Most anyone over 30 wants to enjoy younger-looking skin. Here are some simple things you can do to accomplish this.
1. Avoid excessive sun.
Note that we say “excessive” sun. You NEED some sunlight to maintain health. The trick is to limit exposure to about 10 or 15 minutes a day at the start of the sunny season and build up your exposure time gradually. Also, never let yourself burn, for that’s damaging to the skin. Wear broad-brimmed hats and light clothing if you chance burning.
Sunscreens are generally a bad idea due to the toxic chemicals used in them. But be sure to use high-quality natural moisturizers whenever you’re in the sun. And be sure to drink plenty of water and replenish minerals (electrolytes, trace minerals) Celtic sea salt is great for this purpose.
2. Keep your weight as constant as possible.
Some people’s weight goes up and down like a yo-yo! Gaining and then losing a lot of weight stretches and then slackens the skin and eventually it loses elasticity, contributing to wrinkling and sagging.
To help control your weight, try to consume a balance of fresh, organic, nutrient-dense foods, limit carbohydrates, avoid sodas and coffee and excessive alcohol.
Read the book The Metabolic Typing Diet to help you zero in on the diet that is right for your own body chemistry. The easiest way to attain and maintain your ideal weight is to learn your own unique dietary needs and follow them.
3. Use high-quality, natural body products that contain such ingredients as antioxidants, nourishing oils and other real-food nutrients.
Regarding oils, they are most nutritious when cold-pressed, unrefined and from organically grown plants. “Refined” is a nice-sounding word (marketing!) that really means “nothing much of any good left” and some nasty garbage picked up in the “refining” process. Cold-pressed oils contain more of the life of the plant. Organically grown crops provide more nutrients (this was proven in a Rutgers University study a few years back) than their commercially grown counterparts. And “organic” means the oil doesn’t have traces of bug spray and other serious poisons.
Nutrients available from whole plant sources are necessary to being healthy and feeling and looking young. Live food nutrients have tremendous healing powers. They can do so much to protect, fortify and rebuild skin and other cells.
When choosing skin care products, make sure they contain no chemical preservatives such as parabens or cheap industrial compounds such as propylene glycol that may be toxic or irritating. Let the real produce of Nature be what touches your skin.
It’s important not to use products that contain (or mask the scent of) rancid oils at any time, but especially so when you’re going in the sun. Evan is very particular in using only very fresh oils.
4. Consume the right balance of dietary oils.
Oils supply vital nutrients called fatty acids. The ones most often missing or out of balance in our modern diets are the omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 supplements are available mostly at health food stores.
Adding omega-3 to the diet can help normalize skin oil levels, maintain moisture and assist skin repair. So this is important for a youthful body.
5. Increase your intake of anti-oxidant foods.
Fresh, raw, organic vegetables, fruits and berries such as blueberries and super “green foods” such as chlorella, wheat grass, barley grass and others provide a bounty of natural plant chemicals, vitamins and minerals that fight damage and that slow aging.
To make it practical to consume a lot of fresh foods, get a high-quality processor such as a Vitamix. These machines can do practically anything and may last 20 years or more. Ours is arriving in a few days! We’re very excited!
Also drink enough pure water.
6. Periodically cleanse your innards.
An intestinal cleanse (every 6 months to a year or however you may wish), for starters, is a huge step toward improved health. After cleaning the intestines, you can cleanse the kidneys and bladder, the liver and gall bladder and the blood and lymph. (The cleanses we carry are all herbal.) We clean our houses, our cars, our feet, our carpets — well, let’s clean the vital organs of our bodies, too! How can we expect them to function smoothly if they’re dirty and clogged up inside?
What does this have to do with your youthful skin? The skin reflects oh so faithfully our internal health. Even wrinkles may appear where the organs that relate to those places on the “map of the face” are in less than optimum condition.
A fascinating reference about this is “Your Face Never Lies”, an eye-opening work by Michio Kushi. Did you know, for instance, that the nose shows the condition of the heart? (Our bodies actually have several maps, including the feet, hands and ears!) The position of a wrinkle (or other blemish and so on) can clue us in to the need of a health boost in the corresponding internal organ. Anyway, doing a periodic or occasional cleanse normally brings one’s health way up and the internal improvements really show in the clearness, suppleness and radiance of the skin.
As you can see, some lifestyle adjustments can help us all look and feel younger. We hope you find these tips workable and wish you great success and enjoyment in applying them.
Let us know if you have any comments or questions. We love to hear from you!