: Exposing the body to repeated stress shows on your face. Stress and worry cause frowning, and over time the muscles in the face actually conform to that movement. Research shows that the long term effects of Stress are weak muscles, wrinkles, loss of eyesight and hearing power, failure of organs, diminished thinking abilities.
Meditation, positive thinking, anger management all contribute to reducing the stress and the way we deal with it. Be happy; forget worries and you will never feel old
4. DIET
Okay, there is nothing much you can do about the environment or the stressful life that you lead. Here is what you can eat, to look and feel younger.
Proteins: Protein is an essential key to repairing that damage. Many people, women especially, don't get enough protein in their diets. Free radicals or the unstable molecules that inflict damage on our cells, triggering inflammation, are the main culprits in causing skin to look older. Flax seeds, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, canola oil and soy which contain omega-3 fatty acids should be a daily part of your anti-aging diet because of its ability to fight inflammation.
Yogurt is another excellent source of protein. The beneficial bacteria in yogurt promote a healthy digestive system. Eggs are also a great source of protein but eat the egg whites instead of whole eggs. Beans and other legumes provide fiber, as well as protein.
Carbohydrates: To fight aging, you should have one carbohydrate source with every meal. Focus on brightly colored fruits and vegetables because they're the ones with the most antioxidants to fight those free radicals. Foods like legumes, berries, pomegranate, grape, orange, plum, nuts and vegetables like spinach, red cabbage, beet root are good examples of antioxidant-rich foods.
Also, look for carbohydrate sources that are low on the glycemic index. That way, you'll avoid spikes in blood sugar that set off chemical reactions in the body that lead to inflammation and a host of other physical ailments.
Eating right, working out and taking care of your skin are all you require to look young, not the anti- ageing creams. So start now and don’t let your look decide how old you are.
