Secrets to Younger Looking Skin

Secret #1: Eat Healthy Fats

The concern over fats is outdated and quite frankly a whole bunch of misinformation. Most people think that banishing fats from their diets will lead to a happier waistline, but it will only leave your skin at the short end of the stick. Healthy bodies need healthy fats and your skin needs essential fatty acids (EFA) to look its best.

The University of Maryland Medical Center concluded that the key elements to upholding natural skin care are essential fatty acids like omega-3s and omega-6s. These fats are the building blocks of healthy cell membranes. Healthy cell membranes promote the production of the skin’s natural oil barrier and keep it hydrated, plumper and younger looking. EFAs can also help protect your skin from the sun by reducing its sensitivity and it also helps diminish inflammation associated with acne. You’ll probably notice that when you restrict yourself from healthy fats your skin appears dry, inflamed and prone to blemishes.

If you’re ready to boost the look of your skin, then be sure to add essential fatty acids to your diet. Your body cannot produce its own EFAs, so it’s important to consume the appropriate balance of food into your diet. EFAs can easily be found in salmon, mackerel, flax, walnuts, fortified eggs, poultry and cooking oils.

So throw those archaic thoughts out the window, and start treating your skin good with essential fats.

Secret #2: Exercise More Frequently

You’re probably already familiar with the benefits of exercise. It makes you lose weight, fight diseases, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Easy, exercise for about 30 minutes a day and you’ll have 10 years younger skin. If you really want to roll back the years, you’re going to have to do more than run on the treadmill for thirty minutes. 

It’s suggested that individuals perform High Interval Intense Training (HIIT) workouts to beat ageing in the rear. What does that mean? It means instead of jogging at your measly 4mph on the treadmill, you have to switch it up and perform a sprint for 30 seconds, and then jog for three minutes. Repeat the process until you’ve hit 30 minutes and you should already feel younger. 

Secret #3: Hydration is Key

The human body does not consider the skin a vital organ like the heart, lungs and brain. So when your body is lacking hydration, rest, or vitamins the skin is the first to exhibit symptoms. That’s why it is extremely important to always stay hydrated because it will keep your skin looking younger and more supple. As we age, our skin slowly loses the ability to retain high levels of water. Our skin-type also determines the level of water it can retain. For these reasons it’s essential to consume a good amount of water a day, most doctors recommend drinking eight, 8oz glasses a day. 

Drinking water aids digestion helps in weight loss, improves your energy and concentration and flushes toxins from your body. These are all important attributes of good skin, so be sure to stay hydrated.If you’re going to take your liquid intake seriously, considering replacing a few glasses of water a day with coconut water. Coconut water is full of electrolyte potassium, which helps replenish your dehydrated body faster and minerals like calcium, manganese, magnesium and zinc. Most importantly, however, coconut water is chock full of cytokinins, a hormone that has anti-carcinogenic, anti-thrombotic and anti-ageing effects.

So pick your weapon of choice and always remember to have a refillable bottle by your side to stay happy and hydrated!

Secret #4: Enjoy Your Merlot

Go ahead, enjoy it – or any red wine in fact. Doctors recommend that at least one full glass of wine a day for women (two for men) has proven to yield significant anti-ageing results. So how exactly does an innocent glass of wine provide anti-ageing miracles? Well, a lot of wine’s anti-aging properties stems from antioxidants. Antioxidants are responsible for rounding up damaging free radicals that play a big role in ageing and age-related diseases. Red wine contains a high concentration of antioxidants called polyphenols, including resveratrol. 

So go ahead, enjoy your glass of wine, your skin will thank you.

Secret #5: Eat More Superfruits

You’ve frequently heard the overused saying: “You are what you eat!” What you don’t often hear is: “Your food is your facial!” Food is an extremely important part of our well-being and that goes as far as the surface, which is your skin. Fruits are a great source of all natural anti-ageing properties. In fact, you’re well off adding superfruits to your diet because the fact is; they’re just filled to the brim with antioxidants.

To recap, antioxidants are extremely important in preventing cell damage. Every day and at every second your body is being exposed to free radicals which function to compromise your cells. If antioxidants are in the picture, they work to create a barrier around your healthy cells and effectively rid your body of these free radicals. That’s why it’s so important to ensure your body is provided with an adequate amount of antioxidants. The most efficient way to get them is by eating superfruits. Now every fruit is good for you, but they are not created equal. Superfruits are deemed super by nutrition experts because they are packed with antioxidants, fibre, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that help you live longer, look better and even prevent disease. Strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, apples, bananas and cherries are the names of just a few. 

