How to Prevent Premature Aging
Have
you ever seen a person who looks much older than their real age?
When you look much older than your age, you have experienced what we call
premature aging. The desire of most people is to age gracefully and I’m sure
you’d want to know how you can prevent premature aging.
You can prevent premature aging by taking
care of your skin and eyes, removing makeup before sleeping, and getting
adequate sleep. You should also avoid junk food, stop smoking, reduce alcohol
intake, reduce stress, exercise regularly, and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
If
you’d like to know how to prevent premature aging, you are in the right place.
This article will explain the above points in detail. Let’s dive right in.
How to
Prevent Premature Aging
It’s a
given that even if you have the best genes, you’ll gradually age – you’ll
develop wrinkles, your hair will turn grey, your hair will thin or fall out,
etc. However, you can control or prevent premature aging by doing the following
9 things.
1. Take
Good Care of your Skin
The
first signs of premature aging usually start to show on your skin. These signs
include the following:
- Dry,
itchy, or flaky skin - Wrinkles
on the face or hands - Sagging
- Fine
lines - Turtle
neck - Gaunt
hands - Gaunt
face
You can
prevent these signs of premature aging by taking good care of your skin from an
early age.
Here’s how to prevent premature aging of your skin:
Drink
plenty of water
Drinking
8 glasses of water per day works wonders on your skin. The water keeps your skin healthy, hydrates your body,
and moisturizes your skin, thus increasing the skin’s elasticity. When your
skin’s elasticity increases, it prevents the following:
- The
premature appearance of wrinkles - The
premature appearance of fines lines - Sagging
Avoid
exposing your skin to too much sun
As you
grow older, your face, neck, and hands can age prematurely if you expose them
to too much sun (photo-aging). Photo-aging is when UV rays from the sun gradually damage
your skin’s structure. As a result, your skin can develop spots, wrinkles, or
lose its elasticity.
Here
are things you can do to avoid exposing your skin to too much sun:
Wear
sunscreen
One of
the best ways of protecting your skin from harmful UV rays that can cause
premature aging is by wearing sunscreen. Make it a habit of wearing sunscreen
daily. The best sunscreen is one with at least 30 Sun Protection Factors (SPF)
It’s
best to apply sunscreen to your entire body when going outdoors. If possible,
avoid exposing your skin to the sun for hours on end, even if you are wearing
sunscreen.
Wear a
hat
On top
of wearing sunscreen, you can protect your skin further by wearing a hat when you
are outdoors. For instance, a good, sun-safe hat can protect your entire face,
ears, neck, back, and head from the sun. Bucket hats and broad-brimmed hats are
great at providing protection against UV rays.
Wear
sunglasses
Your
eyes and the skin around them can also age prematurely if you expose them to
sunlight for prolonged periods. For instance, exposing your eyes to intense
sunlight could lead to macular degeneration of the eyes, a problem that could
quickly cause loss of central vision.
According
to experts, the best sunglasses should give your eyes 99% to 100% protection
from the sun. The best sunglasses are UV
400-protected sunglasses as
they provide your eyes with almost 100% protection from UV rays.
2.
Avoid Sleeping with Makeup on Your Face
Before
you go to sleep, it’s best to clean your face to remove any makeup. If you
always sleep with makeup on, it can cause premature aging of your face. The
makeup prevents your skin from breathing or repairing itself sufficiently and
over time, you may start to notice the following:
- Wrinkles
- Fine
lines - Lifeless
skin - Dull
skin - Gaunt
hands - A
gaunt face
Sleeping
with makeup on can cause premature aging. This is because when your skin is
covered in makeup, it isn’t able to breathe and repair itself properly. Over
time, this can lead to the formation of fine lines and wrinkles. In addition,
sleeping with makeup on can also make your skin look dull and lifeless.
Using a
mild cleanser and warm water before going to bed is a great way of removing
makeup from your face.
3. Get
Adequate Sleep to Prevent Premature Aging
If you
want to get healthy skin that doesn’t age prematurely, it’s important to get at
least 8 hours of sleep daily. Suppose you go without regular and quality sleep.
In that case, you may notice the following signs of premature aging on your
skin:
- Reduced
skin elasticity, leading to sagging - Uneven
pigmentation - Increased
fine lines and wrinkles
Premature
aging comes because a lack of adequate
sleep decreases your
skin’s ability to rejuvenate and repair itself.
4.
