Let’s face it, our skin starts to sag as we age. This unfortunately includes our neck, face, and the rest of our body, and given the sands of time the skin in those areas will start to look creped, dull, and can start to feel rough and saggy. Your genetics play a large role in how your body ages but did you know that there are things you can do to help reduce the signs of aging?
While the aging process, and why we age are still a large mystery to us, scientists do know a large amount about the processes the skin goes through as we get older. Aging can be accelerated with stress, smoking, and drinking which are all things that put a strain on your body. While many times we don’t think about it the little stresses in life have started to prematurely age you. If you have lived in a predominately stress-free environment your entire life it could be from over consumption of things like cigarettes which have many negative side effects especially with continued use.
Another reason we age are because of free radicals, which are chemically unstable molecules that damage our DNA, now I’m not going to get to science-ie on you but free radicals are found in trans- fats, cigarettes, hydrogenated oils, charred meats and are even present in small doses of the air we breathe. Eating more fruits and vegetables can help to fight against free radicals as they are high in anti-oxidants.
The next big thing our body does naturally but can cause us to age faster is inflammation, which is usually a healthy part of the bodies system, it can however become over active. You bodies inflammation is usually an immune system response to kill foreign invaders but sometimes our body starts to attack healthy cells and tissue. This can cause many issues like high cholesterol, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. Eating a healthier dies free of the free radicals we mentioned above as well incorporating anti-inflammatory foods into your diet like the turmeric spice, or chocolate, really dark chocolate with at least 70% cacao, blue berries, and omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish like salmon, or walnuts.
In addition to healthy diets, exercise is very beneficial to anti-aging, as moving your body helps with blood circulation, and being active help reduce free radicals and stress.