It is important to keep your skin happy as it is not just the outer covering of the body, it is the largest organ of the integumentary system.
Like other organs in our bodies, our skin is alive. What you do today will definitely show up in your skin sometime in the future. How you care for your body is revealed through the appearance of your skin. Your priority must be maintaining a happy and healthy skin.
Throughout our lives the environment and genetic factors will cause our skin to tear and wear, but that’s the natural ageing process. However, we don’t really have to witness passively at our skin’s premature ageing, we can choose to change our lifestyle choices.
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Following are some of the factors that influence the health and vitality of our skin:
Food
The food that you choose to consume will show in the health and balance of the skin and can lead to skin problems. Always choose fresh fruit and vegetables, keep your protein intake balanced and try to consume healthy protein options.
Try as hard to drink sufficient water each day, and reduce your caffeine intake as too much of it can also cause you skin problems.
The best foods to consume to maintain a healthy skin are whole grains which provide B vitamins, nuts which provide vitamin E, red and green leafy vegetables providing vitamin A, citrus fruit providing vitamin C and seafood providing omega 3 fatty acids and zinc.
Lack of exercise
One of the main culprits for unbalanced skin is stress. Stress may cause your skin to become dull, congested and inflamed and therefore can lead to skin problems.
Exercise is an easy way to decrease stress levels and in turn cortisol levels. Exercise causes you to sweat, cleansing the body from the inside out, thus aiding the body in ridding itself of toxins. The overall health of the skin will improve with regular exercise.
Bad habits
Smoking causes lines, dehydration and a breakdown in vitamin C which results in collagen and elastin fibre damage which causes ageing of the skin.
Excessive alcohol consumption dehydrates the body and causes dilation of the blood vessels which can possibly cause permanent dilation of capillaries. If these extra toxins are not cleaned out by the liver, the skin can take on this role and can lead to blemishes.
Overexposure to the sun
This causes a myriad of short term and long-term changes in the skin and affects the dermal and epidermal layers of the skin. When the skins cells are damaged through overexposure to the sun, the skin’s ability to repair itself and detect abnormal changes are altered. The skin loses elasticity quicker and skin tumours can develop.
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Lack of skincare
Using the wrong cleanser can be as detrimental as not using one at all. If you never exfoliate the skin, you are simply applying products onto layers of dead skin which means the products that you are using are not optimally penetrating the skin.
Stress
While we are asleep, the skin remains active with cellular renewal and removing waste. High levels of stress depletes the normal functioning of vital vitamins and minerals in the body, a lack thereof may contribute to various reactions of the skin as well as various skin problems.
At all times, keep your skin happy and healthy. It’s not about denying yourself your favourite foods and habits, just limit yourself in everything you choose to do.