Avoid Junk Food
What
you eat daily could make you age prematurely. For instance, eating junk
food may cause
premature aging as this kind of food has high amounts of salt, sugar, or trans
fats. For instance, trans fats can constrict or stiffen your blood vessels and
arteries leading to a reduction of blood supply to your skin.
When
this happens, your skin starts to show signs of premature aging.
The
junk food to avoid include:
- Sugary
drinks – soft and energy drinks - Biscuits
and cakes - Sweets
and chocolate - Processed
meat – bacon - Fast
foods – pizzas, burgers, or fries
Instead
of junk food, it’s best to eat a balanced diet daily so that your body gets the
nutrients it requires to produce healthy skin cells. A diet full of veggies and
fruits is great for combating fine lines and dull complexions.
Below
are some of the best veggies and fruits to prevent premature aging:
- Avocado
- Watercress
- Spinach
- Papaya
- Broccoli
- Blueberries
5. Stop Smoking to Prevent Premature Aging
Smokers
tend to age prematurely faster than non-smokers. The reason is that the nicotine in cigarettes constricts the blood vessels leading
to reduced blood flow to the skin. As a result, the skin doesn’t get the
sufficient nutrients it requires to remain healthy.
When
your skin doesn’t get enough nutrients, you start to notice signs of premature
aging. These signs of premature aging include the following:
- Wrinkles
all over your body - Dry skin
- Sagging
skin - A
hollow, gaunt face
If you
quit smoking, you’ll notice that your skin will start to look youthful within a
short while.
6.
Reduce Your Alcohol Intake
If you
drink excessively, the chances of experiencing premature aging are high. Drinking approximately 6 units of
alcohol – two glasses of wine each measuring 250 ml per week is acceptable.
However, drinking over 29 units of alcohol – approximately ten glasses of wine
each measuring 250 ml per week can be detrimental to your body.
Drinking
too much alcohol daily can cause premature aging in the following ways:
- Too
much alcohol can dehydrate the body: Alcohol removes water from your body
leading to dehydration. Persistent dehydration can dry out your skin, cause it
to sag, and lose shape. As a result, you look older than your age. - Too
much alcohol could slow your brain: When you drink, the alcohol goes straight
to your brain. If you drink heavily for a prolonged period, the brain cells
start to shrink leading to aging-related diseases such as dementia or
Alzheimer’s disease. Such diseases make you behave and look like you’re older
than your age.
So, if
you want to age prevent premature aging, reduce your alcohol intake from today.
7. Practice Stress Management Techniques
If you
have prolonged stress, you can start to experience premature aging. The brain
pumps a high amount of cortisol (a stress hormone) when you’re stressed. Too
much cortisol can block collagen and synthase – these are the
substances that keep the skin vibrant and plump.
Suppose
you want to prevent premature aging. In that case, you should practice stress
management techniques such as:
- Meditation
to calm the mind. - Yoga to
quiet your mind.
8. Exercise Regularly to Prevent Premature Aging
The
importance of exercising regularly to prevent premature aging and other health
problems cannot be overemphasized. Regular exercise promotes your sense of
well-being and overall health. In addition, it prevents premature aging in the
following ways:
- It
boosts blood circulation: When you exercise regularly, blood circulation in
your body increases. When blood circulation in the body increases, your skin
cells become healthier thus preventing premature aging. - Exercise
improves posture: If you live a sedentary lifestyle, you’re more likely to
experience loss of bone density and muscle faster than a person who exercises
regularly. Loss of bone density and muscle can affect your spine leading to
premature aging. So, exercise regularly to maintain a healthy posture for
longer.
Some of
the exercises you can do regularly to prevent premature aging are:
- Walking
- Climbing
stairs - Aerobics
- Resistance
training - Squats
- Swimming
- Cycling
9.
Avoid a Sedentary Lifestyle to Prevent Premature Aging
If you
want to stay young for longer, it’s best to avoid a sedentary life – inactive
life. You see, your body’s cells age faster when you live an inactive life. As
a result, your muscles, bones, skin, eyes, brain, etc. suffer and you start to
look older than your age.
So,
keep going to prevent premature aging.
Below are some things you can do to keep
your body and brain active even as a senior citizen:
- Exercise
regularly - Meditate
- Learn a
new skill - Learn a
new language - Knit
- Draw
- Read
- Socialize
- Travel
- Blogging
- Journaling
Final
Thoughts
Aging
is inevitable. However, you can prevent premature aging and age gracefully by
making some lifestyle changes. You can also use some products to give your body
cells a boost.
I hope this article will help you make the necessary changes to
prevent premature aging.
