What habits can make you look older? Know and avoid them by reading this article from Oprah.com.
***
Your Book-Club-Night Snacks
The habit: Bingeing on hors d'oeuvres like crackers, flatbreads and cookies.
Why it's making you look older: Consuming refined carbohydrates and sugar results in a rapid spike in blood sugar, explains
Whitney Bowe, MD, clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. The sugar molecules travel through the blood to all the cells in our body, linking up with fats and proteins. When that sugar links to collagen (the protein that gives skin its elasticity) without the presence of an enzyme, a process called glycation occurs, Bowe explains. The resulting collagen-sugar combo is stiffer, and that can lead to wrinkles and compromised circulation to the skin.
The fix: Snack on nuts, yogurt, edamame—all low-glycemic foods that are better for you skin (and the rest of you, too).
Your Workout
The habit: Wincing, squinting, groaning and straining your facial muscles while lifting weights.
Why it's making you look older: You know that squinting can cause wrinkles, and that's why you invested in those
broad-spectrum UV sunglasses. But bright sunlight isn't the only thing that makes you squint. Bowe says straining your facial muscles while doing exercise can have the same affect.
The fix: Do a few reps in front of a mirror to see if you're practicing incorrect "face form." If you are, try to focus on your breathing during reps: It's hard to scrunch up your face while inhaling and exhaling.
Your Sleek, Sexy Ponytail or Chignon
The habit: Wearing your hair like a Robert Palmer backup singer.
Why it's making you look older: Repeated tugging on the root of the hair can lead to traction alopecia, or a receding hairline, Bowe says.
The fix: Bowe reassures us that this type of hair loss is easily reversible—if caught early. Instead of pulling your hair into a tight ponytail, she suggests getting it off your face with a messy off-duty-model bun.
Your Healthy-Eating Resolution
The habit: Avoiding fat.
Why it's making you look older: Healthy fats, like omega-3 fatty acids, calm inflammation throughout the body, says Bowe, making your skin less likely to break out in acne, rosacea and other conditions that result in redness. Omega-3s also prevent the breakdown of plumping collagen and elastin fibers in the skin.
The fix: While no one's stopping you from limiting your saturated-fat intake, make sure you're still eating food with healthy, unsaturated fats—like avocados, salmon, olive oil and flaxseeds.
Your Beauty Regimen
The habit: Overdoing it with supplements.
Why it's making you look older: While oral supplements like
vitamin E and
CoQ10 may have antiaging benefits, it's possible to have too much of a good thing. Taking several antiaging beauty products at the same time can make the skin more delicate and vulnerable to bruising, says
Melanie Grossman, MD, a clinical dermatologist based in Manhattan. Patients will come in and say that they're worried their skin is becoming more fragile with age, says Grossman, but it's really due to their overzealous efforts to keep their skin looking young.
The fix: Ask your dermatologist to help you come up with a regimen that works for your skin.
Your Late-Afternoon Tic
The habit: Rubbing your eyes.
Why it's making you look older: Not only can aggressive rubbing break your eyelashes and cause them to fall out, but it can also cause trauma to the under-eye area, turning the skin red and making you look extra-fatigued, Grossman says. It will go away, but not until you're able to keep your hands off your eyes.
The fix: Develop a new habit that saves your vision and your youthful good looks:
The 20-20-20 rule of looking at something at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds every 20 minutes.
Your Get-Up-and-Go Breakfast
The habit: Drinking mango-pineapple smoothies.
Why it's making you look older: We know what you're thinking: Fresh fruits and vegetables are supposed to be packed with antioxidants that fight the free radicals that damage skin cells. And they sure are, Bowe says, but juices that contain lots of fruit—and only fruit—tend to have sky-high levels of fructose. Even though fructose is a natural sugar, it can still lead to the glycation process (again!), which makes your skin look weary.
The fix: Throw some kale into your blender. Bowe says that dark green, leafy greens have the highest amounts of those skin-saving antioxidants—including zinc, which helps to break down old collagen, build new collagen and prevent wrinkle formation.
Your Anti-Aging Skin Regime
The habit: Applying sunscreen daily—to your face only.
Why it's making you look older: Although women have finally taken the sunscreen message to heart, far too many of us are still neglecting our hands, Bowe says (and she's not the only dermatologist who's shared this with us). Hands are already susceptible to indignities of aging, like a loss of fat that makes veins more prominent, and UV rays add insult to injury in the form of sunspots and wrinkles.
The fix: Always remember to put sunscreen on the backs of your hands, especially when you're driving. UVA rays, which
play a major part in skin aging, can penetrate glass.
***
As an image consultant, Lou Habash not only checks her clients' wardrobe, but she also evaluates her clients' lifestyle. More tips on how to improve yourself can be read on this blog site.
