Helping you to Hold Back the Years
Magazines and newspapers are full of articles about how celebrities hold back the years but can we with a lot less time and money to spend really resist the signs of aging. As someone said recently age is just a number. It’s the way we feel inside that really matters. Having said that I am doing all I can to look and feel good. To this end, I exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet and maintain my ideal weight. It does take time and effort though but I feel its well worth it for the sense of wellbeing I have.
The skin quickly shows the signs of ageing as collagen and elastin, the protein structure that gives the skin elasticity and bounce, reduce in their efficiency to regenerate. Even when the sun is not shining it is very important to protect the skin from ultraviolet (UV) radiation and pollution in the atmosphere, which we are all exposed to daily. It is never too soon to start protecting the skin and you should avoid going outside without sunscreen. At least use a moisturiser that contains a sunscreen or apply a sunscreen underneath your makeup for stronger protection, always apply to the face, neck, and hands.
The good news is that there are certain foods that do protect, regenerate and rehydrate the skin. Whole-grain foods, such as wholemeal pasta, contain the tough outer bran husk of the grain. This is rich in ferulic acid, which protects plants against UV rays and has the same effect on our skin. Corn on the cob, strawberries, raspberries, grapefruit, blueberries, apples, avocados, plums and blackberries are all high in ferulic acid. Wholegrain cereals found in rye and pumpernickel bread, sunflower seeds, peanuts, crab and oysters, contain copper a trace mineral needed by the body to make melanin, the skin pigment that also protects us from the ageing UV rays.
The most powerful antioxidants for the skin are Vitamins C and E found in sweet potatoes, blackberries, and dark-green leafy vegetables. Vitamin C is the most important because it neutralises the damaging free radicals that destroy elastin and collagen. Vitamin E helps the body to regenerate vitamin C, so they are a crucial anti-ageing double act. Eat plenty of berries, citrus fruits, red and yellow peppers for Vitamin C and include nuts and seeds in your diet which are rich in vitamin E.
If you want to stay young and be really healthy and feel energized and vital then you need to “move that body”, being a couch potato is so bad for your health and looks. It is important to build exercise into your everyday routine so choose an exercise that you enjoy. We all need cardiovascular exercise and also strength and flexibility exercises.
Finally, I believe that if you have past emotional issues you have not dealt with and you are feeling your age then these could be responsible, so shake off the past and start again. Have a positive approach to life, think of your cup as being half full not half empty and find joy in what you do. Stop worrying, usually the bad things that happen come out of the blue, and then we deal with them. Live one day at a time, live with gratitude and joy it’s a wonderful world and smiling takes years off your age.
Live with joy and health.
Elizabeth Beetham
Empowering you for a healthy life
Tel: Mobile 07773 790736