Keeping Wrinkles at Bay
Since I was a teenager, I’ve been often mistaken younger than my age. Not that I complain! Despite being a qualified nutritionist, my diet and skincare habits have not always been ideal. From too many fair skin sunburns to count, to a few years of smoking and having a life long sweet tooth; the years have been kinder on my body than I have myself. So I am here to share with you some of my top anti-aging secrets.
Remember, it’s not just about aesthetics, but a healthier more vibrant body for years to come. In addition to getting at least two fruits and five servings of vegetables per day, here are addition tools to use for your advantage.
1. Sleep
They call it “beauty sleep” for reason. Giving your body optimal time to recycle and recharge while you are in that deep sleep is crucial for just overall longevity. The body needs all parts of the R.E.M. cycle for different parts of cellular repair and cleansing; sleep is so often overlooked!
So make sure to get an early night off as much as you can. Make sure to lower the lights a few hours before going to bed, and do something mild, away from screens such as stretching or reading from a paperback book. Remember, melatonin is released from the pineal gland from the ABSENCE of light to the retinal photo-receptors, so you need darkness to feel a full sleep.
2. Sunscreen
“One serious sunburn in childhood increases your skin cancer risk by 6%”
-The Skin Cancer Foundation
Start yesterday. Wear at least an SPH 30 when you go out for the day, even if you won’t be out too much.Do I always do this, especially on rainy days? No, but overall the more protect your skin from sun damage, the less you wrinkle or worry about skin cancer. Now that I am over 30, I wear an SPH 50, but please know that any SPH higher will not do more benefit. Unless you have a rare skin condition or incredibly sensitive, delicate skin, SPH 70’s or 100 is not worth extra money.
3. Collagen
Collagen naturally depletes as we age, starting around twenty-five. No need to go gently into that good night though, you can take collagen in pill or powder form, or get it naturally from bone broth, stocks, and some plant form like chia, aloe and algae. I would recommend looking to internally supplement rather than bother with creams and lotions with collagen.
I recommend finding your meat based collagen from grass-fed or organically raised sources if possible. This is one thing worth investing money on, as you want high quality raised animals for such cuts and cartilage that goes into to making collagen powder.
4. Hydration
Goes without saying, flowers need water or they will wilt. Don’t wither up like a prune, make sure to drink enough water everyday. An easy way to start is with two glasses upon rising. Drink coffee? What about alcohol? Add two glasses of water per dehydrating beverage you consume. Oh, and make sure to watch out for all those liquid calories like juice and soda!
How much should you have in day? Dividing your weight in half, then converting into ounces is an easy way to figure out your daily requirement.
5. Satin
It’s an old Southern Belle secret that sleeping on satin is not only better for your hair, but helps keep wrinkles from forming from the get-go. The reason is that our skin becomes dehydrated during the 6-9 hours we (luckily) get a night. Cotton, no matter thread count or luxurious Egyptian cotton is going to slick in the oil on your skin cells like satin. Softer hair, plumper more moisture retained skin the next day.
If you can’t handle the slippery upkeep of a full satin set, at least start using a pillowcase. I have been sleeping on satin for over a decade. Taking my satin pillowcase away on trips is the one diva thing I do!
6. Supplements
With our constant on-the-go lifestyle, consider adding supplements to your arsenal. Fact of the matter, most people in industrialized nations are nutrient deficient. The majority of convenience food is very starch or fat heavy with mostly filling lumps of macro-nutrients, but stripped or cooked out of most of it’s vitamin and mineral content.
Besides collagen supplements mentioned above, here are a few other anti-cellular aging supplements worth considering:
- Vitamin C– essential water soluble vitamins used for multiple functions, including the formation of collagen. I recommend getting this in food form over supplements that use ascorbic acid because that is not the same type of Vit. C best for the body. You can get Vitamin C in abundance with: citrus, kiwi, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, tomatoes, bell peppers and berries.
- NAD+ A form of niacin and iron, this nutrient is essential for cellular and telomere protection, but depletes as we age.
- Reservatol– similar effect on the body as NAD, but a powerful antioxidant from grape extract that made red wine popular for cardiologists.
- Ashwagandha– helps lower stress hormones such as cortisol that interfere with adrenal function. Running on high levels of cortisol results in overall heighten body inflammation and increased prevalence to heart disease and cancer. Better to take this with a meal versus an empty stomach, as cortisol + food = fat storage, but cortisol + fasting = fat burning. So you want don’t want to manipulate cortisol when fasting, but lowering it during feasting is beneficial. Luckily, Ashwagandha is an adaptogen, and works with your body’s needs.
- Biotin– essential nutrient important for hair, nail and skin growth. Most adults don’t get enough of such nutrients. Food sources for biotin include: animal fats such as egg yolk, salmon, red meat and liver or vegetarian sources in small amounts like sesame seeds, nuts and brewer’s yeast.
- You don’t need to take biotin daily though, maybe 2x a week.
- Omega 3 Fatty Acids– whether in fish or flax form, these are essential fatty acids that the body cannot make on their own. In addition, most meat center countries get far more Omega 6 fatty acid ratio than they need of Omega 3. Some argue that flaxseed’s omega 3 cannot be absorbed by humans. While I haven’t seen much proof supporting this argument, I think vegetarians and meat eater alike could benefit from krill or sea-algae based Omega 3 supplements. It’s a purer form that needs less heavy metal ( like mercury) extracting, from lower on the food chain.
There you have it! Some of my best tools for looking younger than your age. I look forward to you trying some of them out and telling me if you notice any results!
Cover Photo: Credit: © blackday / Fotolia
