How your habits & lifestyle age your skin
holistically addressing skin resiliency as we age
Even though November’s National Healthy Skin Month is all done, we can keep the ball rolling!
The skin is our largest organ, and it’s important to take care of it! So, how are you protecting its health?
As a licensed naturopathic doctor, I am an expert in both holistic & integrative medicine. And, I focus on holistic & integrative medicine for people with acne, eczema, and other skin concerns.
As a holistic skin expert, I strongly believe that skin health is a reflection of inner health; that true skincare starts from within; and that our skin’s health & resiliency are dependent on the nutrients we provide it.
Skin aging occurs naturally because of genetics and the natural passage of time. But, skin aging can be exacerbated by cumulated damage from external factors. So, prevention is the best and most effective way to work against external skin aging effects.
Our skin is constantly exposed to different environmental exposures that can affect its health & resiliency. And, there are many environmental exposures and inner factors that can determine how our skin changes as we age, specifically with collagen levels, fine lines, wrinkles, & skin firmness.
So, let’s talk about those factors, and learn how we can support healthier & more resilient skin!
Scroll through to learn how you can holistically achieve your healthiest & most-resilient skin
DISCLAIMER: This post does not constitute as medical advice; is not meant to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any conditions or disease; and is meant for educational purposes only. Speak to your doctor before starting anything new.
skin changes as we age & why they happen
How Age-related changes look like at the microscopic & macroscopic level
The appearance of our skin changes as we age. Science says that the skin gets thinner as we age, and its capacity to renew itself through cell turnover slows down.
As we get older, collagen is affected too! Collagen is a skin protein found in the dermis that helps make skin look bouncy, hydrated, lifted, firm, and youthful.
When looking at aging skin under a microscope, science says that collagen becomes more-disorganized as we age. Science also tells us that collagen in the skin peaks in our mid-20s and then collagen levels start to decline as we age - leading to less elastic and sagging skin.
So, if you want to maintain youthful skin and gracefully age, building and protecting collagen are important! And, yes, there are natural and holistic ways to build and protect collagen that you’ll learn about in this blog post.
Science says that collagen decline in aging skin is due to 2 things: Lower activity of collagen-producing cells (called fibroblasts) and increased activity of collagen-eating enzymes (called matrix metalloproteinase).
According to research, there are several external factors that activate collagen-eating enzymes. These external factors activate these enzymes through the production the free radicals (also known as pro-oxidants and reactive oxygen species).
Some of these external factors are:
So, what can we do about these free radicals? There’s science showing that antioxidants & diet may play important roles!
Continue through to learn how diet can affect skin resiliency as we age.
How diet affects skin resiliency as we age
Skin resiliency is more than just what you put on your skin
What we eat essentially feeds our skin right?
In this section we are going to talk about how dietary choices and food-based antioxidants affect skin resiliency and collagen.
Antioxidants are compounds that neutralize free radicals, and there are many foods rich in antioxidants. As mentioned earlier, free radicals play a role in activating collagen-eating enzymes, and scientists have found that specific dietary antioxidants may support skin resiliency.
When looking at specific antioxidant nutrients, scientists have found that beta-carotene supplementation, vitamin E supplementation, and lycopene-rich diets supported skin resiliency against UV radiation. Researchers specifically saw that these antioxidants led to less skin redness when exposed to UV radiation.
Additionally, a study looked into the effects of long-term oral administration of 2 antioxidants, vitamin E and vitamin C, on UVB-induced sun damage. And, researchers found that that “intake of vitamins C and E for a period of 3 [months] significantly reduced the sunburn reaction to UVB irradiation.”
Researchers also found that sulforaphane, an antioxidant naturally found in brassica vegetables (like broccoli), reduced the activity of collagen-eating matrix metalloproteinase and improved collagen deposition in animal models.
When looking at antioxidant-rich diets in general on skin aging, a 2020 study concluded that when people aged 45 years and older regularly ate antioxidant-rich foods, they “experienced approximately 10% less photoaging over 15 years than those who ate foods with low antioxidant capacity.”
Researchers of this study did note that people who had higher antioxidant intake were more likely to be female, not currently smoking, regularly took supplements, and were regular users of sunscreen.
So, it could be suggested that diet and lifestyle choices both played contributing roles in their findings.
Continue through to learn how lifestyle choices can affect skin resiliency as we age.
How our habits & lifestyle choices affect our skin
Exercise, smoking, Alcohol, stress, & sleep
Science shows that the lifestyle choices we make could reflect on our skin. While habits are hard to change, understanding what science says may help nudge us towards wanting to make positive changes for our skin.
