Surprising Ways to (Really) Prevent Wrinkles
I hate to break it to you ladies, but there is nothing you can do to stop time. One day, you will find a wrinkle on your face. Sometime after, you will grow old and the supple and elastic skin of your youth will be no more. Unhealthy habits such as smoking, not getting enough sleep, and poor nutrition severely accelerate the damage to our skin. If you’re not careful, the day that wrinkles find your face could be a lot sooner than you think. The good news is, healthy beauty habits can drastically slow the visible effects of Mother Nature. But besides saying “no” to a daily cigarette, getting to bed at a reasonable hour, and eating more veggies, what else can be done to fight wrinkles and skin creases? Take a look at these simple and easy ways to give time a one-two punch!
1. Swap Coffee for Cocoa
Here it is, ladies, an honest-to-goodness medical reason for drinking hot chocolate! Did you know that the flavonoids Epicatechin and Catehchin help keep blood vessels elastic? Cocoa also helps raise a nourishing flow of blood to the skin and internal organs. A German study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that after three months, women who drank an epicatechin-rich cocoa drink daily not only had smoother skin, but were also more resistant to sun damage (with less redness and scaling when their skin was exposed to UV light).
2. Sleep on Your Back
My Auntie Perla has been telling me for years that if I want beautiful skin like my Auntie Noni – who really does have the skin of a 25 year old, even though she is in her late 50s – then I need to stop smothering my face with my pillow and start sleeping on my back! You know those “sleep lines” that you see in the morning after a night of tossing in turning in bed? They can eventually become permanent! Yikes! According to a study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery, side sleeping contributes to more wrinkling of the cheeks and chin, while slumbering face down furrows the brow. Sleeping on your back prevents sleep lines or may even reverse the problem. Getting enough Z’s spurs release of a “youth hormone” called human growth hormone, leading to thicker, healthier skin and fewer lines, says Nicholas Perricone, MD, author of The Wrinkle Cure .
3. Wear Sunscreen Every Day
If you have read any one of my beauty articles, you’ll know that wearing sunscreen is the number one way to prevent wrinkles from appearing on your beautiful face! UVA rays can penetrate tinted car windows, cloudy skies, and even your bedroom window! The best type of daily sunscreen is to use a broad-spectrum SPF 30. Take skin care seriously, ladies- you only get one face!
4. Eat More Fish and Soy
Salmon, tuna, mackerel and other cold-water fish are among the best ways to ensure that you are feeding your body enough of the omega-3 fatty acids. In addition to helping to protect your heart against disease and stroke, it also has age defying powers! Speaking of age defying- eat more soy! A 2009 study also found that consuming an Isoflavones- rich soy supplement reduced skin wrinkling and increased collagen in 86 percent of the women studied, after just six months of daily use.
