The skin is the largest organ in the body. Their layers, when healthy, work hard to protect us. But the skin’s ability to act as an effective barrier is hampered when it’s weakened. Therefore, we have found the best ways to enhance skin health in order to help it preserve its protective function.
The window to your body that exposes the details of your life is your skin. Both your age and wellbeing are mirrored in your skin, from acne breakouts during your teenage years to the radiant glow of pregnancy and the sunspots of aging.
The skin has multiple functions, making it the human body’s greatest multitasker. The first line of protection between our bodies and the outside environment is its most essential feature, shielding us from bacteria, viruses, and pollution and chemical substances that we meet at work and at home.
The skin regulates the temperature of the body, maintains the balance of fluid and controls the loss of moisture. It also serves as a shock absorber and shield, recognizes sensations of pain to alert us to danger, and protects us from the harmful ultaviolet (UV) rays of the sun.
Many influences affect your skin. Internal factors influencing the skin include genetics, aging, hormones, and disorders such as diabetes. Some of these you cannot influence, but there are many external factors that you can.
External influencers may harm the skin, such as unprotected sun exposure and washing too much or with water that is too hot. An unhealthy diet, stress, lack of sleep, inadequate exercise, dehydration, smoking, and unique drugs may all affect the ability of the skin to serve as an efficient protective barrier.
To help you banish wrinkles, get a radiant glow, and keep your skin supple and smooth all year round, here are some skin health tips.
Healthful diet
There is a multi-billion-dollar industry devoted to goods that keep the skin looking its best and claim to be battling against signs of aging. But moisturizers only go skin deep, and aging develops at a deeper, cellular level.
What you eat is as important as the things on your skin that you put on. From the inside out, your diet will improve your skin health, so a clear complexion starts with eating a healthy diet.
Skin-healthy foods
Here are some foods that have been recognized as being skin-healthy by studies.
Compounds with antioxidant properties include mangoes. These compounds contribute to the defense of skin components, such as collagen.
Tomatoes have advantages in terms of skin cancer prevention. One research in mice found that daily intake of tomatoes reduced the production of skin cancer tumors by 50 percent after exposure to UV light.
Research has shown that it may help to protect against sunburn by integrating tomato paste into your meals. People who ate 40 grams of tomato paste daily had 40 percent less sunburn than the control group after 10 weeks.
Lycopene is thought to play a role in the protective effect of tomatoes against UV damage, the pigment responsible for giving tomatoes their deep red color.
Olive oil is linked with a lower risk of severe facial photoaging — that is, cumulative harm to the skin that includes wrinkles, dark spots, and discoloration, which result from long-term sunlight exposure.
Cocoa flavanols found in dark chocolate may improve the structure and function of skin. Researchers found that cocoa flavanols reduced skin roughness and scaling, increased skin hydration, and helped support the skin’s defenses against UV ray damage.
Green tea has been connected to many skin benefits. Compounds found in green tea called polyphenols rejuvenate dying skin cell, which means that they could be beneficial for healing wounds or certain skin conditions.
As a possible cure for skin disorders such as psoriasis and dandruff, it has shown promising results. In these conditions, patches of dry, flaky, and red skin also feature, usually as a result of inflammation and overproduction of skin cells. Green tea may slow down skin cell production and suppress inflammation.
White tea has properties that are both anti-cancer and anti-aging. One study suggests that certain white tea ingredients can protect the skin from oxidative stress and damage to immune cells.
Kale is one of the best sources of lutein and zeaxanthin. Lutein and zeaxanthin can protect against skin damage induced by light, especially from UV rays.
Omega-3s contained in seeds of oily fish, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds or oils such as linseed oil and maize oil can prevent skin from getting dry and scaly.
Soy may help improve skin wrinkles on crow’s feet that occur in menopausal women at the outer corner of the eyes.
Never depend on food to cover you from the sun. To defend yourself from sun exposure, always use sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15, seek shade between the hours of 10 a.m. And 2 p.m., and wear your skin-covering clothes and a wide-brimmed hat.
Calorie restriction diet
Research has shown in mice that reducing calorie intake slows down the process of cellular aging. This result may prove to be an anti-aging technique for potential research in humans.
Scientists found that a decrease of 35 percent in the amount of calories consumed had an effect on aging within a cell. The cutting of calories caused the protein makers of the cell, called ribosomes, to slow down, and also to decelerate the aging process.
Not only did this decreased speed reduce ribosome development, but it also gave them time to repair themselves and keep the whole body running well.
