10 Natural anti-ageing tips which you should know about

 

Wow!! Your skin is glowing. You are looking so young!! Don’t you love listening to these compliments??

There is nothing wrong with ageing. In fact, you should embrace and enjoy every step of this journey. However if simple lifestyle and dietary changes can protect your skin and keep it glowing then no harm trying them out, right?

Every day, we are engaging in habits that makes our skin and health suffer further causing ageing. From the tiniest details of the food we eat, to the way we clean our faces and our lifestyle can end up with us looking much older than our actual age.

So, what’s the way out? Instead of shelling out huge sums of money on all the dubious over the counter pills, follow these easy, affordable and needle free ways to keep your skin looking youthful.

Regardless of your current age, you can start feeling more zestful and vibrant!!

1. Hydrate

You should drink enough water (2 to 2.5 litres/day recommended) to keep yourself hydrated and glowing. Sipping water throughout the day without making yourself thirsty should be your routine. However, the amount of water required by your body depends on your age, sex, activity levels, and your food intake.

Drinking less water reduces your skins elasticity over time causing more dullness, dryness, wrinkles and fine lines.  

You can also include lots of coconut water, fresh fruits, vegetable juices and lime water. Fresh fruits like watermelon, bananas, muskmelon are known to be more hydrating than water alone.

2. Skip the sugar

Diets which are high in sugar have been linked to loss of collagen and elastin causing wrinkles.

Sugar is a food known to have empty calories. It is a major contributor to the loss of firmness of skin causing you to look older for your age. 

So, look forward to replace your desserts with whole fruits, skip the sugar in your juices, replace sugar with jaggery in dals or sweets

 

3. Increase your Vitamin C

Try squeezing lemon in your sabji, dals or fresh salads and you will be on your way to a clearer complexion and lustrous hair.

This is because, Vitamin C is an important part of skin collagen. Collagen is a protein that connects your skin cells together generating the skin elasticity and structure too!!

You can regularly consume kiwis, papayas, bell peppers, fresh tomatoes, oranges, sweet lime, mangoes too for Vitamin C.

4. Boost your antioxidant levels

Nutrients like Vitamin A, C, E and Copper are rich in antioxidants.

A few antioxidant rich foods like carrots, bell peppers or a cup of hot green tea on your menu can be the key to turn back your age clock and fend off the future dulling of skin.

5. Drizzle on some honey

We all are aware that sugar can do no good for your skin. But this doesn’t mean that you cannot enjoy sweets.

Honey may help in plumping your skin and giving you a flawless look. Honey is a natural humectant. It attracts and absorbs water from the mineral tissues to the skin surface, making it moisturized and keeping the wrinkles at bay.

So, don’t forget to kick start your day with a glass of warm water with a squeeze of lime and a drizzle of honey for younger skin.

6. Fat is no more your enemy

New research says that adding enough healthy fats can improve your heart health, bone health, blood circulation and makes you skin look young.

Healthy fats meaning -more of omega 3 and 6 fats and MUFA found in nuts, seeds and fatty fish.

So, don’t forget to keep your almonds, walnuts, flax seeds and pumpkin seeds easily accessible for you to munch on!!

7. Gently clean

Over and unnecessary washing of face with soap can speed up the ageing process and the gels or oily creams used to combat this dryness can cause further breakouts.

Always wash your skin using gentle face wash only when required. Skip those harsh colorful soaps.

Use a clean and soft towel for your face. Not to forget, avoid scrubbing your face too much. A good moisturizer should be your everyday companion after washing face.

8. Relax, relax and relax

Always find enough time for destressing yourself. Getting adequate sleep and meditation can help you reduce the stress.

Stress releases stress hormones which directly increases inflammation and reduces your body’s damage repair mechanism.

Excess inflammation also breaks down the collagen.

9. Quit Smoking

It is no more a surprise that smoking is detrimental for your health. Every cigarette puff makes you look much older and sicker.

The nicotine present in cigarettes starve the precious skin cells of adequate nutrition and oxygen.

Hence, if you want that younger looking skin, skip the smoke.

10. Avoid excess weight gain

Avoid letting those small treats and indulgences turn into extra kilos on your weight scale, you might end up looking much older than you actually are!!

When you gain weight, you might get double chin which significantly changes how your face is viewed. 

Never too late to benefit!!

People who already have signs of premature aging can too benefit from making these lifestyle changes.

If signs of aging skin bother you, a visit to a dermatologist with new treatments, non-invasive procedures can help with smoothening wrinkles, skin tightening and improving skin complexion.

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Sneha Jain, Dietician

Sneha is a Post graduate with specialization in Nutrition and Dietetics. She is a university topper and holds 5+ years of experience in Apollo hospitals, VLCC, slimsutra and first cry fit-kids . She has successfully counselled clients all over India for weight loss, weight gain, diabetes, hypertension, PCOD, hypothyroid, Pregnancy and lactation and growth charts for children. She has her own diet consultation e-clinic (diet_diariez)

She believes in  customized diets and eating local and seasonal foods. Her counselling not only involves diet planning, but also lifestyle modification and stress relief strategies.