Wrinkles were once referred to as one of life’s inevitable trademarks, and even revered…in men, as a sign of distinguishment and wisdom. Women however never caught on to this whole distinguished style, as we have been fighting the wrinkle trend since the beginning of time. Back then people believed there was a hidden fountain of youth, and the search for this never ending youth is what led to many disturbed tales in our history! The only difference between then and now is the addition of several billions of dollars and a few hundred laboratories constantly working on a perfect “fountain of youth” formula. Well, that and we now know that no one in there right mind, royalty or not, would ever bathe in or drink anyone’s blood!
The Blood Countess, Erzabet Bathory of Hungary had one part of her nasty scheme right, to prevent wrinkles you must treat the problem inside and out. However, preferably you would do so with creams and supplements not the blood of virgins!! A wrinkle can be caused by several different things, but he majority of the problem, researchers have noted, are what are called free radicals. When the body ages it loses certain abilities, more specifically the ability to produce enough anti-oxidants and collagen, and this is why we have wrinkles when we are old and not when we are young. Our young, vibrant bodies are able to produce, fight off, and maintain a perfect harmony. The mere act of aging is what changes this, some say it is because of the stress in adulthood while others claim our body simply uses up its supply, what ever the cause it can be helped.
Let’s approach the two separate ways to treat wrinkles/aging. On the surface a wrinkle is the result of decreased amounts of collagen and elastin in the skin, and or the exposure to external free radicals. Yes, the aging body does have a lot to do with the development of wrinkles, however don’t think that you have nothing to do with it either. Exposing your skin to a variety of external free radicals such as smoke, pollutants, and UV rays is a HUGE cause of premature wrinkling. Paired with the decreased amounts of collagen and elastin, the body has nothing to fight these free radicals with thus resulting in the damage/wrinkles. A perfect example is a woman who smokes cigarettes; the development of wrinkles around her mouth and eyes are tremendously worse than that of a non-smoker due to the damage inflicted on her skin from the cigarette.
Pollution is another big cause of wrinkles it damages the skin in basically the same way as smoke, except via small chemical particles. By far the biggest and most common cause of wrinkled dried out skin is over exposure to the sun. Don’t get me wrong the sun provides our body with essential nutrients and vitamins both directly and indirectly. However, over baking in the actual sun OR a tanning booth is a great way to look older than your grandmother. UV rays have a very distinct way of turn the skin to…for lack of a better word, leather! And yes even tanning it up while you are young will have a negative impact on your skin later in life, and by later I mean your late twenties.
This change in the skin and body starts to happen way before most people think, we start losing the ability to produce enough anti-oxidants to kill these free radicals by our early thirties, and our skin changes way before that! Some researchers have suggested that we start losing the suppleness of our youthful smooth skin by adolescence.
This means that prevention needs to start young by avoiding known causes of aging and taking great care of yourself and skin. Anti-aging supplements are a great addition to anyone’s daily routine, however when taken before the damage has occurred will benefit you the most as the point is prevention. Also, be sure to be dedicated to a good skin care routine cleansing, exfoliating, moisturizing, and above all sun blocking! It is possible to hold off the inevitable, but until the actual fountain of youth is discovered we will all develop wrinkles at some point in our lifetime, if we live long enough!
{ 0 comments… add one now }