merakiskin • 08/07/2017 12:23 PM
As research continues to make strides in understanding what keeps skin cells young, one thing has become very clear…skin care really is health care. We know that our nervous system communicates with our skin, for evidence of this, just look at preterm and post-term presidents. In other words, mind and body and wellness and disease are all related as ancient medicine has shown us. Unfortunately, our modern medical practices still tend to pooh pooh these connections with the outpouring of scripts and the lack of time spent on the origin of our stressors. Our skin is literally the window to what’s going on with our internal health, both physically and emotionally. The good news though is that these stressors that are aging us can be mostly controlled.
So, specifically, what are the stressors? Stress, sleep, diet, screen time
As we have become a more informed society, cultural stress has reared its ugly head as the new threat to our health and it makes the normal stresses of everyday life seem like child’s play. From political conflict to world conflict to mass shootings to the newest disease scare to the compulsion to check email outside of typical working hours to being constantly plugged it. We have the freedom to be continuously informed and logged in at work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This freedom is a detriment to our health. We are in a constant state of stress and most of the time we don’t even recognize it. So when we are in a real stress situation it’s much harder for our bodies to cope with it. This constant stress forces our bodies to produce an overabundance of cortisol which damages cells...a glycation encourager and a collagen killer…our skin cells become less flexible, more rigid and unhealthy looking. So, as I mentioned earlier, the skin is the window into what’s happening inside our bodies so if your skin cells are becoming more rigid, guess what’s most likely happening on the inside? You guessed it. Our connective tissue is becoming more rigid/hardening which is the cause of cardiovascular disease among other things. Have you noticed that it seems as though everyone you talk to is dealing with anxiety, including children? Cultural stress is a one of the main culprits. Fortunately, we can control it to some extent.
Sleep or lack thereof! As I’ve said in an earlier blog, our bodies go into repair mode during the night so if we are sleeping less, our cells are repairing less. When we are ill, recovering from a procedure, or going thru something extremely stressful we sleep, right? That’s because our bodies heal and produce hgh (human growth hormones) while we sleep which not only helps with muscle maintenance and healthy bones but also healthy and resilient skin. When we sleep for 7-8 undisrupted hours we produce the greatest amount of collagen. Lack of sleep causes our bodies to produce an overabundance of cortisol which damages collagen so lack of sleep is a double edged sword, less collagen production AND damage to the collagen we ARE producing. Sleeplessness also stimulates hormonal imbalance which causes breakouts, skin issues and increased facial hair. So the bottom line, go to bed!
This age of always being on the go has the unfortunate consequence of no time to cook. This equates to more dining out which means consuming more food that is processed, fried, higher in saturated fats and sugars and that results in consuming less whole food like fruits and vegetables which are high in antioxidants vitally needed for our well being. Damaged cell walls (as a result of the stressors mentioned) are unable to retain water which keeps our cells functioning properly and this causes our connective tissue to break down. When our connective tissue breaks down, all our other organs (skin, heart, brain, lungs…) cannot function properly. This is why it is vitally important to not just drink water but consume water in the form of fruits and veggies that are rich in nutrients. When we consume these fruits and veggies, nutrients are sent thru the bloodstream to the cells and repair the leaks.
Time to unplug. Studies are showing the negative impact HEV blue light is having on our health. Specific to our skin, it suppresses melatonin production which is necessary for protecting our skin from damage. HEV blue light also has a direct impact on our ability to sleep as it disrupts our circadian rhythm and can reduce REM sleep. I’ve already discussed what lack of sleep does to your skin’s health! Studies are also now showing that this blue light can damage the DNA of our skin cells which in turn accelerates aging and could promote cancer growth.
The great thing here, when we do things that promote a healthy lifestyle for ourselves both physically and emotionally, our skin naturally reaps the rewards of that. So take care of your body and soul and sit back and see the results on your bodies largest organ.
What can you do?
externally - skin is very responsive to products applied that will protect and heal
internally - in order to effect the lower layers of skin to get the most amount of change
emotionally - reducing cultural stress, managing harmful emotions
