Hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year celebration. Now it's New Years Resolution time. How many of you have eating healthy and working out on your list? How about achieving beautiful skin? WELL, these are all nice and great goals but it takes true lifestyle changes to see results.
Beautiful skin begins with a healthy lifestyle. While heredity may determine how your skin looks, behaves, and ages, you can improve it by taking good care of yourself. Skincare basics include eating the right foods, drinking plenty of water, exercising, getting enough sleep, protecting your skin from the sun, NOT smoking, and limiting your intake of caffeine and alcohol.
Nutrition
The health of your skin begins with good nutrition. New, living cells continually replace the dead cells on the surface of the skin. The growth of new cells is dependent on vitamins, minerals, and hydration.
Vitamin A: Antioxidant essential for the growth and renewal of new skin cells. Topically applied, may boost collagen production and promote skin cell turnover. [Egg yolks, dairy]
Vitamin B: Increases fatty acids in the skin, promoting exfoliation and firmness. [yeast, eggs, vegetables]
Vitamin C: Building block of collagen, the protein that gives skin its structure, tone and elasticity. [Citrus fruits, broccoli, peppers, berries, tomatoes]
Vitamin D: Essential for the development of skin cells. [Egg yolks, salmon, milk and other dairy products]
Vitamin E: Antioxidant that helps build and maintain healthy skin tissue. [wheat germ, leafy greens, nuts, whole grains]
Fat: Fat is also an important nutrient for the skin and the health of the whole body. It is necessary for supple skin and soft, shiny hair. [olive oil and avocado, fatty fish]
Exercise
Exercise is a skincare essential. Raising the heart rate through exercise increases blood flow, brings more oxygen to the skin, and cleanses impurities from the body through sweat. Just twenty to thirty minutes of exercise per day is enough to help you boost your immune system, reduce stress strengthen your heart, increase energy level, and improve your mood. With regular exercise, you build lean muscle mass and raise your metabolism. Since the metabolism slows with age, exercise is fundamental to weight management.
Sleep
Sleep is the time when the body's cells have a chance to repair and regenerate. Sleep deprivation stresses all of the body's systems, including the skin, and can result in headaches, irritability, lack of energy, or the inability to focus. The skin becomes less elastic and prone to breakouts of acne or rashes.
Sun
Excess sun exposure is the skin's number-one enemy. It causes premature aging, including wrinkles, loss of elasticity, and hyperpigmentation. Worse, over-exposure often causes deadly forms of skin cancer. Wear sunblock DAILY!
Smoking
Smoking is gross. Plain and simple. It also causes the skin to age prematurely. Nicotine impairs the blood vessels that provide skin with both oxygen and nutrients and rid the skin of impurities. It eventually robs the skin of oxygen, causing it to look dull and gray. With low levels of oxygen, the skin loses elasticity, which leads to sagging and wrinkling.
Alcohol
Skin problems can be caused by excessive alcohol intake. Alcohol can cause allergic reactions, such as hives and rashes. Some people have allergic reactions to salicylates, which occur in such foods as berries, bananas, beans, grapes and wine. If a rash appears after you eat these foods, it is likely that beer and wine will also cause breakouts. Rule of thumb, drink one glass of water each time you have a beverage that contains alcohol.
Stress
Stress often shows up on skin (mine especially). Stress-related hormonal fluctuations can cause adult acne and other skin problems. While healthy eating and exercise habits help to combat the symptoms of anxiety and stress, finding mechanisms to deal with the underlying causes of stress is important.
Take baby steps, you don't have to make all of these changes overnight. Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season. Time for 2011. Let me know if you have any questions.
Lots of love...Xo
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