Prevent Premature Skin Aging by Following These Two Simple Steps

We all get old. Father Time waits for no one. And the fat lady eventually sings! That is just a fact of life that is inescapable. We are born, we mature, we age, and then we take that eternal dirt nap. I have accepted that fact of life and realize that I am not going to make it out of this life alive. However, as I inch closer and closer towards middle age, aging is a subject I am concerned about. And I have realized that I do have the ability to influence how I age. Growing old is inevitable, but growing old gracefully is definitely an option. Now, in terms of aging and how to combat it effectively, there are countless areas in which to focus on, and countless steps a person can take. I'm going to focus on two easy ways that you can prevent and/or delay the age-related changes to your skin. Your skin, after all, is readily apparent to the whole world, and it's the first area on your body that shows the world that you are heading in the opposite direction of youth. So, it makes sense to maintain and preserve your skin as well as possible.

In terms of aging and premature aging, the sun is your worst enemy! The sun is a beautiful thing; it gives life to our planet; it gives us food; it gives us warmth, but it also gives us wrinkles and age spots. So, if you are at all concerned with keeping your skin as healthy and as youthful as you can for as long as you can, limit your exposure to direct and prolonged sunlight exposure. The sun's ultra-violet rays, both the UVA and UVB, are responsible for a plethora of damaging effects to your skin. These rays penetrate deep into the skin and interfere with the skin's natural healing and repair mechanisms. Too much sun exposure damages the structure of your skin, making you more susceptible to skin cancer and contributing to the appearance of wrinkles, age spots, and skin that appears leathery and weather-beaten. So, if you are a person who is motivated to do your best to age gracefully, stay out of the sun! And if you have to be in the sun for a prolonged period of time, make sure to wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays. Your skin will thank you!

Now that you know all about the sun and its awful effects on your skin, the next best thing you can do to ensure healthy, youthful-looking skin is to ditch the cigarettes. We all know that smoking is bad for our health. It damages our lungs, it damages our hearts, but it also plays havoc on our skin. All those chemicals that are in cigarettes - tar, nicotine, carbon, e.t.c. - are exactly what you don't need to be inhaling if you want to keep your skin in top condition. In addition to all the other nasty effects of cigarettes and cigarette smoke, it has been proven that cigarette smoke damages your skin's ability to repair and rejuvenate itself. Cigarette smoke interferes with your skin's ability to produce collagen - which is a necessary and critical component of healthy skin - and also disrupts the skin's ability to synthesize Vitamin C, which is a necessary component of skin cell reproduction as well as collagen production. So, as you can see, cigarettes have a deleterious effect not just inside your body but outside your body as well. So, if you want your skin to age gracefully, ditch the cigarettes!

We can all take steps to ensure that we give our skin the best chance to remain healthy and age gracefully. By eliminating two of the worst offenders in terms of skin aging - excessive sun exposure and cigarette smoking - you greatly increase your skin's chances of remaining healthy, vibrant, and youthful for many, many years!