Ways to slow the ageing process
We all know that as we aged, it is impossible to turn back the clock unless we turn to botox or cosmetic surgery to reclaim our youthful looks. But think again, it is possible to stop time without having to go under the knife and at the same time keeping your bank balance healthy.
Here are some great tips that help you achieve youthful skin.
1. Avoid smoking -
Ranging from bad breath, teeth discolouration, gum diseases to lung cancer, the after effects of smoking are apparent, thanks to all the publicity through anti smoking campaigns and advertisements.
Needless to say, smoking is bad both for your skin and health. In fact one of the top causes of skin damage is smoking.
If you smoke, don’t be surprise that you look older than you actually are as smoking accelerates the ageing process and add years to your body through the following:
- When tobacco burns, thousands of chemical compounds are formed. Harmful substances like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and nicotine enter your circulatory system, depriving skin cells of oxygen and creating billions of free radicals, damaging the collagen and elastin tissues causing premature wrinkles.
- Repetitive movement of cigarettes puffing causes wrinkles around the lips. Wrinkles appear at the eyes too as smokers tend to squint, looking through the smoky haze.
- The harmful nature of cigarette smoke gives smokers a more unhealthy skin colour and coarser skin texture as compared to non smokers.
- Smoking dries the skin, deprives it of nutrients, thus slowing down the healing process and its ability to self-recover.
Therefore, is it possible to prevent wrinkles without having to give up smoking? The answer is NO, smoking and wrinkles goes hand in hand.
2. Exercise regularly -
Man is made a mobile creature. We need to move in order to stay healthy, physically and mentally. Through exercising, you improve your body shape, feel better about yourself and are more resilient to diseases.
Other than staying healthy, losing weight or toning up those muscles, exercising has immense benefits for the skin. Your skin gets healthier as regular workouts will improve your blood circulation, speeding up delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your body cells and expedite removal of toxins from your body.
As cells get more oxygen, they influence the body to produce more collagen, the connective tissue that keeps the skin firm. Exercise helps body to relax, reducing stress levels, allowing you to sleep better. When you sleep restfully at night, your skin gets rejuvenated.
Perspiration during exercise helps to rid your body of toxins, unclog skin pores and minimize breakouts, improving your appearance. It also enhances the production of sebum, our body’s natural moisturizer, protecting the skin from infections.
Since sweating releases toxins and oils and it benefits you, try doing workouts that help you perspire like jogging, tennis, soccer. Experts recommend that we should exercise at least 30 minutes a day in order for it to be effective. The type of exercises varies according to each individual - it could be walking a flight of steps for an elderly or a trip to the gym for one who is health conscious.
To be continued……..
