Aging is a natural process of the body, and it will happen to all of us. Eventually, we will become old with time and there’s nothing we can do about it. What we can do however is delay premature aging. Aging before time happens when we actively indulge in activities that make out skin look older than it’s supposed to be at the age.

Premature aging leads to several problems like increased stress on the skin, weak immunity, and quick exhaustion.

To stay active and look your age (and younger), you will have to consciously look after your skin. This means we will have to take corrective measures for our skin.

What are the ways in which we can slow down premature aging? Let’s know about them in detail: 

1. Stop smoking

Smoking increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood, and that quickens the aging process. Not only is smoking bad for your health, but it’s also bad for your skin. In fact, since your skin is part of your body, anything that has a negative impact on your body will also have a negative impact on your skin. We all know how harmful smoking is for our health, physical, and mental. And on top of that, it triggers and acts as a catalyst for premature aging. When something doesn’t even have one benefit, why would you want to keep doing it? Once and for all, decide and quit smoking. A year down the line, looking at your health and your skin, you’ll be glad of it. 

2. Reduce your alcohol intake 

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It’s better if you are a non-drinker. However, if you do consume alcohol, we would highly recommend that you reduce your intake. Drink occasionally, just to have fun, go ahead with it. But make sure it’s occasional and not regular, and definitely not excessive. Besides the damaging effect of alcohol on kidneys and liver, drinking also leaves permanent marks on the body. Discoloured skin, spider veins, broken blood vessels, and poor muscle tone, are common problems arising out of heavy drinking. When this happens, naturally your skin will not look healthy or young. Make sure that at least your drinking is limited and controlled for it will impact the way you look.  

3. Apply sunscreen before stepping out

Step out by all means just be protected. Your body needs Vitamin D, which it only gets from Sun rays. Its deficiency can lead to several diseases like rickets and hyperthyroidism, so yes, do go out, your body is designed to during the day. What we’re saying is apply sunscreen before you step out, with a broad spectrum SPF. Sun rays also have ultraviolet rays in them and those are harmful to your skin. Sunscreen prevents exposure of skin to UV rays. Cover your skin with full-length clothes and apply sunscreen to exposed skin. Excess exposure to the Sun causes the skin to go dry, which leads to flakiness, wrinkles, fine lines, and sunspots; all signs of aging. So if you want to keep your skin healthy, apply sunscreen before going out. 

4. Keep your skin moisturised and cleansed

Photo by Nina P on Reshot

Your skin is designed to work and look its best when it’s hydrated. So it’s best for you to drink water regularly and moisturise your skin. Hydrated skin is elastic and young, dry skin is not. Dry skin shrinks and becomes flaky. Plus, it is home to all kinds of impurities, which further causes spots on the skin and makes it prone to acne. Cleansing your face at least two times a day gets rid of all impurities gathered on the face, and moisturising keeps it hydrated. Together, both activities make sure that your skin is healthy, elastic, and looks young, as it should be. 

5. Maintain a diet

We said this before when we talked about avoiding smoking, and we’ll say it again: if it isn’t good for your health, it isn’t good for your skin. This goes for what you eat as well. Fast food, which is unhealthy, has a negative impact on your health as well as skin. Fast food makes your skin oily and sticky. In addition, food like sugar and wheat flour causes inflammation. So it’s imperative for you to follow a diet that is good for your health. To start with, get rid of sugar and fatty foods from your diet. Do, consult a dietitian about food items you should eat for healthy skin and body. 

6. Work out daily

If only we could do something good once and not ever again for better health, we would all do it. But we all know how fantastical this is. To achieve something, we have to do it daily and repeatedly – even if it bores us – to an extent that it doesn’t matter if it’s boring because now it’s part of our life. The same applies to work out. We have all seen how people with healthy-looking skin  who work out daily have. It’s because they work for healthy skin. When the body is fit, it looks after the skin on its own. And when you form laziness as a habit, your skin growth starts to degrade and it slows down, which leads to premature aging. For your skin to constantly work and stay healthy, you have to work as well. And you can do that by working out. Take some time out to exercise daily and you’ll have a skin that defies your age.  

In short 

It’s never too late to look after your skin. You can always work on it and look young. Lifestyle changes like healthy eating habits, cutting down on alcohol, and a regular exercise together with a skincare routine that involves the trident of cleansing, moisturising, and sunscreen, will give you an impeccable skin that you have always dreamt of.