Skin aging: the role of diet, night sleep and depression

Posted onAugust 11, 2019

Skin will not necessarily show signs of aging as you celebrate all new birthdays. The dynamics of aging of the skin of the body and face depend on internal factors, including genetic predisposition and general health. In addition, changes depend on external factors, such as excessive exposure to the sun, smoking, and even frequent use of straws for cocktails. A significant role in the aging process is played by diet and weight fluctuations, as well as night sleep, emotional state and depression. How do they affect?

Aging processes: what do they depend on?

About 30% of the manifestations of aging at a particular age are determined genetically – the rest is the influence of the environment. This means that a person has the ability to control how the skin looks over time. Patients do not always have to look at the passport age: the health and elasticity of their own skin can be tens of years younger than the actual age. It is important to circumvent or mitigate the influence of hidden factors that can accelerate the aging process of the skin. There are a number of factors that can accelerate the aging of the face and body, as well as ways to influence these causes, preventive measures.

Irrational diet, excess sweets

An irrationally selected diet, the consumption of a large number of processed or sugary foods can cause a sharp jump in blood sugar and insulin, which can cause mild chronic inflammation at the cellular level. This latent inflammation can, in turn, accelerate skin aging through a process called glycation.

In a nutshell, we’ll discuss how this works. Glucose (from carbohydrates and sugar itself) enters the bloodstream and joins protein molecules, including collagen (which forms the skin structure), forming new molecules called end products of glycation. They are believed to destroy collagen and elastin (the protein that gives the skin elasticity). Defects in the diet lead to the fact that collagen and elastin can become more “stiff” and less functional, which theoretically can lead to sagging skin, wrinkles and accelerated aging. 

How to help the skin?

To normalize the condition of the skin, it is important to review the components of your diet: reduce simple carbohydrates, which quickly turn into glucose, raising blood sugar, and instead choose a lot of whole grains, vegetables and fruits. In particular, you need to increase your diet’s intake of foods rich in antioxidants, such as berries, citrus fruits, kiwi, pineapple, papaya, red and green peppers, and broccoli, because antioxidants fight the signs and causes of skin aging. The same can be said about the use of skin care products with antioxidant ingredients such as vitamins C and E, resveratrol, green tea and grape seed. 

Night sleep on one side

Everyone knows that a good night’s sleep is important if a person wants to look better. While a person is sleeping, his body initiates the process of restoration of many different body tissues, including skin. Thus, without sufficiently deep sleep, in particular, the skin does not receive the full regeneration and restoration that it needs.

But if a person is constantly sleeping on one side of the face, then the skin of the face will age faster. This is similar to the process of wrinkling pants. If sleep all the time occurs on one side, in this case a person mechanically wrinkles the skin, deforming collagen and interfering with the blood circulation, which makes the folds permanent.

In addition to the fact that a person needs to devote a lot of time to sleep, you need to develop the habit of sleeping on your back, or at least alternately change your sleeping position.

Constant depression and depression

Negative emotions, stresses, fatigue, depression or depression can appear on the face, as well as in the nature and characteristics of behavior. This occurs for various reasons. For starters, when people are depressed, they can constantly strain certain facial muscles, grimace, or frown. These negative facial expressions appear to be “engraved” on the skin in the form of fine lines and wrinkles.  

Meanwhile, depression is associated with an increased level of cortisol, which can weaken, disrupt the structure of collagen and cause a decrease in the synthesis of growth hormone. Deficiency of this hormone prevents the skin’s ability to fully recover at night, during sleep. Moreover, when people are depressed, they often eat poorly, almost do not sleep, do not train, and do not care for their skin as they should. These are additional factors that trigger accelerated skin aging.

What to do to improve the appearance?

It is important to actively and urgently take steps to improve your mood, regularly exercise, attend a psychologist’s consultation, or talk with your doctor about whether the patient will benefit from taking antidepressants or if you need to choose another therapy. Interestingly, reducing or eliminating wrinkles through cosmetic procedures such as botulinum toxin therapy can improve symptoms of depression.

In March 2009, a study in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology found that when people were treated with facial wrinkles with Botox, facial paralysis did not allow them to transmit negative mood signals to the brain, which correlated with mood enhancement. The effects were not accidental: a study published in August 2014 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry showed that in patients with severe depressive disorder who were given Botox injections in their forehead, symptoms of depression decreased by 42% after 12 weeks.

Of course, not all patients need to immediately go to the beautician to inject botulinum toxin and remove wrinkles in order to fight depression and slow down aging. A rational day regimen, a healthy diet and activity, and a positive mood are important. In addition, full face and body skin care, time for yourself is also a kind of antidepressant and a way to deal with stress.

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