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3 Ways To Slow Down Ageing Skin

Learn what you can do to slow the effects of ageing skin

There are so many clues on your skin to what is happening inside us, yet most of us keep searching for skincare as a solution to address aging process forgetting that the quality of your skin can be influenced by so many other factors.

If you are looking to reduce the effects of your aging skin my best advice is to take more of a functional approach to achieving a more youthful appearance.

You may have read my article about skin health, which discusses your skin health and how a healthy diet and lifestyle factors can reduce premature skin ageing.

The headline in that article is that your skin type can reveal clues about your metabolic health, so investing money in expensive anti aging products if your metabolic health pathways are not functioning efficiently, can be a waste of time and effort – let alone money.

Your aging skin is a window to your overall health.

Skin is the largest organ of your body and is a window to your overall health.

There are so many clues to what is happening inside us, yet most of us keep searching for external solutions to reduce facial wrinkles, forgetting that the quality of your skin can be an accurate indicator of health conditions.

How to target the signs of aging skin

1. Improve metabolic health: Reduce blood sugars, improve liver and gut function
2. Increase skin cell turnover
3. Stimulate collagen production with treatments

I’m Jen Adams, and as a functional nutritionist and aesthetics skin therapist, I have a wealth of knowledge and expertise to share with you about your ageing skin.

My role is similar to that of a professional dermatologist but I see myself as more of a therapist than a doctor. I have ten years of clinical experience in nutrition advice and natural aesthetic treatments.

In this article, I want to look more specifically at 3 ways that you can reduce the effects of the ageing process.

I am going to give you an overview of what I have learnt and discovered over the years about how your metabolic health influences your natural ageing process and what you can do to reduce premature skin aging.

 

No 1. Improve your Metabolic Health

The three main metabolic pathways that impact how your skin ages is delivery of energy in your cells, clearance of toxins from the food you eat and absorption of nutrients from a balanced gut microbiome.

If there is a lack of blood sugar control, sluggish liver function and gut dysbiosis your skin health will be affected as these metabolic pathways influence your skin cell membrane health and impact the signs of intrinsic ageing on your skin.

Research suggests that your blood sugar levels cause deep wrinkles, blemishes, and thick sagging skin.

Lack of blood sugar control contributes to the formation of advanced glycation end-products [AGE], exacerbating stress and hormonal imbalances.

Every blood sugar molecule is individually responsible for providing energy to all of your body’s cells, yet they all play different parts. Nonetheless, they must all manufacture mitochondria, the power station and the life cycle of each cell, including your skin cells, in your body.

Any imbalance of blood sugar creates a reduction in sensitivity to insulin and is a risk factor for age related diseases.

Do you have control of your blood sugars? If unsure take a look at the 10 warning signs on your skin you are diabetic?

Your liver has a central role in the systemic regulation of your blood sugars and clearing out toxins from the food you eat and the skin products you put on your skin.

Sluggish liver function influences the oil or sebum production on your skin. With too much, you have oily or greasy skin and too little results in dry dehydrated skin.

What are the 10 signs your liver is struggling…

The absorption of the nutrients from the food you consume is also necessary for the delivery of energy, and your gut microbiome influences this.

The function of your gut microbiome depends on your stomach acid’s pH balance. Any imbalance created by food and medications, such as antacids, will impact the absorption of the raw ingredients you consume.

Gut dysbiosis creates inflammation within your gut with triggers the immune response and is commonly seen on the skin as dry, itchy skin which leads to fine lines and wrinkles

The read more about this take a look at this article: 5 Skin Conditions Caused By Gut Flora Imbalance

No 2. Increase skin cell turnover

Common signs of aging skin are caused by the slowing down of the new skin cells’ life cycle. As we age this can reduce from 28 days to 50+ days.

As a result, our skin cells don’t mature as quickly when we are 50 years old compared to when we’re in our 30s.

These mature skin cells build up a layer of dead skin cells on the surface of our skin. This is evident as skin discolouration, dull-looking, tired skin with a loss of radiance and more facial wrinkles.

To slow down these effects of dull, thick or waxy skin is to encourage an optimal skin cell life cycle as we age.

The great news is that improving your skin cell turnover can be done at home every day with your skincare routine.

Your skincare routine at home should be simple and include maintaining the pH level of your skin with a gentle cleanser and toner for exfoliating away the dead skin cells by lowering the pH level slightly and then adding in proper nutrients via active ingredients serums and boosters for tissue repair before completing the routine by sealing in moisture and protecting skin from the sun and UVA sun rays with creams that contain SPF50+.

