Five Steps to Beautiful Skin from the Inside Out

You’ve heard the old adage that beauty is only skin deep.  The real beauty of glowing good health, however, goes much deeper than the surface of your skin and far beyond the colors or lotions you apply to your face or injections or surgery to battle the signs of aging. The products you put on your skin are important to how your skin will look.  More important, however, are lifestyle factors that can affect your skin in the form of wrinkles, worry lines, discoloration, or a sallow complexion.  Sun, Smoking, Stress, Sleep, and Sustenance, or diet—the five S’s—are the easiest way to remember the most important components of health skin.

Protect Yourself from the Sun.  Excessive exposure to the sun is the single most damaging thing you can do to your skin.  Repeated tanning or sunburns damage the skin, and are the primary cause of wrinkles, discoloration and dark spots, and thick leathery skin.  The most important thing you can do to protect your skin from the sun is to wear a sunscreen every day with an SPF of at least 15 (higher is better), and that protects against both UVA and UVB rays.  Look for the ingredients Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, or Avobenzone (Parsol 1789). You only need about 15 minutes of direct sunlight each day for your body to get adequate amounts of Vitamin D.  After those 15 minutes, any sun exposure you get only serves to age your skin prematurely.  The sun’s rays are strongest between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., so avoid exposure during those hours, if possible.  Wear a hat and protective clothing if you’re going to be in the sun for any length of time, and don’t forget that the sun’s rays can reflect off the water, snow, or even concrete.

Quit Smoking.  Smoking is also extremely damaging to your skin for a variety of reasons.  First, smoking decreases circulation.  This means that the flow of blood, nutrients, and oxygen are decreased overall, but show up most dramatically on your face.  Decreased circulation is one of the causes of aging throughout your body.  Second, as a smoker, the continual motion of sucking on a cigarette creates deep creases around your lip area that are impossible to smooth with moisturizer or any other non-invasive techniques. If you are a smoker, now is the time to quit.  If you are a non-smoker, it’s important for you to know that second-hand smoke is every bit as damaging to your health and skin as the act of smoking itself!

Deal With or Eliminate Stress.  Chronic stress shows up on your skin and face in a number of ways.  Stress and worry cause us to wrinkle our face in ways we would not under normal conditions.  This long-term worry can be imprinted on our faces.  For proof, just look at the face of any of our US presidents before they took office and the day they left office—they have aged dramatically. Some experts say that our presidents age about eight years for every four they serve in office.  Stress also causes the release of certain hormones into your bloodstream, which can cause inflammation, increase our cholesterol and clog your arteries.  What this means ultimately, is that stress can decrease circulation and impair your health, which will show up on your face. The point here is if your life is chronically stressful, you need to find ways to deal with and eliminate the stress for the sake of your skin.  Some great ways to start are meditation, visualization, breathing exercises, or gentle exercise like Yoga, Tai Qi, or Qi Gong.

Get Enough Sleep.  Another S, Sleep is an important component to looking your best.  While everyone has different sleep needs, the average is about 7-8 hours a night for optimal health.  Your body heals itself and regenerates while you sleep.  Inadequate sleep will ultimately show up on your face as dark circles or puffiness under your eyes.

Sustenance—Eat the Right Foods to Look Your Best.  One of the most frequently overlooked components of skin care is diet.  What you eat affects the health of your body and skin, and without adequate nutrients, your skin can’t look its best. As important as your diet is how well you digest your food.  You can eat the healthiest foods in the world, but if you can’t digest them well, you will not absorb the nutrients that impact your health and make your face glow. If you struggle with digestive problems, try to avoid very cold or raw foods, and instead choose soups, stews, and stir fried dishes.  Sit down and enjoy your meal, and take the time to really chew your food.  Eating fast foods on the run only serve to upset your digestion further. Foods that benefit your skin include those that are rich in antioxidants, such as colorful fruits and vegetables and dark leafy greens.  Vitamin supplements for your skin should include a good multivitamin daily and supplementation with antioxidants, including Vitamins A, C, E, CoQ10, and B complex.