Since Eve took her first bite of that apple, humanity has been obsessed with beauty.
The truth is that the ageing process begins as soon as we come out of the womb. Every day of our lives, our body breaks down and regenerates new cells. The speed at which that process occurs when we are young changes significantly as we age.
You are inundated daily with retail messages and beauty tips trying to trick you into believing that all you need to combat nature’s destruction is the latest miracle drug.
We are living longer overall. It can be a curse or a blessing depending on your perspective.
Caring for what you have is the best way to achieve natural beauty and healthy skin. Sounds simple, right? The truth is that your skin is assaulted by the environment every day. Here are some of our famous beauty tips to keep your skin refreshed and healthy:
1: Hydrate and do it with lots of water! That doesn’t mean soda, caffeine, or any other type of liquid, even if it’s low-calorie. Soda (even diet soda) has a high concentration of sodium. Sodium causes fluid retention. It would help if you had fluids to hydrate and flush out toxins from your body. Make sure to drink at least eight glasses a day!
2: Protect your skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. We all love the sun. We love being outdoors, and we love getting a nice tan. Too much sunlight can poison you. UV rays cause skin cancer, and if it’s not enough, it causes your skin to age faster and contribute to unsightly wrinkles. If you must play in the sun, use adequate sunscreen. Don’t leave home without it!
3: Keep your skin clean. Use a soft, warm cloth—no need to scrub the skin. If you do, you will do more harm than good.
4: The best cure for wrinkles never has them in the first place! If you’re like most of us, you didn’t listen when your mom tried to tell you to stay in the shade, stand up straight, and stop squinting!
5: Eat healthily. Knowing what to eat can make a significant distinction in how you feel. Improper eating habits lead to depression, weight gain, illness and overall lethargy.
Weight gain causes your skin to stretch. As you age, the skin fails its elasticity and starts to sag.
The best solution to this is to maintain a proper weight.
An essential rule of thumb for eating habits is don’t eat more calories than you consume. Don’t go without doing something different physically for at least 30 minutes a day. It can be a ten-minute walk. Or 30 minutes of vigorous aerobics or 12 minutes of weight lifting, and 18 minutes of walking.
6: Don’t worry, be happy. Happiness causes the discharge of endorphins. Endorphins relax the cardiovascular method and cytokines that alert the resistant system to detect abnormalities such as cancer cells. Listen carefully to yourself. If you’ve put yourself down since childhood, a lifetime of negative subliminal messages can take their toll by turning you into a pessimist. Spend a week noting down the words you use in your “self-talk.” You may repeat a dozen or more words that reinforce that negative image. If you know about them, you can change them. Outer beauty and inner joy go hand in hand.
Here are some quick tips for increasing joy, hope and optimism that work no matter what your age:
Make a list of at least 50 great things happening to you daily.
Laugh a lot. You will heal your body and mind.
Discover a new challenge every month.
Try to meditate for five minutes every day.
We were having sex after 7:50 – heck! How many of you jumped into this category?
The importance of physical intimacy depends on the couple. After age 60, many men gave up sex, and many women felt that their sex life ended with menopause. Fortunately, that is no longer the case.
Sex in middle age can be better and more satisfying than ever before. Maturity gives a couple more experience in dating. Children usually grow up and leave home. The pressure of building a career and everyday life is generally less stressful than at a young age.
Is beauty skin deep?
The answer is yes and no. Isn’t that a contradiction? True beauty starts from within. Don’t you wish there was a way to get back that smooth skin you had when you were younger and “turn your nose up”? Well, until someone comes up with an actual “fountain of youth,” we’re stuck with what we’ve got.
Remember that ageing is not ageing.
Author Profile
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Professor Carel le Roux is an award-winning specialist in metabolic medicine and is recognized as a leading expert in metabolism and obesity. His areas of expertise include type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular risk and metabolic disorders. Professor le Roux holds clinics in Dublin, Ireland and practices regularly at King's College Hospital Guthrie Clinic, London.
He has published numerous high-impact papers over the years and has also been able to take up a variety of editorial positions in peer-reviewed journals.
Professor le Roux established a successful independent research group and his research in the understanding of the physiological role and pathological changes in appetite control has been widely acknowledged for his analysis in this area.
