10 Tips for Healthy Skin, Avoiding Acne & Looking Young
Every woman needs to find what works for her in terms of avoiding acne, staying young-looking, and keeping her skin healthy. These 10 tips from Dr Doris Day will help you discover what works for you. They’re a tiny portion of her book: Forget the Facelift: Turn Back the Clock With a Revolutionary Program for Ageless Skin. (Click the book cover for more information).
But first, a quip from actress Madeline Kahn:
“Time goes by and every day you do get a little older,” Kahn said. “In my case it’s been an improvement.”
There’s a lot to be said for aging: wisdom, strength, peace, compassion, and experience. But…we don’t necessarily have to look our age! Here’s some advice on keeping your skin healthy and youthful.
10 Tips for Healthy Skin, Avoiding Acne & Looking Young
1. Reduce your stress level. “Stress, like extreme cold, is perceived by the body as an emergency situation and so blood is diverted either toward or away from your skin, both of which are bad for your skin,” writes Dr Day in Forget the Facelift. Find healthy ways to reduce your stress level. Exercise, talking, writing, and facing your problems head-on are effective stress reduction techniques.
2. Eat nutritious foods. Are you sick of hearing how important it is to eat healthy foods? Well, it’s not over yet: healthy foods can actually have anti-aging effects, and are connected to healthy skin. When nutrients are ingested and absorbed into your body through your bloodstream, they’ll go straight to your skin cells. More nutrients in your skin will help you avoid acne and stay looking young.
3. Don’t overcook those healthy foods. “Overcooking, boiling, and deep-frying deplete food of essential nutrients and antioxidants and raise the amount of skin-damaging oxidative by-products,” writes Dr Day. Her tips for healthy skin include eating raw fruits and veggies, and keeping the fruit skins on. Steaming veggies is fine - just don’t overcook your healthy foods.
4. Go glug, glug, glug. Could it be one of the most effective anti-aging “foods”? Water hydrates your skin, keeping it plump and resilient. This tip for healthy skin doesn’t include coffee, soda pop, or red wine (drat!).
5. Boost your metabolism. “As you age, your skin loses resilience - the ability to “bounce back” - and so on-again-off-again dieting can lead to jowls, bags under the eyes, and droopy eyelids,” writes Dr Day in Forget the Facelift. She advises jump-starting your metabolism by eating more food than usual on a given day or meal, then going back to your usual regime the following day or meal (or even eat a little less). This isn’t just a great way to boost your metabolism, it keeps your skin healthy and young looking.
6. Stop looking for a miracle diet. Diets that require extreme eating behaviors - such as all protein or no carbs - can result in unhealthy skin. This tip for healthy skin involves sensible, healthy eating: small portion sizes, regular snacks, and balanced meals. Your skin needs a variety of nutrients to stay young looking and healthy.
7. Fill up on fiber. Eating fiber-rich foods is a tip for healthy skin because fiber keeps your digestion and elimination steady, which keeps your skin vibrant and healthy, says Dr Day. Whole grains (bran) and fresh fruits are a great way to keep everything flowing smoothly. Bonus tip: they’re good anti-aging foods, too.
8. Say no to sugar. “Simple sugars, like table sugar and refined carbohydrates, are bad for your skin, just as they are bad for the rest of your body, because they are empty calories,” writes Dr Day. Simple sugars also increase the possibility of weight gain and the risk of type 2 diabetes…both of which an lead to unhealthy, prematurely aging skin.
9. Indulge, but don’t overdo it. The idea that chocolate causes acne is a myth. This tip for healthy skin highlights the fact that eating fats, salt, and even sugar once in awhile won’t damage your skin, as long as you don’t overdo it. Poor food choices on a regular basis, without a diet of healthy foods, can cause problems with your overall health - which affects your skin.
10. Experiment in the kitchen. “I am constantly modifying recipes for substituting sweeteners for sugar, reducing the amount of skin-damaging salt, using healthy alternatives to butter, and amping up the flavor and aroma of adding spices and herbs,” writes Dr Day in Forget the Facelift. Trying different herbs, spices, fruits and veggies can be fun, delicious - and another way to keep your skin healthy.
If you found 10 Tips for Healthy Skin, Avoiding Acne & Looking Young helpful, try:
- 10 Things You Never Knew About Beauty
- Anti-Aging Food Tips: What to Eat to Stay Young
- 10 New Ways to Work Out (& Boost Your Metabolism!)
Comment by jimma on 27 August 2008:
We need to keep after acne prevention & acne cures. Acne control and
remission are getting better - usually through combinations diet and
medication. It is hard to sift out genuine acne research and genuine
acne products from the frauds.
Comment by samuel on 8 September 2008:
sour crouts the vegetable has certain components inside it that helps the ageing of skin also it helps with blood circulation,it also helps people sufferin from athritis and diabeteas…..
Comment by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen on 26 October 2008:
I just found out that eczema is genetic. It’s not the same as acne, but I wonder if acne runs in the family, too? A dermatologist at the Montreal General Hospital (Elizabeth O’Brien) says that diet changes don’t affect eczema. Cortisone cream works.
“Eczema is a chronic condition, and most patients will have period flare-ups,” is what Dr O’Brien said in the Oct 2008 issue of Flare magazine. Plus, people with eczema are more likely to have hay fever, asthma, and hives.
Interesting (unles you actually have eczema…then it’d be a huge drag).