What makes skin ‘healthy’? Usually the answer would be connected to the way the skin looks and feels: smooth, clear, and glowing, with an even tone. How to get your skin looking this way? Start from within, and build outward. By this we mean follow a healthy diet, drink plenty of filtered water, exercise regularly, keep your stress levels down, avoid excessive alcohol and caffeine intake, and use products that will treat your skin concerns without irritation.
Strategies for Healthy Skin
It’s tempting to look to skin creams and serums to improve appearance without taking lifestyle (diet, etc.) into consideration. The truth is that healthy living leads to healthy skin, which looks, ultimately, like beautiful, fresh and glowing skin, as if it’s lit from within.
Don’t get us wrong, though. Healthy living is one thing, and will lead to healthy looking skin. But products and routines are very important, too. With all of the products that are on the market today, it’s natural to feel overwhelmed and taken in by the things they promise to do. However, we claim that beautiful skin doesn’t need a lot of expensive purchases, but rather it requires a common sense approach to living and discernment when it comes to choosing skin care products.
Lifestyle Tips for Healthy Skin
When people don’t realize that beautiful skin starts with inner health they focus on treating their skin from the outside in. This approach might garner some positive results, but they won’t last unless you are following the rules of healthy living. They are as follows:
- Eat a balanced diet: This means filling up your plate with whole grains (like quinoa, brown rice, oatmeal, and spelt), multi-colored vegetables (dark, leafy greens, zucchini, red, orange and yellow peppers, broccoli, etc.), and lean protein such as wild salmon or halibut. (The omega 3 fatty acids in fish help keep the skin supple.) Using extra-virgin olive oil instead of butter or margarine is a way to incorporate ‘good’ fat into your diet instead of saturated or trans fat (both can lead to chronic inflammation in the body).
- Drink plenty of water: We’ve all heard the adage of drinking eight glasses of water per day, eight ounces each. It didn’t become household advice without good reason — water keeps the skin properly hydrated and flushes out toxins. It also allows the various systems in the body to function efficiently.
- Exercise regularly: This means incorporating at least 25-30 minutes of cardio and weight-bearing exercises into your daily routine. Make it a fun experience by joining a Zumba or Crossfit class, or unwind solo with running or swimming. (Swimming is a ‘perfect’ form of exercise, being both non-impact and a great cardio workout, while strengthening core, back, leg and arm muscles.)
- Avoid excess alcohol and caffeine consumption: Drinking excess amounts of caffeine will dry out the skin and could increase anxiety levels. Alcohol in moderation is acceptable, but its effects on the skin are not helpful — dehydration, acne and inflammation being only some of the outward after-effects, not to mention what routine alcohol consumption will do to the rest of your body (liver damage, etc.). Either limit your drinking or avoid it altogether.
- Don’t smoke: Smoking, even in moderation, is nothing less than terrible for your health, and for your skin. Have you ever seen a heavy smoker and wondered how their skin got so ruddy and dull? Smoking is one of the leading causes of systemic inflammation, and will not only cause fine lines and wrinkles, but will give the skin a noticeable dull texture and ruddy or gray pallor…thoroughly unhealthy and unattractive.
When you follow these guidelines, you’ll be doing your skin — and the rest of your body — a good turn.
Healthy Skin Care
It’s important to know how to best take care of your skin with the right products. A cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer and SPF should be all you need for healthy skin, regardless of your age. However, the ingredients in these products will need to change a bit as you age. For example, in your 20s, your skin has not begun the process of losing collagen or elasticity, but preventative actions will limit fine lines and wrinkles that generally accompany the natural aging process. Considering this, it’s best to start a skin care regimen earlier rather than later. A gentle cleanser, pH balancing toner, vitamin C serum and light moisturizer with SPF should be adequate for those in their 20s and early 30s. However, as you approach your 40s, a retinoid or retinol cream or serum may be used in place of the vitamin C to combat normal signs of aging.
If you have sensitive or acneic skin, Sciadonics’ Delta-5TM oil is a perfect complementary skin care step. Delta-5 is an extensively-tested, scientifically-formulated, all natural, non-greasy face oil that treats a variety of skin concerns, including but not limited to:
- fine lines and wrinkles
- uneven skin tone due to hyperpigmentation
- dullness
- dry and flaky skin
- dehydration
- lack of elasticity
- acne
We know you must be slightly incredulous at the idea of one product addressing all of these skin concerns; however Delta-5 has garnered a loyal following among many for its ability to treat so many of these issues. Not only does Delta-5 decrease signs of inflammation (from acne to hyperpigmentation to psoriasis to sunburn) but it endows the skin with a healthy glow and smooth, supple texture. See these testimonials to learn more about this breakthrough product, and see the results for yourself. Regular use of Delta-5, along with living a healthy lifestyle, will undoubtedly lead to healthy and beautiful skin.