So make sure to fill your kitchen up with them and treat them as you would candy – that is consumed at every second.

Secret #6: Trade Coffee for Tea

Coffee is the miracle of the modern world. Allowing you stay up for hours on end and to get that extra boost as needed, it truly is a necessity for the modern person. But did you know that coffee doesn’t exactly do much in the favour department for your skin?Right off the bat, coffee is notorious for keeping you awake and energized for longer periods of time. But those periods of time and that extra burst of energy are all things your body doesn’t need. Rest is essential for healthy skin and the longer you go in the day without sleep the worse your skin looks. Coffee is also dehydrating and if you choose to drink that over water, then you’re definitely doing more bad than good.For these reasons alone, experts such as Dr Steven Lamm of New York University suggest that it’s in your best interest to trade your mug of coffee for a cup of tea. To start off, green tea contains 5 to 10% the caffeine of one cup of coffee. 

So you get that extra boost, sans the extended hours of no sleep. There’s more to tea than that though, in fact, tea is full of healthy polyphenols that not only provide antioxidant protection to the cells but also contains L-theanine. This creates a meditative-like state in the mind, thus putting you at rest and relieving your brain of any mental stress.Green tea is one of the more popular anti-ageing teas, but you don’t ever have to feel limited. White, oolong and black teas carry the same anti-ageing benefits and all offer a variety of tastes that are sure to easily replace any coffee desires you might ever have.

Secret #7: Know What to Put on Your Skin

When it comes to over-the-counter skincare, let’s face it, there are a plethora of products that you can choose from. Varied by brand, function, medium, a method of application and much more – the options are endless. On top of that, you have so little reliable sources of information on which product works best for your skin. You could always use the recommendation of a friend. Or go based on that advertisement you saw on your way home. Or how about that new product your favourite celebrity is endorsing. Fact is there are a lot of options and little understanding of what exactly is best for your skin.

After plenty of water and proper nourishment your skin needs five essential nutrients: retinol, alpha lipoic acid, madecassol and Vitamin C. If anyone tells you that you need more than that, then you either have a special skin condition or they are trying to sell you something you don’t need.Retinol is a type of Vitamin A that is considered the most effective over-the-counter treatment to smooth skin and prevent wrinkles, says David Colbert, MD, founder of the New York Dermatology Group. 

Retinol works by gently peeling the dead and damaged skin and revealing a smoother, silkier and younger looking layer underneath. Alpha Lipoic Acid is a powerful antioxidant that naturally occurs in the body and helps reduce fine lines, improve skin texture, tightens pores and gives the skin an overall radiance. Madecassol is an Asian plant extract that promotes the plumpness of your skin, minimizes fine lines and gives the skin a youthful glow. Finally, Vitamin C is an important mineral that stimulates collagen growth and protects your skin against free radicals.

So if you’re in the market for a new moisturizer, night cream, or serum – make sure to tick off one of the five ingredients mentioned above on the label list. It will save you a whole lot of money and give you that youthful skin you so desire.

Secret #8: Sleep More, Stress Less

Remember those times in your youth when the nights seemed endless and you could stay up forever without a care in the world. Try not to relive that – ever. And if you have children, tell them that staying out late is NOT in the best interest of their health or their skin. Let’s face it, getting fewer sleep results in fatigue, irritability, lack of concentration and overall just a general feeling of unhappiness. If you thought it was just your mind that felt this way, take a good look in the mirror. Your skin suffers the most when you deprive it of sleep, you can tell in an instant by the dark circles, puffy eye bags, fine lines and wrinkles that form upon your face after a very late and very short sleeping session.

Getting the right amount of sleep is the most important step in your battle again ageing; sleep is essential to looking your best at any age. You see, when you sleep, your body undergoes a very meticulous healing process. All the wear and tear that you experienced earlier in the day is washed away by your body’s natural ability to restore itself. While you sleep, hormones initiate cell and tissue repair, where new and fresh skin cells replace old, dead skin. Collagen production is at its peak during sleep hours and this helps your skin become firmer. During sleep, your facial muscles also relax, allowing the dermal layers of your skin to rejuvenate, thus smoothing our wrinkles and diminishing fine lines. 

