Our skin health is important not only for your appearance but more importantly because your skin performs so many essential tasks for our body. Our skin protects our body from the many viruses and bacteria you are exposed to daily. It also protects you from the sun’s rays – specifically ultraviolet light – that can damage cells. Healthy skin produces vitamin D when exposed to the sun, and vitamin D is essential for many body functions.
Having healthy skin also helps your body keep its temperature at a constant level. Healthy skin also helps you react better to significant changes around you by feeling pain or pressure.
6 Essential Things to Protect Your Skin From Reducing Elasticity & Collagen
1. Water
Our skin needs 10 to 15% content of water to remain plump. When this content is low, the skin may thin out, putting it at risk for sagging and wrinkles. Known causes of dehydration include exposure to extreme weather conditions, insufficient water intake, poor health, and drinking dehydrating drinks, like alcohol.
Drinking water improves skin, promotes weight loss, maintains digestion regularity, prevents acne breakouts and increases energy levels.
2. Protein
The human skin is made up of two proteins; elastin and collagen. Elastin allows the skin to stretch and collagen gives skin structure. Unfortunately, as you age your body slows down production of these proteins, and your skin starts to sag.
The way your skin ages is determined both by genetics and external factors. While you can’t change your genetic coding, there are some obvious steps you can take to prevent your skin from sagging.
3. Vitamin C
It has stellar performance as an antioxidant and also regulates the synthesis of collagen. By fighting oxidative damage which leads to changes in skin structure, and by playing a role in maintaining structural collagen, vitamin C can fight photo-damage and the onset of intrinsic aging.
The higher dietary intake of vitamin C was associated with significant decreases in wrinkling, while the use of 3-10% collagen applied topically for a minimum of ten weeks has been shown to reduce roughness in the skin, decrease wrinkling, reduce fiber damage, and increase collagen production.
4. The Sun
The sun is the leading cause of premature aging. Also known as photoaging, sun-related aging breaks down collagen and interferes with the production of new collagen, resulting in wrinkles and sagging skin.
Using a sunscreen that protects against UVA and UVB rays daily will prevent wrinkles and skin cancer.
5. Smoking
If you smoke cigarettes, you can bet that sooner or later, your skin will start to show the evidence. Yellow stains, thinning skin, and lip lines make years of smoking hard to deny.
Dermatology shows that cigarettes not only inhibit the synthesis of collagen but also increase the production of an enzyme called matrix metalloproteinases, which can break down proteins in your skin, like collagen. Researchers found that not even sunblock was capable of protecting against these occurrences, and its application did nothing to prevent their development.
Additionally smoking chronically deprives the skin of oxygen and nutrients. So some smokers appear pale, while others develop uneven coloring. These changes can begin at a young age. However, this produces more quickly in people who smoke.
6. Treatment
Alternatively, minimizing your skin’s likelihood to sag may just come down to a few changes in lifestyle. Sun protection is a must.
Wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 and avoid the sun between 10 a.m and 4 p.m., when its rays are most active. Make sure to get plenty of fluids, especially those rich in vitamin C, for collagen production, and use moisturizers to keep skin hydrated.
Final Thoughts
Skin creams containing co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10), alpha-lipoic acid, and selenium may help to repair skin by replacing antioxidant compounds lost to smoking and sun exposure. Laser resurfacing and non-invasive procedures are other options for improving the appearance of your skin.
Do you have any suggestions about how to keep your skin healthier, fresh and younger? Lets us know, share your opinion below.
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