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After a certain age, the body’s capacity to repair and create new cells reduces. This is what leads to natural ageing and there is not much that we can do about it. However, there are several factors that accelerate the ageing process.
The factors include unhealthy lifestyle, pollution, and increased radiation. There is a lot that we can do to slow down the ageing process by leveraging these controllable factors. Here are 5 savvy tips that are very easy to follow.
1. Wash your face regularly
While this goes without saying, due to the simplicity of this tip a lot of people tend to underestimate its importance. Cleaning your face first thing in the morning works wonders in preventing early ageing.
Our skin is in repair mode at night while we sleep. Therefore, it sheds and releases toxins and sticky sebum which should be necessarily cleaned. If left unwashed, the oil can attract dust and dirt which further blocks the pores and causes pimples and blackheads.
You should ideally wash your face twice daily but it’s not written on a stone. You can take an extra wash after an intense workout or a long commute. This will remove all the sweat, dirt, and other irritants that are harmful to the skin.
2. Ditch the Sweets
Yes, that extra slice of chocolate truffle might make you age faster! Too much sugar in the body leads to premature ageing due to glycation. Excess sugar in the body sticks to the collagen and elastin proteins. This obstructs the protein from giving the skin the required elasticity and suppleness.
Glycated fibres become very rigid and less elastic. They also lose their regenerative ability which can lead to damage such as laxity, cracking and thinning skin.
Therefore, it is very important to keep a check on your sweet cravings. We do understand that sometimes it gets very difficult to control the urge. Don’t worry, for worst-case scenarios, there are remedies that you can benefit from.
For instance, there are safe-to-use skin tightening machines that you can use. Here is a list of the best skin tightening machine for home use.
3. Gentle with the Under Eye Skin
The under-eye is the most sensitive part of the skin on your face. This is the reason why fine lines and wrinkles first start to appear near the eyes. People often tend to rub under-eye bags whenever they feel any kind of irritation in the eyes. Habitual rubbing of the eyes can cause the skin under the eyes to sag.
Apart from that, while applying moisturizer or any other cream, you should be careful to be very gentle with the under-eye skin. Just dab the cream with light hands and avoid massaging. Always remember to remove all the eye makeup before going to sleep, even the kohl.
If left uncleaned it may lead to irritation which would again cause rubbing of the eyes. If you are to be in front of the computer screen for long periods, try to take breaks in between. You can also put used tea bags and cucumber on the eyes to relax the under-eye bags.
4. Get Proper Sleep
Even a day without proper sleep becomes very evident on your skin. It is a signal from your skin on how important it is to get a good sleep. Sleep time, especially during the night, is the repair and rejuvenation time for the skin.
During the night sleep, our bodies go through three stages that are imperative for skin restoration. In the first stage, the pituitary glands of the body produce somatotropin, the human growth hormone. It leads to the growth of new cells that are important for glowing and youthful skin.
Lack of somatotropin would cause dull skin and wrinkles. During the next stage, our body produces melatonin- an oxidant that kills free radicals in the skin. Uncontrolled radicals can cause the skin to age rapidly, therefore, melatonin maintains good health of the skin by controlling them.
In the final stage, the cortisol levels start to drop along with the skin temperature. Cortisol is a stress hormone, so when it drops, the skin finally starts to relax. When the skin relaxes it
releases collagen which makes the skin more supple and healthy.
5. Limit Your Alcohol Intake
If alcohol has any advantage it is a short-lived escape- but at what cost? Besides damaging your liver and casting the money down the drain, alcohol also has damaging effects on your skin.
Let us understand how alcohol leads to ageing through two simple concepts. Alcohol causes dehydration and inflammation in the skin.
Dehydration: Alcohol is highly diuretic in nature which means that it heavily drains all kinds of fluids from the body. The fluid loss deprives the body of the necessary moisture it needs to keep the skin supple and radiant. It further leads to wrinkles, dryness and skin sagging.
It also leads to blackheads, whiteheads and even acne as lack of fluids dilate the pores of the skin.
Inflammation: Inflammation is also one of the effects of dehydration. Alcohol consumption dilates the vessels, leading to increased blood pressure. This leads to fluid retention and puffiness on the face which makes it appear painfully dull.
Are You Still Worried?
Do not take stress. We understand that a change of habit is not something that happens overnight but so long as you are on the same path, the pace does not matter. You can start today, right now and see a visible difference in some time.
Nevertheless, you will have to understand that good things take time. And besides good and glowing skin, the aforementioned tips will also help you to maintain your overall physical as well as mental health.