Other early research has shown that allantoin mimics the influence of calorie restriction diets and improves lifespan by more than 20 percent, a compound used in many anti-aging face creams. The elixir of life could be hiding in your bathroom cabinet.
Unfortunately, this research has so far only been performed in worms. It can, however, potentially pave the way for new pathways of longevity to be explored in humans.
Alcohol
Cutting your alcohol consumption could reduce your risk of developing skin cancers that are not melanomatic. Research has shown that a higher consumption of alcohol is associated with a higher risk of developing basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell cutaneous carcinoma.
Researchers found that the risk of basal cell carcinoma increased by 7 percent with each 10-gram rise in alcohol intake per day, and the risk of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma increased by 11 percent.
Keep stress in check
Have you ever found that an unsightly pimple appears on your face shortly before a significant event? Well, several links between levels of stress and skin issues have been found by scientists.
In a study of college students, many who encountered high stress levels were more likely to encounter skin issues such as:
- itchy skin
- hair loss
- flaky, oily, or waxy patches on the scalp
- troublesome sweating
- scaly skin
- hand rashes
Other studies found that 23 percent more likely to have extreme acne were adolescents who indicated high levels of stress.
The researchers believe that the amount of sebum, which is the oily substance blocking the pores, is increased by stress. In fact, this leads to a greater severity of acne.
Reducing your levels of stress will result in clearer skin. Try stress control methods such as tai chi, yoga, or meditation if you think that stress has an effect on your skin.
Keep moisture in the skin
The top layer of skin cells is hydrated and moisture-sealed by skin moisturizers. Moisturizers also include moisture-attracting humectants, moisture-retaining occlusive agents in the skin, and emollients to smooth the spaces between skin cells.
The following strategies to preserve moisture and to avoid dry, red, and itchy skin are recommended by the American Academy of Dermatology:
- Take one 5- to 10-minute bath or shower a day. The oily layer of the skin may be striped away and dried out by excessive washing.
- Instead of hot water, use warm water.
- Minimize the use of soaps that are harsh. Using a cleanser that is gentle and fragrance-free.
- Keep away from abrasive scrub brushes, wash cloths, and bath sponges that can hurt the surface of the skin.
- Gently dry the skin with a towel.
- Immediately after washing, moisturize. Ointments, lotions, and creams need to be used to lock in moisture within minutes of drying off.
- In order to reduce discomfort, use ointments or creams rather than lotions.
- Never get your skin scratched. To control scratching, cold compresses and moisturizers should help.
- Wear clothes which are non-irritating. Wear silk or cotton underneath when wearing clothing made from wool or other rough materials.
- Use laundry detergent that is hypoallergenic.
- Do not get too close to fireplaces and other sources of heat that can dry the skin.
- To replenish moisture in the top layer of the skin, turn on a humidifier in the winter.
If these basic modifications don’t offer relief from dry skin, contact your dermatologist. They will provide appropriate therapies for your particular skin complaint.
Quit smoking
Facial skin and skin found in other body areas are aged by smoking. The blood vessels located in the outer layer of the skin are narrowed by smoking, which decreases blood flow and exhausts the skin with the nutrients and oxygen it requires to stay healthy.
The skin is given its strength and elasticity by collagen and elastin. Smoking can decrease the skin’s natural elasticity by causing collagen to break down and reducing the production of collagen.
In addition, the repetitive movements that are created while smoking can lead to wrinkles on the face, such as pursing the lips.
The best thing you can do for your skin health is stop if you already smoke. For information about stopping smoking, you can visit Smokefree.gov, a National Cancer Institute (NCI) initiative.
Get your extra sleep
Having your beauty sleep around your eyes will banish those dark circles and boost your skin tone, and, best of all, it’s free.
The National Sleep Foundation suggests that adults sleep on a regular basis for 7 to 9 hours. Sleeping for less than that amount of time could damage your health and, in particular, your skin.
It is known that chronic sleep deprivation is associated with obesity, immune deficiency, diabetes, and cancer, but research has shown that the quality of sleep may also have a major effect on skin function and aging.
Individuals identified as poor sleepers showed increased symptoms of premature aging of the skin and a reduced ability to heal themselves from environmental stressors such as sun exposure at night.
Your body enters repair mode during deep sleep and regenerates skin, muscles, and blood and brain cells. Your body is incapable of producing new collagen without enough sleep. Collagen prevents your skin from sagging.
Try to get an early night and a full 7 hours of sleep to look your best.
Keeping your skin safe and young doesn’t necessarily mean breaking the bank by buying pricey creams and lotions; you can make dull and lifeless skin glow by following these easy steps.
