How to Keep Your Skin Looking Young

You may or may not know that no amount of expensive moisturizer, serum, or cleaner on your face can counteract the effects of a bad diet. In fact, those expensive (and not so expensive) products can actually do the exact opposite. Over time, the horribly toxic ingredients in many products will cause you to age faster. Your skin absorbs up to 70% of every skincare product. The chemicals and toxic ingredients enter your bloodstream, circulate throughout your body, and cause damage as they go.

Knowing now that these beauty products are so harmful, you are probably wondering why your skin looks and feels so smooth after applying them. Well, the sad reality is that the petroleum byproducts (yes, the leftovers from the oil refining process), fill any fine lines you have and coat the surface of your skin, making it look younger and feel softer.

Unfortunately, it’s all a facade. The secret to healthy, youthful skin is not an expensive serum, and it’s actually not a secret at all. It’s a cocktail of simple habits that you can easily implement into your daily routine.

Top Tips For Younger Looking Skin

The only true way to ‘reverse’ the signs of aging, at any age, is a healthy diet with lots of hydration. Don’t get me wrong, natural organic skincare products, many of which you can find in your own kitchen, can help lock in moisture and guard your skin against environmental toxins. But the following eight tips are what will make an actual and noticeable difference in the skin all over your body, not just your face!

1. Reduce Sugar Intake: Sugar is one the biggest culprits of bad skin. Other foods that cause inflammation (which can present themselves as skin disorders) are dairy, gluten, eggs, wheat or even corn.
2. Eat a Clean Diet: The more whole foods, the better! Eat fresh vegetables, greens, fruits, protein, healthy fats and probiotic foods as often as possible. Avoid gluten, dairy, processed and fried foods, as well as sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages.
3. Hydrate: Your body is more than 50% water. You need it for everything, from good digestion to healthy skin. This means that dehydration and overhydration both have serious health consequences, and water contaminated with any kind of toxins or chemicals will spread the damage through every cell in your body. The quantity and the quality of water you drink can be just as important as the food you eat, so be sure to drink filtered water, preferably from glass containers instead of plastic.
4. Sleep: I cannot stress enough how important sleep is for your health. It improves your memory, immune system, cognitive skills, keeps your heart healthy, reduces stress and speeds up your metabolism. Your body repairs itself while you sleep. Lack of sleep can lead to hormone imbalances and your body not detoxing properly, which in turn, can cause skin issues. Aim for 7-9 hours a night. I know that may seem like a lot, but you can work up to that amount gradually by increasing your current sleep schedule by 30 minutes. Work up to an extra hour or two, depending on what you need to get to 7-9 hours.
5. Sweat: Working out doesn’t just give you a cute butt, it also enables you to sweat! Sweat promotes the purging of toxins from the body. So be sure to move that body of yours for 20-30 minutes a day, 4-5 days a week.
6. Get Your Hormones In Check: When women experience menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause, fluctuating testosterone and estrogen levels may cause acne. Have your Functional Medicine Practitioner run tests to check your hormone levels.
7. Reduce Stress: Busy schedules and a stressful lifestyle often cause troubled skin. You work, you have a family, you have pets, and you have a social life. Stress is inevitable, but in order to live optimally, stress must be managed. Not only does stress cause high blood pressure, it also causes hormonal imbalances, sleep issues, and weight gain. Make self-care a top priority, even if that means 5 minutes of meditation in the morning or a bath in the evening. Or maybe it means booking a luxury retreat with us!
8. Use Non-Toxic Beauty Products: What you put on your skin is just as important as what you put in your body! Did you know it only takes about 30 seconds for your skin to absorb certain chemicals? Most skincare products are filled with chemicals that not only make your skin worse, but get into your bloodstream and cause hormone disruption.

Those tips don’t sound too hard, right? These simple practices are the guidelines not only for younger looking skin, but for a healthier body overall. If changing everything at once seems too overwhelming, start by implementing one new thing every week or month, until they all become second nature.

In health & happiness,