Simplifying your skincare routine such as my 3-step method will help to improve the overall health of your skin cells and reduce premature ageing from harmful uv rays.

The simple system is about focusing on your skin health rather than choosing products based on what you believe your skin type.

Take a look at how I keep my skin looking younger Article: 3-Step Method to Younger Looking Skin

No 3. Stimulate collagen production with treatments at home or in-clinic

The third effective way to slow down the effects of ageing is to regularly and consistently create a controlled trauma to stimulate an inflammatory response within your skin cells.

The body’s natural response to the controlled trauma is to generate fibroblasts, which are the building blocks of your skin matrix.

These are the fundamental components of your skin matrix, in which they create new extracellular matrix (ECM) and collagen structures to aid the skin’s strength and structure.

The inflammatory response also creates new blood vessels which increase the oxygen and nutrient-rich blood flow to the skin. This combination of events works together to create a lifting, firming and plumping effect on the skin.

You can use skin treatments at home or in-clinic to stimulate collagen production within your skin cells.

The best results from the controlled trauma come from a slow and low approach by reducing the intensity of the treatment with sufficient time for the skin to recover.

There are several ways to stimulate collagen from home with little to no down time. The simplest way is to use a microneedling at home device such as the microneedling stamp, which is an electronic device that uses very fine needles to create micro-wounds in the skin.

The other way is with a HIFU device, which uses high-intensity ultrasound waves to stimulate collagen production.

Both of these devices can be used at home with little to no downtime. The results from these treatments can be seen after 3-4 weeks from a single treatment.

For best results, it’s important to use a high-quality serum that contains important nutrients such as growth factors, peptides, hyaluronic acid and vitamin c. These serums help to speed up the repair process and aid in the production of collagen and skin elasticity.

Treatments in-clinic also include microneedling with serums, radiofrequency and HIFU to stimulate collagen. These treatments are more intense than at-home treatments and will require some downtime for the skin to recover.

This trauma should be regular and consistent to give a more youthful appearance.

The best in-clinic skin treatments to achieve healthy skin are:

• Skin Peels – will remove the top surface of your skin and encourage the skin cell turnover and reduce the appearance of pigmentation and sun damage
• Microneedling – this treatment stimulates the skin’s natural healing response by inflicting a small degree of trauma. The body then reacts by boosting its production of collagen in this part of the skin, making it tighter and firmer.
• Mesotherapy – is the insertion of nutrient-dense serum into the skin to encourage the strength and synthesis of collagen and elastin.
• Radiofrequency – Radiofrequency (RF) microneedling delivers high-intensity radiofrequency energy into the targeted tissue through tiny openings in the skin made by needles to tighten the collagen fibres and improve the skin’s overall appearance.
• High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound – Also known as HIFU is a non-surgical face lift treatment that uses ultrasound energy to heat the deep layers of the skin without damaging the surface. This stimulates the production of collagen and elastin, which helps to lift and improve tone, ideal under the chin and jawline
• LED Therapy is the application of light energy to the skin to improve various skin concerns, such as wrinkles, redness, acne and enlarged pores.

To learn more about each of these treatments in more depth take a look at this article: 5 best skin treatments for ageing skin.

In summary, when it comes to effective ways to slow down the effects of ageing skin, it’s important to remember that there is only so much you can do on your own with topical skincare. If you want to reduce the effects of ageing on your skin, it is essential to consider your skin health not just skin type for younger looking skin.

To address any skin health concerns, improving your metabolic health is an essential first step to getting to the root cause of slowing down the rate your skin is ageing.

Next is to increase your skin cell turnover with an effective 3-Step Method skin care routine that manages the pH levels of skin to encourage skin cell turnover, resulting in a natural radiance, clear bright skin.

And finally, stimulate an inflammatory response by creating trauma in your skin to encourage the production of collagen and skin elasticity for firmer, lifted tighter skin – naturally!

To conclude, you can not stop the signs of ageing on your skin, but there are three ways you can slow it down. Each one will improve your skin health, which educates your skin cells to naturally fight back against the internal and external factors that commonly age your skin.

What to do next, do you want to improve your skin health but are unsure where to start?

My advice is to take my skin health quiz to find out your current skin health score.

The result will help you understand your current skin health score and give help you know the best place to start when looking to slow down the effects of ageing skin – and claim your copy of the FREE Ultimate Skin Health Guide which will give you detail on the 3-Step Method and nutrition advice to help you reduce the effects of ageing at home naturally.

Learn more about your skin health score – CLICK HERE