Finally, by lying down, your skin is relieved from the effects of gravity and this helps your skin return to its original positioning on your face. Stress is probably the number one factor that is killing people these days. And if it’s not killing you, then it’s keeping you up at night. But sleep deprivation is just the surface of what stress does to you. When you’re stressed out, you release a hormone called cortisol: the stress hormone. When cortisol is released, it inhibits the production of collagen and when your body isn’t producing collagen it isn’t repairing or fortifying your skin. 

So stress less and sleep more, your skin will thank you.

Secret #9: Ban Sugar from Your Diet

If your waistline was not enough of an indication that sugar is bad for you, then maybe your skin can help add to the argument. Sugar – specifically the white and refined kind – is a sly villain that lures you in with its delightful tastes and once digested proceeds to bombard your body with its harmful properties. Sugar makes the cells abnormal and sugar creates free radicals – a double whammy when it comes to ageing.

Secret #10: Recognize Portion Control

The most effective weapon in your anti-aging arsenal may be scaling back your portions. That doesn’t mean to start a binge or starving diet. It simply means to control the amount of food you eat in one sitting. We possess the unfortunate habit of overeating and because it has become such a normal part of our lifestyle, it’s hard for us to really get out of that kind of eating pattern. So when you grow older and your metabolism slows down and you’re eating the same portions as you did when you were 20 – well that’s just bad news for your body and subsequently your skin.

Doctor Jeffrey Morrison, a family doctor and nutritionist based in NYC, suggests when eating, aim instead to get 1/3 of your diet from protein, it is essential to maintain muscle mass and the optimization of metabolic functions. Try to cut out empty carbs from your diet and excessive amounts of sugar. And most importantly, control how much you eat. This can be accomplished by using smaller plates and utensils, by separating your meal into small dishes instead of onto one plate, by providing individual portions instead of one big bowl of food and finally always listen to your body – it knows when you’re full and you should too.

Secret #11: Quit Smoking

If the debilitating effects of smoking were not enough to make you quit, then perhaps premature wrinkling can help you reconsider.  The chemicals in tobacco smoking also destroy collagen and elastin, the same fibres that give your skin strength and elasticity. As a consequence, continued heavy smoking leads to sagging skin and premature wrinkling.

Secret #12: Take a Page out of Nature’s Book

Herbal remedies have been used all over the world since the beginning of time. Nature was once our pharmacist and she provided the most potent herbs with powerful healing properties that worked from the inside and out. Herbs are plants that contain a variety of naturally occurring nutrients that can be effective in curing everything from the common cold to cancer. Some of the oldest uses of herbs are to serve as anti-aging agents, it’s probably our ancestor’s best-kept secret for looking and acting young. Although an unorthodox approach to modern skin care, herbs are probably one of the most powerful tools in your fight against ageing.

Doctor Oz recommends, when choosing herbs it is better to choose a more fragrant herb as it has more potent benefits. Also, when choosing between fresh or dried, it’s best to go with fresh variety as they contain the most nutrition content and in general are more powerful. Herbs can be used individually and slathered onto the skin as a mask in an oil and herb combination. Or it can be combined with your current skin care products to be more effective. Some potent herbs that are probably already lying around in your pantry include basil, thyme, sage, marjoram, and oregano.

Secret #13: Change Your Relationship with Time

Modern society is severely engrossed in this concept of time; our lives are dictated by the number of seconds that we have left in our day. What time should I wake up? I have to bring the kids to school by 8. I have a meeting at 10. I have to pick up the groceries by 5.These are all snippets of just about everyone’s day and it’s this mind-numbing lifestyle that is the cause of our wrinkles and overall premature aging.

According to American Physician and Holistic Guru, Deepak Chopra, placing your time on a pedestal and making it the only thing that matters is harmful to you mentally and physically. It creates a detachment from the real world and forces you to exist in a reality where this intangible concept is more important than your own well-being. Yes, it’s important to be conscious of what needs to be done and to be time efficient. But it’s also important to take care of yourself first and to realize that time is controlling you – not the other way around.

Basing your life on time is demanding and on top of that physically and mentally stressful. As you already know, stress releases a hormone called cortisol that inhibits the production of many essential hormones. In terms of your skin, stress prevents the production of collagen and elastin. So the more you worry about the time, the faster your skin will age and the older you will look and feel. It doesn’t hurt to take a break from the demands of life every now and then, but try to stray away from the mould and instead change the way you interact with time. 

Take better reign over your time and don’t let it control you.

