We’re Getting Older
Guess what Hollywood, employers, and youth-obsessed culture... The US is getting older. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census , the median age in the US is 38.4 – almost 40!!!
Despite our society collectively growing older, we obsess about staying young. We want to recapture the energy, vitality and health we had in our youth, but not sacrifice the knowledge and wisdom we gained with age.
Our Natural Anti Aging Power
Nature and evolution have given our bodies incredible power to heal and rejuvenate. Although limited (we can’t regrow limb or most organs, or recover completely from tragic injuries), each of us possesses an incredible tool to postpone aging. How we treat our bodies affects all aspects of our health and aging. The lifestyle choices we make and our environment, all impacts aging. Anti aging creams, serums, supplements, surgery, and injections may be helpful in achieving our youthful looks, but only if we first respect our bodies as they are and allow them to be the best they can be.
Healthy Skin Protects Our Body
Our skin is our body’s largest organ. It breathes (doctors refer to it as our “external lung”), it protects our more vulnerable internal organs, and it helps our bodies eliminate toxins. What we put in our bodies and on our skin impacts the functions of this important organ. Our skin is also is an outward sign of how we treat our bodies. If we feed ourselves good nutrition, and eliminate lifestyle choices that have a negative impact on our health, we will see a difference in our skin.
5 Ways To Tap Into Your Anti Aging Super Power
Nutrition
Feed your skin! Your skin needs vitamins, fatty acids, minerals and other nutrients to regenerate healthy skin. Anti aging foods high in vitamin C and other anti aging antioxidants such as citrus fruits and mangos help protect and increase collagen in the skin. Tomatoes contain lycopene, which protects against UV damage, and polyphenols in green tea help regenerate cells . Oily fish (salmon, tuna), nuts and seeds contain important omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that are the building blocks of cells.
And yes, you can supplement your healthy skin diet with an anti aging skin care routine. Natural plant oils contain important antioxidants and nutrients that hydrate skin and rebuild healthy skin cells. Skin care products containing multiple plant oils will give topical nutrition to your skin and is an important part of your anti aging skin care routine. Bel Essence products are formulated specifically based on the nutritional value of the natural ingredients to give your skin a broad diet.
Limit Your Alcohol and Sugar AND QUIT SMOKING
Alcohol causes dehydration and inflammation, both of which have a detrimental effect on the health and quality of your skin. It damages collagen, which is the “skeleton” of the skin, so it causes increased wrinkles. If you can’t give up drinking altogether, it’s best to limit your intake. For a 20 year old, it takes about 3 hours for a drink to be fully eliminated from the body. Double that age, at 40, it takes about 30 hours. So as you get older, it’s best to limit your intake to 2 or 3 days a week at most and keep yourself hydrated.
Likewise, excessive sugar causes inflammation and can aggravate skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, psoriasis and eczema. Excessive sugar intake also breaks down the collagen in your skin, accelerating aging. If you find it too difficult to eliminate sugar from your diet, adding fruits with their natural sugars can help you cut down, and give you nutritional benefits too.
No explanation of the dangers and detriments of smoking should be necessary. Smoking harms your health in every way and ages your body and skin quickly. The greatest benefit you can give yourself is to quit smoking.
Reduce Stress
It is suspected that stress increases our skin’s output of oil, which leads to outbreaks of acne. Stress causes symptoms of itchy, scaly skin, and rashes, which affect the health of your skin. While we all go through occasional moments of increased stress, long term or chronic stress can cause a multitude of health problems in your body. Moderate exercise, meditation, yoga, and just giving yourself time each day to decompress and relax can have a tremendous benefit in your overall health, and in the health and appearance of your skin.
Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize
Why do all of the anti aging creams and lotions tout their hydration? Because a proper balance of water in the skin is vital to keeping skin young looking. It is important to get enough fluids during the day and keep your body hydrated, but components found in skin care also contribute to hydrated skin: humectants to draw moisture into the skin, occlusive agents to retain moisture, and emollients to smooth spaces between skin cells.
Frequent washing (more than once a day), and using hot water instead of warm can strip oils from your skin, leaving it dry. Using a gentle, natural soap and a soft cloth will help preserve the health of your skin. Using a good moisturizer after a shower, when your skin is still warm, increases the absorption of the hydrating ingredients and restores a moisture balance in your skin. Limit your sun exposure, and if you do spend time outside, make sure you use a sun block, and a moisturizer.
Get your Zzzzs – Make sleep a priority
We have all heard that adults need between 7 and 9 hours of good quality sleep a night. Sleep is especially important for cell repair and rebuilding. A lack of sleep results in accelerated aging and sagging skin, because the body does not have the deep rest it needs to rebuild healthy cells and produce new collagen. We all know how we look the morning after a night of no sleep. We can survive a night or two, but not night after night – make getting restful sleep a priority.