Freshen Up for Spring: Eliminate These 5 Aging Culprits
The coming of spring signals flowering plants, allergy season, and spring cleaning. Every once in a while you need to clear your home of clutter that has accumulated over the year. But did you know that clearing your body of clutter is an important way to continue looking young?
We aren’t talking about finding the fountain of youth here. Holding onto your youth can be as simple as abstaining from a few common causes of aging.
So go ahead and add these five factors to your list of things to clean up this spring.
Cigarettes
Yes, it’s true. Smoking makes a person look an estimated ten years older than they actually are. The smoke and chemicals from cigarettes emit free radicals, which attach to the skin and cause wrinkles, yellowing, and blotchy and leathery skin. Cigarettes also break down the collagen in your skin by dehydrating cells and starving it of oxygen.
And science backs this up. “Smoking can accelerate the aging process and shorten the lifespan by an average of more than 10 years,” according to Dr. Toru Nyunoya at the University of Iowa, who published findings which linked cigarettes to increased aging.
In other words, get rid of cigarettes and you’ll not only look your age, but live longer as well.
Stress
For those who smoke cigarettes because they get stressed, that is a double faux pas in slowing down the aging process. Stress has also been shown to cause faster aging by causing the body to produce too much hormones, such as adrenalin. Excessive hormones caused by stress are known to increase the risk of heart diseases, diabetes, and, as some studies have confirmed, premature aging.
So do whatever you have to do to get rid of some of that built-up stress — take a walk, read a book, meditate, or go for a jog (exercise is also good for looking young).
Too Much Sun
Youth and beauty are often associated with smooth skin and suntans. Indoor tanning is a 2.6 Billion dollar industry. People want to look younger by having dark skin.
Unfortunately, overexposure to UV rays—from either the sun or a tanning salon—is one of the most common factors of early aging. Too much sun, or visiting a tanning salon too frequently, assaults your sensitive skin layer with harmful stressors. These stressors increase the risk of skin cancer and age your skin cells.
However, some sun exposure is beneficial to the body because of the Vitamin D it provides (see our avoiding skin cancer by getting some sun informative article). Like many things, moderation is the key here. Protect your skin from premature aging by avoiding overexposure to the UV rays.
Lack of Sleep
Want to know a welcomed way to reduce aging? Press the snooze button on your alarm clock.
Studies show that one of the best things people can do for their body is to get adequate REM sleep. REM sleep is the deepest level of rest, during which your body rebuilds cells, rejuvenates muscle tissue, and prepares for the next day of age-causing stressors.
Making sure that you are getting sufficient rest, and the right kind of sleep, is one of the most critical things you can do to slow down the aging process.
Unhealthy Food
Come on. You knew you couldn’t get away with slowing down aging without bringing diet into the conversation. The fact is that what you eat and drink has a dramatic effect on the performance of your body and its overall appearance.
People who eat poor diets lacking essential nutrients age faster because the body does not have the ingredients it needs to replenish and regenerate new cells. Vitamins and supplements can help some, but nothing can replace the effect a healthy diet on the body.
Get Cleaning, Look Younger
The bottom line: a healthy body equals a younger-looking body. By simply avoiding a few common factors, you can reduce and prevent signs of early aging.
Accent Aesthetics, your local Med Spa in Gainesville, FL provides several aesthetic services to treat patients with signs of premature aging, such as wrinkles, hair loss, and sagging and blotchy skin. Schedule an appointment with one of our medical professionals today.
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