Secret #14: Keep your Mind Young

The heart of all metabolic and cellular processes in your body is your mind. Every action that your body performs, straight to the cellular level, is all a result of your mind processing the necessary signals to set it into motion. Hormone production does not take place until the brain receives the proper information to set the ball rolling. Your body doesn’t move without your brain commanding the muscle fibres in your arms and legs. And your organs don’t function without the proper chemicals and signals firing from your brain. So when it comes to aging, WorldHealth.net suggests that you consider the age of your brain if you want healthy skin.Our brains slowly deteriorate as we get older, a process that is part of our life cycle. But just like every other part of our body, the process can be slowed down. When the deterioration process of our brain comes to a slow crawl, so does the aging of the rest of our body. For this reason, it is in your best interest to keep your mind young, active and healthy for an extended lifespan.

Keeping your brain young doesn’t require that much work. During your morning commutes read a book or play Sudoku. When you have free time at home with the family, try playing fun games like Pictionary, Cranium or Charades – these types of activities keep the brain stimulated and its fun! When it comes to diet, eat foods rich in omega-3s and omega-6s, the fats are essential for a healthy brain. Also, consider adding more fruits and nuts to your diet, these foods are rich in natural sugar which is also important for your brain’s function. Finally, make exercising part of your regime. Doing workouts like 30-minute aerobic exercises increases capillary development in the brain. This means more blood, oxygen and nutrients are being sent to your brain, and let’s just say that will make it and you very happy.

If you’re worried about the way you look, take action and take care of your mind, it is the single most important and effective tool against anti-aging.

Secret #15: Oils are Your Friend

Oils? Isn’t that the thing that clogs your pores and causes blackheads and whiteheads? Yes and no. You see, your body naturally produces oil that acts as a protective barrier against the environment. Blackheads and whiteheads occur when your skin produces too much oil and this happens when the skin is dry, brittle and overall very unhealthy. Sure oil is probably the last thing you would lather onto your face in the hopes of obtaining a younger, more radiant complexion. But it turns out, oil is the exact formula necessary to boosting moisture, fighting wrinkles, and reducing inflammation.

Oils are a great supplement to anti-aging products because they “Deliver active ingredients deep into the skin without irritating the surface”, says Dermatologist David Colbert. On top of that, oils create a dewy, youthful glow that will last the whole day. Adding oils to your daily regime will help retain moisture so that expensive moisturizer you’ve been using will be more. In effect, it’s a win-win situation from the outside-in.Some oils to consider adding into your daily anti-aging regime are: Argan Oil, which contains a high concentration of Vitamin E and fatty acids and is more stable in sunlight than other antioxidants; Black currant oil, which is rich in fatty acids and has anti-inflammatory properties; Rosehip seed oil, which contains essential fatty acids, Vitamin C, and retinol that is ideal for protecting your skin as well as increasing cell turnover.

Secret #16: Oatmeal as Your All-in-One

Oatmeal: a staple for breakfast and that quick meal when you’re on the go. It’s cheap, bland, and readily accessible and the last thing you would consider as your all-in-one. Well it turns out, oatmeal is for more than just eating and you probably have a canister of the stuff hidden away in your pantry disguised as a last resort type food. In fact, it can be your last resort anti-aging solution and the cheapest one too! By using it either in original or flake form and mixed with water, the oatmeal can be applied topically to the afflicted area for speedy restoration of the skin. Habitual practice of oatmeal application can promote healthy and beautiful skin for a long time.

A combination of the antioxidants and beta-glucan also makes oatmeal the perfect remedy for the overly stressed soul. Because oatmeal promotes healthy circulation, the introduction of it to your skin (topically) helps promote cell turnover. That means your skin’s healing process occurs faster when you expose it to oatmeal. When your skin feels better, you feel better and the stress that you accumulated throughout the day just falls off like your dead skin. So when you’re feeling down and out or just completely overwhelmed by life take a bath with oatmeal and unwind. Try running a lukewarm bath and add one cup of milk, two cups of uncooked oatmeal and a tablespoon of honey for the most relaxing experience of your life.

Oatmeal has the means to revitalize you physically and mentally, so don’t skip this item the next time you’re grocery shopping, it could literally be a lifesaver!

Secret #17: Cleanse, Moisturize, Repeat!

