While protecting our skin from damaging external forces is so important, our lifestyle choices can also have a great effect on how quickly and how severely we age. Fortunately, it’s never too late to turn things around and make better choices. Whether it’s limiting our vices or a working little harder to change our habits, we can truly stop the effects of aging from inside out.

Smoking

Smoking can have a drastic effect on a person’s skin, for instance, smokers often look a lot older than they really are. The nicotine in cigarette smoke can drastically restrict blood flow to the skin, preventing crucial nutrients and even oxygen from nourishing it. Smoking can also lower production of collagen and elastin, leading to skin that’s looser, saggier, and more likely to wrinkle.

Drinking

Drinking alcohol excessively can cause a variety of damage on our skin: wrinkling, redness, dryness, and even puffiness. Specifically, alcohol can deplete your stores of Vitamin A, which is an essential nutrient for cell regeneration and the production of collagen. By drinking excessively, you deplete your levels of collagen. Since alcohol is also a vasodilator, it can widen the blood vessels that supply the face, making it look constantly ruddy, blotchy, and inflamed. Because alcohol is also a diuretic, it can dehydrate the entire body and dry out the skin. Not only is dry skin one of the most prominent signs of aging itself, but it can worsen other signs like wrinkles and lines, too.

Diet

Yes, a diet with lots of artificial sugars is worse for your skin than having a healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables. Unhealthy food can cause a lot of inflammation in the cells, which can then accelerate aging. Everything from charred food, to trans fats, to processed meats can cause inflammation. Having a high-sugar and high fatty red meat diet can particularly create by-products in your skin that actually damage your collagen stores.

Exercise

Regular exercise is a wonderful way for to make sure your metabolism is healthy and running well, and the better our metabolism is, the healthier our skin. Exercise can also increase blood flow, which is essential for nourishing our skin and flushing out waste.

It’s the little things that can make a big difference. For a chance to rejuvenate yourself from the inside and out, contact the Aesthetic Institute of New York and New Jersey for a consultation on their wide array of rejuvenation procedures, including facelifts, liquid facelifts, and more.