Aging is an inevitable part of life and we all go through it eventually, but premature aging, on the other hand, can be avoided. Making the right lifestyle choices and incorporating certain practices into your daily routine can help prevent early signs of aging.

Lower Your Sugar and Carb Intake

One of the major lifestyle adjustments you’ll see women struggling to make is lowering their intake of sugar and processed carbohydrates. These simple nutritional components, although delicious, can wreak havoc on the skin.

When your body digests simple sugars and carbohydrates, it causes a surge of blood glucose levels. This, in turn, causes insulin levels to peak throughout the body. According to medical professionals, this means a burst of inflammation in the entire body.

Inflammation caused the production of collagen-breaking enzymes that wrinkles and sags your skin.

Practice Stress-Relieving Activities

Stress also triggers inflammation in the body. In small amounts, inflammation is a natural process connected to various natural factors in the body. However, chronic inflammation is linked to rapid collagen and elastin breakdown, which is bad news for your skin.

Managing stress with stress-relieving activities, like yoga, meditation, or listening to soothing music, for a few minutes every day, can help.

Get Vitamins E and C

We all understand how important a balanced diet is essential for our body’s functions, and can also have beneficial effects on our skin. Out of all nutrients, the most powerful skin-improving agents are vitamins E and C.

Vitamin C holds antioxidant properties that eliminate harmful radicals from skin tissue to balance collagen synthesis and preserve skin tone. Meanwhile, vitamin E holds moisturizing abilities that lock in hydration at the surface level, and improve skin tissue repair.

Get Enough Sleep

We can’t stress this enough –get your eight hours of sleep! Sleep is your body’s chance to repair itself from the inside after spending a day exposed to the elements. When you don’t give your body the amount of sleep time it needs, your internal systems will start functioning differently, as if in a power-saving mode.

Although it doesn’t sound very threatening, a power-saving mode essentially puts body processes like skin repair and hydration, on second priority, even when there’s no need to. Hence, get a good eight hours of sleep every night and maintain a constant sleep cycle that keeps disorders at bay.

Sustain Proper Gut Health

Your gut has a major effect on your brain and this link is known as the gut-brain axis. On the other hand, it also influences skin health, because your gut digests sugars and carbs to unleash painful discomfort and inflammation.

It’s important that you preserve your gut health with beneficial foods that contain probiotics, such as yogurt and other fermented foods like kimchi and kefir. This retains a stable environment for nutrient absorption as well, so you’re making the most out of the food you eat.

The delicate balance of beneficial vs harmful bacteria in your gut is also what keeps hormone levels stable, a factor that can induce skin conditions like acne.

Keep Your Brain Fit

Heavy oxidative damage triggers signs of aging – this is the work of harmful radicals. The brain is highly susceptible to oxidative damage, so keeping it healthy with physical exercise is crucial to prevent cognitive decline.

In addition, engaging in mentally stimulating activities, such as things that need manual dexterity combined with mental work, can stimulate the production of connections between nerve cells.

Drink Enough Water

Moisture is key to preventing wrinkles – when your skin loses moisture and is unable to quickly replace it, dried skin develops wrinkles. On the surface level, a high-quality facial moisturizer like a cream or serum can do the trick for locking in moisture and keeping it from drying out.

However, this is still just an effort made on the surface level, and we need to make a positive change at the cellular level. To do so, you should stay hydrated by drinking at least 2 liters of water on a daily basis.

Eat Foods Rich in Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are heavily present in certain types of fish, like salmon. Adding such foods to your meal plans means great news for your skin and overall health. Omega-3 fatty acids have been proven to enhance brain function, alleviate inflammation, promote cell repair, and encourage stress management.

Foods like sardines, herring, tuna, and mackerel, in particular, contain large amounts of important fatty acids EPA and DHA. Not to mention, omega-3 fatty acids help in balancing oil production from the glands beneath the skin, which helps in keeping the skin moisturized and protected from drying.

Upgrade Your Diet Plan with B Vitamin-rich Foods

Slowing down the aging process means having an adequate intake of essential B vitamins, which prime the body for smooth cognitive and protective functions. Even though folate, B6, and B12 are required in higher quantities, all B vitamins are important.

Hence, make sure that you’re eating plenty of foods enriched with B vitamins, such as whole grains, soy milk, and dark leafy greens.

Eat Plenty of Anti-Aging Foods

Of course, omega-3 fatty acids and B vitamins aren’t the only qualifiers for anti-aging foods. You should add other anti-aging foods to your diet as well. This includes walnuts, berries, oranges, Greek yogurt, fermented foods, and fiber.

These foods can disrupt the aging process and encourage healing, whether it’s for skin elasticity, cognitive function, or preserving bone mass. In the end, it slows down the clock so you don’t have to experience signs of aging very soon.

Practice a Consistent Skincare Routine

Lastly, you need to be practicing a consistent skincare routine that involves double cleansing, toning, and moisturizing the skin. Relying on your skincare routine to keep you protected during the day and nourished during the night promotes a cycle of repair.