In this section, we are going to talk about how exercise, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep, and stress impact skin resiliency.
We’ve all heard that regular exercise can support overall health and wellness, but did you know that there’s science showing that exercise could support skin health?
A 2015 study showed that endurance exercise reduced “age-associated changes to skin in humans and mice.” What researchers specifically found was that endurance exercise increases a protein called interleukin-15, which may support mitochondrial function for more-resilient skin as we age.
Science says that some vices, like tobacco smoking and alcohol may affect skin aging.
When reviewing at the science on tobacco smoking, a 2007 study concluded that “smoking is an important environmental factor in premature skin aging.” Researchers found that tobacco smoking increased matrix metalloproteinase enzymes, which “leads to the degradation of collagen.” And, they also found that free radicals from tobacco smoking play a role in activating matrix metalloproteinase.
Another study investigated the impact of smoking and alcohol use on facial aging. In this 2019 study, researchers saw that both tobacco smoking and alcohol use impacted skin in different ways.
Researchers saw that smoking was associated with “increased severity of forehead, crow’s feet, and glabellar lines; under-eye puffiness; tear-trough hollowing; nasolabial folds; oral commissures; perioral lines; and reduced lip fullness.”
And researchers saw that heavy alcohol use of 8 drinks or more per week was associated with “increased upper facial lines, under-eye puffiness, oral commissures, midface volume loss, and blood vessels.”
And, there are many minimally-invasive cosmetic options that are natural AND integrative that address fine lines, wrinkles, and volume loss!
One of my personal faves to address fine lines and wrinkles is platelet-rich plasma with microneedling. I’ll speak about this and other cosmetic options in another post this month. But, if you want to learn about this procedure, we offer it at our clinic, and we can answer any questions you have!
Beyond smoking and alcohol, stress may affect skin health.
Scientists theorize that stress may affect skin aging through various mechanisms. Through different pathways that get activated from stress, scientists suggest that inflammation, DNA damage, and free radicals may affect the body’s resiliency towards damage and disease, eventually leading to skin aging.
Additionally, I’ve spoken about the skin barrier in a past blog post, and I mentioned how it plays an important role in maintaining skin hydration. And, as we age, not only does the skin get thinner, but the skin can lose water more-easily, making it look dry and wrinkled.
And, according to a 2018 study, psychological stress affects skin barrier function and increases skin water loss. To further understand if psychological stress plays a role in affecting skin barrier function, researchers gave subjects with anxiety an anti-depressant (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor). And, they found that it led to improved barrier function in those subjects.
When looking at sleep and skin aging, a 2015 study showed that people who slept 7-9 hours had significantly lower level of skin aging compared to people who slept less than 5 hours. Researchers also saw that people who slept for 7-9 hours “reported a significantly better perception of their appearance and physical attractiveness compared with poor sleepers.”
Another study looking at sleep and skin aging saw that sleep deprivation could affect skin health. Researchers saw that when subjects slept 4 hours a night for 6 nights in a week, skin hydration significantly reduced after 1 night of sleep deprivation, and skin texture worsened after 4 nights of sleep deprivation. Researchers also saw aggravation of skin elasticity and skin wrinkles after 1 night of sleep deprivation.
And for people who experience sleep issues, it is important to understand why these sleep issues happen. As a licensed naturopathic doctor, I aim to identify causes and triggers and address those root issues for more-meaningful solutions.
While it’s helpful to understand how our habits and lifestyle choices affect our skin health, there are some skin care options that can be considered to do alongside healthful lifestyle choices to protect collagen and jumpstart collagen building.
We’ll talk about skin care options in another post this month. so, be on the look out for that post!
WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE HEALTHIER SKIN NATURALLY?
The answer is simple: Work with a licensed naturopathic provider. As mentioned earlier, licensed naturopathic providers are experts in holistic and integrative medicine.
As integrative medicine experts, we are trained in both natural and conventional options. So, you will be able to capture a vast array of treatment options to help you achieve your skin goals when you work with a licensed naturoapthic doctor.
If you want to see me, I see patients in-person and virtually. The only caveat is that since I am only licensed in the state of California, I can only see patients who are physically in the state of California (especially for telehealth patients).
If you are outside the state a California, a great resource to find a licensed naturoapthic doctor in your state is the Institute for Natural Medicine’s directory: https://naturemed.org/find-an-nd/.
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