The reality of having an anti-ageing regime is that you should start it before ageing is on your radar. For many of us, we’re not quite so forward thinking! Anti-aging involves tackling fine lines, wrinkles, sagging, blotching, and age spots. However, the good news is that there is a wealth of anti-ageing tips that are helpful, whatever age you are.
Here are our favourite anti-ageing tips for all age groups:
Ditch the Cigarettes: Seriously. If a full bank account, and the raft of health benefits, aren’t enough to prompt you to kick the habit, then anti-ageing should be on your agenda. Smoking zaps your skin of Vitamin C, which it needs. If you need a helping hand, then Smokefree will help get you on track with stopping smoking.
Work on Your Smile: If you’re going to get lines, let them be the right ones! Nonetheless, one of the best ways of maintaining a youthful appearance is looking after your teeth and keeping them white. To do this avoid too much tea, coffee, or red wine, and visit your dentist regularly.
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate: Water is your skin’s best friend, but only really from the inside out. You need to be aiming for around 6-8 glasses of water per day for a range of health benefits.
Up the Antioxidants: Free radicals, which are present in the environment from many sources, aren’t kind to your skin, mainly because they break down the wrinkle-preventing collagen and elastin. Antioxidants, particularly vitamins E and B, can help combat the effect of them on your skin. Fresh fish, chickpeas, almonds and sunflower seeds are all excellent sources of skin-friendly antioxidants.
Say Farewell to Sugar: Sugar’s the baddie in the news of late, and it’s not just your general health that will thank you for reducing your sugar intake. Your skin doesn’t like large quantities of sugar, particularly in the form of simple sugars. It increases inflammation, and if nothing else, it might be the reason behind your teen-like blotches and acne outbreaks.
Increase Your Protein Intake: While reducing your sugar intake, your battle against ageing can be waged by upping your protein intake. The amino acids L-lysine and L-proline, available from protein, are crucial for collagen creation. Collagen is all-important in anti-ageing because it provides good structure to your skin and helps to prevent wrinkles. Some of the best sources of protein include fresh fish, lean meat, pulses, eggs, and nuts.
Get 40 Winks: Making sure you have good sleep hygiene will improve not only your mood but also your skin. The main reason for this is that when you are sleep-deprived, your body produces more cortisol, otherwise known as the stress hormone. This fast tracks wrinkles and premature ageing. Therefore, there is truth in the saying ‘get your beauty sleep’.
Get on Board with Exercise: Exercise well, and your body can perform physiologically at the same level of someone much younger, according to a study by The Journal of Physiology. Staying active younger will keep you feeling, and looking, younger.
Keep Stress Under Control: Stress is bad news for many reasons, but it’s also a driving cause of ageing. It creates cortisol, which is detrimental on many levels for staying youthful. The negative effects of stress can be hard to combat, but by increasing our mental well-being, we are giving our bodies an anti-ageing boost. Yoga, mindfulness, and creating a better work-life balance can all help to reduce stress.
Get the Right Fats in Your Diet: With the media diet-bashing that we’re all exposed to, we can be forgiven for thinking that fat is bad, full stop. However, your skin, and your brain function will actually be grateful for the right types of fat in the right amounts. The one set of fats that are really on your side when it comes to anti-ageing is Omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce inflammatory skin issues. Oily fish are great sources of omega-3 fatty acids.
Realise Retinol is Your Skin’s Best Friend: If you haven’t heard of retinol or retinoid, you need to. Dermatologists consistently rate it for its skin improving ability. In short, it’s a form of vitamin A and gives your skin cells a powerful acceleration when it comes to renewal. They’re there in collagen’s cheerleading squad, and so definitely an anti-ageing must-have. Many skin care products now contain retinol. Just do be a little careful, as too much can be drying. There are some other side effects to retinol so make sure you do your research beforehand and contact your GP if you have any doubts.
By adding these tips into your daily life, and by making just a few changes, you can tackle anti-ageing with confidence.
