Photoageing damage can be reversed with better care and improved hydration that slow down the march of time. Jamuna Pai talks about factors that age your skin and how one can get rid of them
Skin is a tattletale. It usually tells people things you don’t always want them to know. It could tell your clients that you pulled an all-nighter on the presentation you are making before them. It could tell your spouse that the fight you had, kept you up all night. It could tell a trained dermatologist or cosmetologist that you have dandruff without them even checking your scalp. Skin also tattles on the life you are leading: a smoker has a lot more pigmentation or patchy skin, and is more wrinkled than say his or her own brother or sister from the same gene pool. No one gossips more than your skin. You can keep it quiet with make-up sometimes, but that’s neither a smart answer nor a long-term one.
Of the many reasons we age, many are because of us. Not because of our genetic inheritance or because we’re becoming older but because of what we do — consciously or unconsciously — to ourselves. I will tell you the things we do to accelerate an already rigorous process and what alternatives we can adopt to turn things around. There are so many things that we do on the treadmill of life that age us and even if stepping off it is not a choice we can always make, we could delay the onset of many visible signs of ageing by just making a few alterations.
Photoageing
Ageing due to overexposure to the sun — or photoageing — is one of the most preventable forms of ageing. As we know, the sun penetrates our skin and damages the collagen, which is responsible for wrinkles. Melanin swoops in and absorbs the harmful UV rays, protecting us but also tanning us in the process.
But there is only so much melanin can do to protect collagen breakdown. Visible photoageing signs include age spots, thickened skin (due to dead skin build up) and deep wrinkles, ageing us far beyond our chronological years. You will always find people with heavy outdoorsy lives or those who are very fair skinned or those who live in tropical countries or near the sea, sand or at higher altitudes ageing faster (the last is because of the deflected rays of the sun).
Even the skin on our face, hands and feet age faster than the rest of our bodies. The truest test of this is if you compare, for example, your mother’s skin on the exposed parts of her body, like the face, neck, hands and feet, to the unexposed parts like the thighs and the upper arms. You will be amazed that the unexposed skin looks much younger than the exposed skin. That’s how potent sun damage is. It takes little to invest in a good-quality sunscreen and not more than a minute to put it on.
Stress
Stress is hard to quantify or control. We’re all stressed at some point or the other; it is part of the human condition. As I’m writing this book, I have clients in the waiting room, a phone that never sleeps, two doctors queuing up to ask about something urgent and a mountain of unanswered emails.
However, in this context, when I talk about stress that ages you, I am referring to prolonged, chronic stress. Chronic stress is the culprit for multiple skin problems that include psoriasis, hives, acne and thinning of the skin. When you are stressed over a protracted period of time, the process of skin renewal slows to a crawl and you start looking ashen and dull. And when the renewal slows down, you are more vulnerable to wrinkles. Prolonged stress also causes oxidative stress. To understand what oxidative stress is, do note that oxidation is all around you. You see it when a fruit turns brown or begins to rot when exposed to the air or when silver starts to turn black.
To put it simply, oxygen is a highly reactive element and is a bit of a sword with two edges. On the one hand, it’s the giver of life, the air we breathe. On the other hand, the process of oxidation can be destructive, as unstable as it is unpredictable. The very same process that rots fruit also takes place inside our body with more dangerous consequences: oxidation releases ‘free radicals’ that slowly damage organs to include the skin and have also been linked to cancer. Oxidative stress dents collagen and dented collagen leads to wrinkles. It’s the same old story.
This kind of stress also elevates levels of cortisol — the stress hormone — which increases our blood sugar levels. Excess sugar, apart from weight gain and heart problems, also compromises collagen. Highly stressed people tend to drink more alcohol, have bad eating habits and exercise less, all of which lead to early ageing.
But, like I said, being relatively stress-free is extremely hard to implement. For stress is our way of reacting to the environment. It’s how we take on the world around us. Ideally, we need to take active steps to change our attitude, as well as work smarter to get through our day with ease. To counter the stress I face on a daily basis, I have allowed people around me to take on more responsibility. I have also set aside some ‘Me Time’ when I meet my friends, play with my grandson and do things that I like, which sometimes can mean doing nothing at all for a little time every day and on the weekend.
The hormones endorphin, dopamine and serotonin are released via exercise. I also usually recommend relaxation activities like gardening, shopping or listening to music. And, lastly, whether you are going through a painful divorce or facing the loss of your job, please remember you’re not alone. Everyone has got something they have to deal with even if their life seems perfect from the outside. Keep staying, thinking and being positive because good always follows the bad. Focus on achieving goals. After you reach one, move on to the next. Stay happy and true to yourself. It is only then you can be the best you can be.
Ageing foods
Fast foods, aerated drinks, processed foods, foods with trans fats and hydrogenated oils, refined flour, artificial sweeteners, teas, coffees, red meat and foods high in sugar and salt (sodium) release free radicals causing oxidative stress. It’s tricky to exactly figure out which foods age us because so many foods have these in smaller or larger quantities and we eat them without knowing their compositions.
lack of sleep and water
Sleep is the time when the skin repairs itself. That’s why it’s often called ‘beauty sleep’. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, you should be concerned. Are you dehydratedIJ All your organs need water, and not just the skin. When skin cells don’t get enough water, the skin turns dry.
Alcohol and smoking
Alcohol is not only high in sugar, it also aids in the release of free radicals, which age you. It also dehydrates you, which again accelerates ageing. Apart from alcohol, smoking is one of the worst things you can do to yourself. To understand this, you better know the role of Vitamin C in maintaining your health. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, which is also a free radical scavenger, that is, it flushes out the harmful free radicals out of your body. Every single cigarette you smoke depletes Vitamin C from your body. And not only that, it further adds more free radicals.
lack of exercise
When you exercise, the process of oxygenation (which is different from oxidation) helps the skin to regenerate collagen. lack of exercise ages the skin. I’ve seen it when clients walk in after a tremendous life-changing event like the sudden death of a loved one, they seem to have aged overnight because of the stress and sadness. I’ve seen it when clients walk in after having recovered from eating disorders with sunken eyes that belie their age.
Of course, it’s not just the lifestyle; you can’t underestimate the role of hormones and disease in the way you age. Even if you are eating right and doing everything else right, there could be underlying hormonal problems.
You can’t underestimate the impact of genes either. Your genetic factors dictate the rate at which your ageing process progresses. Take a look at your parents’ skin to see how you will age; I have seen young adults in their twenties with deep laugh lines because it’s a family trait.
Photoageing damage can be reversed with better care and improved hydration that slow down the march of time. Better sleeping habits, more dietary care, reduction in stress and quitting smoking can turn back the clock subtly and effectively.
(Excerpts from No One Has To Know with the permission of Collins)