Your These Everyday Habits are Prematurely Ageing Your Skin

Premature ageing is an unnatural process that can have some serious repercussions for your skin, stimulating the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and age spots. However, the good news is that premature ageing is completely preventable and, provided you make a few simple diet and lifestyle changes, you may even be able to reverse the damage done to your skin! Today I’m going to take a look at a few destructive habits that could be ageing your skin and a few changes you can make to make sure your skin ages gracefully.

* Stress

Stress is generally bad news for your skin as it can cause widespread inflammation, lower your immunity and upset your sleep patterns, all of which can contribute towards dried, sensitive skin that’s more prone to flare ups. Unfortunately, stress isn’t limited to just impairing the overall quality of your skin – it can also be a major cause of extrinsic or ‘premature’ ageing. In a 2012 study conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital, it was found that chronic anxiety was capable of shortening telomere length in middle aged woman.

* Remaining too sedentary

It isn’t just our stress levels that are worth examining; sometimes our lifestyle in general is worth analysing too! If you’re not living an active life it can contribute towards premature ageing, not only for the skin but for other aspects of your health too! Again telomeres take centre stage with research finding that physically active individuals had longer telomeres compared to the sedentary control group.

* UV radiation

When summer finally comes here in the UK, the general tendency is to make the most of the good weather while it’s here. That often means hitting the beach or sunbathing outside, which can make your skin more vulnerable to UV radiation. There are two primary types of UV rays that can affect your skin; UVA and UVB.

* Alcohol

This one isn’t exactly a shocker – excessive alcohol consumption has been associated with so many health complaints, from liver problems to skin issues that its role in ageing your skin should hardly come as a surprise. Alcohol is already known to deprive your skin of key nutrients, more specifically vitamin A which can work as an antioxidant, protecting your skin from free-radical damage and helping to support your production of collagen.

* Sleep deprivation

Sleep deprivation is a problem here in the UK, where it’s estimated that around 33% of us get by on just 5-6 hours of sleep a night! This can be a real problem as your skin relies on you getting plenty of shut-eye so it can restore and repair itself. While you sleep, your body does an enormous amount of maintenance work and, if you’re not getting this crucial opportunity to rest and repair, there will be consequences.