Getting older is a fact of life but feeling and looking “old” doesn’t necessarily have to be. While scientists are always working to find a way to stop aging altogether, they haven’t found one yet.
With that being said, there are ways to slow down how fast you age.
In this post, you are going to find out what causes aging and what you can do, or not do, to slow it down.
What causes aging?
While there are many factors that contribute to the aging process, believe me, it goes deep, I am only going to go into the ones you can do something about.
Environment- The main culprit contributing to your skin’s aging is the sun with its UV light. Exposure to the sun can cause many skin problems such as age spots and increase your risk of skin cancer.
High-energy visible light and infrared light can also cause changes in your skin. HEV light, also called blue light, comes from the sun and your electronic devices and while you can’t see infrared light, you can feel it as heat. Infrared light affects collagen and elasticity but doesn’t increase your risk of skin cancer.
Pollution causes an array of skin issues as well. It will impair the skin barrier function by breaking down collagen and oxidizing the fatty layer in your skin.
Lifestyle- Smoking, malnutrition, stress, alcohol, and lack of sleep will make you age faster.
Smoking breaks down collagen and elastin fibers which in turn leads to wrinkles and sagging. Diets that are high in processed foods, salt, and sugars also lead to the breakdown of these important proteins in your skin.
Chronic stress releases cortisol and guess what cortisol does? If you guessed breaks down your collagen, you’re right! The aging process is also sped up by untreated stress by shortening each DNA strand’s length.
While having a glass or two of wine occasionally won’t hurt anybody, overdrinking will dehydrate and cause damage to your skin over time.
Your skin does its heavy lifting at night, repairing and rejuvenating itself. If you don’t get enough sleep or quality sleep, you will have an increase in fine lines and decreased elasticity because your skin will be too weak to be able to perform the necessary processes, also leading to cell damage.
Other factors that contribute to aging are hormones and inflammation, and you also have biological factors as well. You can read more about these further down.
How to prolong the signs of aging
Wear Sunscreen
Protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun by wearing an SPF of 30 or above. Even if it’s cloudy outside the sun’s rays can come through the clouds and damage your skin.
If you spend a lot of time in front of a screen try using dark mode when possible or make sure your SPF protects against blue light as well.
Use Probiotic Skincare
If you live in a place with a lot of pollution, this is especially important. Skin products that contain probiotics will help your skin with making sure its microbiome stays healthy enough to protect against any foreign invaders causing issues.
Learn more about probiotic skincare here.
Stop Smoking
Do I really need to explain why? Many benefits, many levels!
Change Your Diet
Fasting along with eating the Mediterranean diet increases autophagy. Autophagy is basically cell renewal that gets rid of the waste or damaged parts of your cells. This is just one of the processes that slow as you get older. Boosting autophagy helps keep your cells renewed and healthy.
Intermittent Fasting- Restricting calorie intake decreases cellular damage and helps maintain healthy DNA. Energy production is enhanced and the risk of chronic diseases is lowered.
Mediterranean Diet- This diet got its name from the kinds of foods mainly eaten by the people who live along the banks of the Mediterranean Sea. It is mainly a plant-based diet that includes minimally processed foods. Instead of red meats, they eat poultry and fish. Butter and margarine are substituted with extra virgin oil and herbs and spices are used for flavor instead of salt.
Researchers found that people who lived in Southern Europe lived longer and had lower rates of heart disease. Since this way of eating pretty much cuts out red meats, sugars, and saturated fats, it lowers your risk of chronic health problems.
Of course, this will also have a positive impact on your skin as well. If you are healthy on the inside, it will show on the outside.
Start taking supplements
As you age, everything starts slowing down but what if you could slow down aging? One supplement that you should start taking is spermidineLife. Spermidine stimulates the process of autophagy and cellular rejuvenation. Autophagy keeps cells renewed by removing cellular waste and damage, therefore, increasing lifespan and longevity among other things.
Learn more about spermidine here.
Collagen peptides and vitamin C will need to be taken together because vitamin C is what links the collagen together. Collagen is what gives your skin the bounce back after you push in on it. Collagen also benefits your hair, nails, and joints.
Vitamin A is going to help you maintain healthy skin by stimulating cellular turnover, and collagen production, reducing the appearance of wrinkles, and treating acne and psoriasis.
NAD+ will reduce the damage caused by free radicals and also lengthen telomeres. Telomeres are the protective caps at the end of your DNA. Scientists have found that signs of aging can be reduced by increasing NAD levels in your body.
Reduce Stress
I know this is usually easier said than done, but reducing stress, or any negative emotions you experience,is very beneficial for your body.
Meditating is the best way to reduce stress. If you would just stop your mind from thinking for at least 5 minutes a day. it would bring some calm into your life.
In a study on women that meditated daily, it showed their telomeres were longer than those who didn’t meditate.
If you are a beginner to meditation, email me and I will be happy to get you started!
Other ways to relax include taking a walk, getting a massage, or taking a long relaxing bubble bath.
Exercise
Exercising not only improves circulation but it also boosts mood, improves sleep, decreases inflammation, counters anxiety and depression, and will also protect your metabolism from the effects of aging.
Endurance exercising such as walking, jogging, swimming, and biking are reccommended according to Harvard Health.
Start a great skincare routine
Your routine will depend on your age and the needs of your skin. You will have a routine for morning and a different for night.
In the morning, you will focus on protecting your skin and, at night, your focus will be on replenishing and repairing.
For more in depth info, refer to the links below.
How to start anti-aging in your 20s
How can I look younger in my 30s
How to look more youthful in your 40s
Can you improve your skin after age 50
At What Age Should You Start an Anti Aging Routine?
No matter what age you are, you should always be protecting your skin from the sun because if you don’t, it will show up later!
You start producing less collagen around age 25, so, I would definitely put a routine in place by then using products that stimulate the production of collagen, such as retinol.
To learn the best routine for your age, once again, refer to my links above.
Final Thoughts
If you are serious about putting off the aging process, then these guidelines are your step in the right direction. You will be able to age gracefully while looking and feeling your best!
I would love to hear your thoughts below!
I’m pleased that we are starting to understand how all the things that we do and what happens to us in our lives impact on our aging. Being a farm girl I have noticed that all the extra sun and weather exposure has aged my skin faster although I am improving my skin with massive care now. I think the Mediterranean diet sounds nice and it might stop me from eating the rubbish that I am tempted with every day.
Great advice, thanks.
I know working on a farm you are outside a lot, so always remember your sunscreen for all skin that’s exposed. I am planning on doing the Mediterranean diet myself. It will be hard for me also because I am a lover of chocolate! Thank you for your comment.
The Mediterranean diet has been proven to help your overall health. I have been meaning to try it so I can control my diabetes on a healthier way, but I’m still stuck on what I should eat and what I need to eat. I wasn’t aware that stress was a trigger warning for the aging process. Nowadays it’s basically impossible not to get stressed out, but having a good balanced environment should really help in the long term.
Stress can actually cause all kinds of health issues, chronic stress, that is. Getting stressed every so often isn’t going cause much problem. It is being in a state of stress constantly that will do things like raising your blood pressure, causing you to gain weight, and increase inflammation in your body. Thank you for your comment!