It might be a little ridiculous to see this on the list, but personal hygiene is actually something not everyone practices religiously. The skin on your face is constantly renewing itself, meaning there is a lot of dead skin cells just littered across your face. Pair that with the pollutants that rest into your pores as you walk down the street, or the copious amount of makeup you applied this morning, or even the sweat you produced during your workout session – these are just all factors that are negatively impacting your face.If you don’t wash of these unwanted things off your face, then your skin is literally suffocating under a pool of grime and muck. 

Usually washing your face with soap and water isn’t enough so your preliminary step should be to use a toner or makeup remover. Toners and makeup removers sometimes contain damaging ingredients, so for a more effective removal method try using a little bit of oil (olive or coconut works best) and apply it to a cotton pad. From there just run it along with your face and you’ll see the makeup and dirt come off seamlessly! After you’ve removed your adverse agents, turn to a gentle cleanser that is free of laurel sulfates and lather it on generously onto your face. Make sure to then rinse thoroughly and apply your favourite moisturizer, something lightweight or heavy-duty depending on your skin type. If moisture retention is a problem for you, don’t be afraid to finish off with some oil, this will seal in all hydration and leave you with dewy, supple looking skin.

Secret #18: Exfoliate

Your skin is an amazing self-maintaining organ. Every 28 days it renews itself giving you a fresh layer of baby cells to create new skin. As we get older, however, this shedding process (also known as desquamation) slows down and leaves us with fine lines, dry areas and an uneven skin texture. When this happens it’s necessary to start giving your body a helping hand and making exfoliation a part of your skincare regime. 

According toSmartSkincare.com exfoliation helps promote new cell growth by removing the cells your body is no longer shedding. This helps your body with the desquamation process by removing the dead epidermal cells and exposing a new, fresh layer of skin cells. Exfoliation helps improve your skin texture, reduces fine lines and wrinkles, unclogs pores, and makes your skin look healthier, fresher and more radiant and boots circulation from the friction. Exfoliation yields amazing results for younger looking skin. Paired with a good moisturizer, exfoliation can be your secret to a youthful appearance.

Secret #19: Let Your Skin Heal

Whenever the skin on our face is afflicted with an imperfection we have the terrible tendency to try and hide it with concealers and powders and pretend it never happened. What we forget though is that healing is an extremely important part of our body’s cycle and we should let it do what it must to restore our skin – even if it means going a few days with an unsightly mark on your face. Irritation of the afflicted area can lead to the skin healing improperly and that means in place of fresh skin you’ll have scars, craters, or apparent discolouration. These types of imperfections often lead to skin that looks worn and torn and essentially aged beyond its own years.

That’s why it is very important to let your skin heal. If it itches or bothers you aesthetically, ignore it! Mild irritation such as itchiness is a sign of your skin healing and the current site of the imperfection a lot better than what it could be if you picked at it. Your body is designed to naturally restore itself and if you interrupt that process then you won’t get the most desirable results.To aid in the healing process of your skin, it’s a good idea consider sprinkling in turmeric powder with your daily moisturizer. 

NaturalNews.com recognizes Tumeric for its powerful antioxidants and antibacterial properties that help heal acne, blackheads, hyperpigmentation, eczema and psoriasis. It has also shown evidence of slowing down the aging process by improving the skin’s elasticity. By adding a little bit of turmeric powder in with your moisturizer you’ll get a double whammy of positive benefits and will unsurprisingly find that your skin will heal faster, efficiently and look better. When adding turmeric powder in with your moisturizer, it’s important to acknowledge that the colour of turmeric will give you a sun-kissed look so it must be used in accordance with your skin tone. 

With proper usage, you’ll have healthy skin that consistently looks radiant, dewy and youthful.

Secret #20: Always Use Protection

 In the Sun!Dermatoheliosis or sun damage is one of the most common signs of aging. It’s also the most common sign that is often ignored and lacks prevention on most individuals’ parts. This is primarily because everybody loves a good tan and as a result, every summer thousands of people line up under the sun, allowing its powerful ways to penetrate their skin. The fact is, however, that a tan is the body’s way of defending itself from the sun’s harmful rays.The number one culprit to skin aging is ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. There are three types of UV rays: UVA, UBC and UVC. Because UVC rays are mostly filtered out by the ozone layer, we are primarily affected by UVA and UVB penetration.

UVA rays are present all year round, regardless of the season and are capable of penetrating the deeper dermis.  Research has shown that the application of sunscreen every day for four years yielded significant results in regards to anti-aging. So forget about getting a tan and slather on some sunscreen at every moment you get. It’ll be the difference between looking 40 and 20.

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