Many things can take a
toll on our skin, whether it be seasonal changes from cold winters with drying
central heating to sizzling UV rays of the summer sun, natural hormonal changes
as we pass through life stages, the environment, and even our own immune system.
Here are some of our top tips on how a good daily skincare
and healthy diet can help to keep you glowing on the outside and within.
Be gentle: the top skin layer protects your body
from the environment but it is delicate. Avoid rough exfoliating techniques,
stripping this layer can worsen acne and dry the skin Instead use gentle
cleansers – those with rose oil are particular soothing. For open wounds,
manuka honey helps protect against bacteria .
Support natural elimination: a healthy liver,
kidneys and digestion enable the body to deal with that may otherwise come out
through the skin as spots. Helpful foods are artichoke, dandelion and alfalfa.
Eat clean: choose unprocessed wholefoods such as
colourful vegetables, fruit, nuts, oily fish and avocado – they are rich in
skin-supportive essential fats and antioxidants like Vitamin A, C,E manganese
and zinc
Drink water: our skin contains four layers, with
the cells in the upper layers being flatter and drier. Staying hydrating helps
the cells stay plump and look youthful.
Golden rule: use ingredients on your skin that
you’d be happy to eat – your body absorbs some of them.
How to reduce premature aging
Sun exposure
Cells in the lower levels of the skin produce melanin, a
pigment that helps to create your tan as part of protecting the skin and its
DNA from UV damage. Enjoying some time in the sun is important to maintain healthy
vitamin D levels, but the key is moderation.
Bare 20: Skin can protect itself from a little
sun, with the palest skin having an SPF2, constantly wearing high SPF sunblock
can prevent vitamin D which is important to keep normal skin health. Ideally get
up to 20 minutes of sun exposure daily without sunscreen, or less if the skin
turns slightly pink.
Go natural: When spending the day outside choose
natural sunscreen. Coconut oil is one option that provides SPF4 and supports
elastin to keep skin supple but you need to reapply frequently to benefit from
its UV barrier.
Nutrient boost: sip green tea in the sun,
antioxidant-rich foods such as green tea help protect the skin from UV damage.
A natural facelift
Vitamin C supports collagen production for
reduced appearance of wrinkles. Choose topical creams containing vitamin C to
use on fine lines, include a high strength supplement and eat rich food sources
as broccoli and berries.
Sea Algae helps to support the firmness,
moisture and structure to improve skin appearance.
Acne
Hormonal balance
From puberty onwards both men and women can have an influx
of testosterone that increase in a oily wax called sebum, causing hair
follicles to become blocked and creating pockets of bacteria and debris. Spots
that tend to surface on the chin can also be related to hormonal changes during
the menstrual cycle.
Apply zinc to the affected area and take a
supplement to support healing and a healthy level of testosterone.
Only pop spots hygienically - use a comedone
extractor as your hands can lead to bacteria and debris being pushed deeper
into the skin, increasing chances of scarring and infection.
Include garlic in the diet for its antimicrobial
effects to help reduce any bacterial or fungal skin infections.
Hopefully this will give you a good starting point for
flawless skin, for further support the Patrick Holford skin problems covers all dietary and
lifestyle changes to get yourself flawless skin.
Stress is not something you can see like a cut or a bruise and therefore is not always easily recognised. However our modern lifestyles make it an increasing problem, both personally and economically.
Stress makes your body want to run away from the situation to keep you safe. It does this by releasing cortisol to stimulate the liver and tissue stores to produce glucose for energy. To meet the demands you may crave carbohydrates and caffeine. However, you don’t really need the marathon amount of energy produced and the high circulating sugar causes glycation (aging, inflammation and damage to cells).