How to Fight Wrinkles
For some of us, it seems that just as soon as we stop worrying about acne, we start to develop wrinkles. Wrinkles are so linked to aging, that carnival guess-your-age artists study the ones around your eyes before assessing how old a mark is. There are steps we can take to fight wrinkles and maintain a more youthful appearance. This posting does not look at topical applications or skin treatments, but deals with the underlying causes of wrinkling.
Instructions
-
-
1
Understand how wrinkles form. The skin has three layers, the epidermis, top; the dermis, middle layer; and the subcutis, bottom layer. The middle layer is comprised of collagen and elastin, which supports your skin. The bottom layer is comprised primarily of fat cells. As you age, the dermis loses its ability to spring back while the subcutaneous fat stops regaining its smoothness. Excess glucose can attach to the collagen in our skin, cross linking it, making it stiff and inflexible. The scientific term for this process is glycation. It can be avoided by shunning sugar rich, high carbohydrate diets that produce a rapid rise in blood sugar.
-
2
Stop smoking. Cigarette smoke creates free radicals which attack our skin cells, producing inflammation. It also constricts blood vessels, preventing oxygen and nutrients from reaching the skin, accelerating skin aging.
-
-
3
Get more sleep. Sleep deprived individuals have elevated levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. It can break down muscle tissues and elevate blood sugar. Human growth hormone is created while we sleep. Since this hormone builds our organ size including our skin, lack of sleep leads to HGH deficiency.
-
4
Limit your sun exposure. We need the sun to produce vitamin D, however too much sunlight produces free radicals. Sunlight also inhibits collagen production. Tanning is a defensive reaction of the skin to damage. Ultra violet B, UVB, is sometimes referred to as the burning ray, UVA as the aging ray. Use a good sun block with a sun protection factor, SPF of at least 15 that works on both UVA and UVB before venturing out for extended sun exposure.
-
5
Cut back on alcohol. Alcohol can be good for you, especially red wine. It can relax blood vessels, but excessive alcohol, more than a glass a day for a woman or two for man can be harmful. Alcohol is a rapidly metabolized carbohydrate that can produce a quick rise in blood sugar, encouraging glycation. In the liver it breaks down into toxjc aldehydes and ketones. Too much alcohol can also produce facial flushing and spider webs of red blood vessels just below the skins surface.
-
6
A major way to fight wrinkles is through diet. Make sure that you take anti oxidant supplements like vitamin A, E, and C. Eat a diet rich in fish oil from cold, deep water fish like salmon. If you are a vegetarian, take three grams of refrigerated fish oil supplements a day, or flax seed oil, also rich in Omega -3 fatty acids. Eat a diet rich in fruits in vegetables, especially those that are deeply colored, a sign of nutritional density. Of all the fruits, berries are the richest in anti-oxidants. Since berries are grown with a lot of pesticides and fungicides, favor organic choices where possible.
-
1
