The largest organ of our body is also one of the largest concerns for people across the world. Many of us struggle with our skin health. No matter how many beauty products we try, skin treatments we get, nutrition we consume, exercise routines we follow – getting the skin that we desire seems impossible.
Understanding your skin better, may give you the perspective you need to formulate a healthy skin care routine that works for you.
1. The Sun And Skin
Sunblocks cannot just be a part of your healthy skin care routine when you are out soaking in the sun on a balmy beach. You need them every day. Skin shares a love hate relation with the sun. Our skin needs sunlight to produce Vitamin D, which is crucial for the health of our bones. Sunlight also contains harmful UV rays which causes the melanin in our skin to burn. Melanin is responsible for protecting our skin against damage caused by ultraviolet rays, but over exposure to the sun causes melanin depreciation. This in turn leads to dull, lifeless looking skin. It may also trigger the early onset of premature aging.
2. Skin Can Be Happy With One Product
To some extent, we have all fallen for the spiel that we need to use a specialized product for every cell in our body. Drained out our savings and still not ended up with the flawless skin that the advertorial promised.
The thickness of our skin varies from head to toe. The skin on our eyelids is different from that on our feet, but contrary to what beauty care companies will have you believe – your skin can be happy with just one right product all over. This is simply because what you put on your skin is important and impacts your skin health, but it is what you put into your body in the form of nutrition that really matters.
3. Skin – Your Personal Thermostat
Our skin health plays a crucial role in supporting a strong immune function. It also acts as a thermostat through a process known as thermoregulation. This is a process through which our bodies self-control our body temperatures despite external factors. Temperature regulation or maintaining a stable body temperature is crucial for our survival. A core temperature of 37 degree Celsius leads our bodies to perform at its optimum.
Skin helps our blood vessels expand or contract depending upon the environmental temperature to help cool the body or even retain warmth as and when required. And now you know why your body breaks into a sweat.
4. Shed Skin
Snakes are not the only creatures that shed skin. Humans shed about 500 million cells per day which means that almost every 28 days, we all have completely new skin.
Our skin has three layers – the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous fat layer.
- Epidermis – is the outermost layer of skin responsible to produce melanin. New skin cells are made at the bottom layer of the epidermis and make their way to the top and then eventually flake off.
- Dermis – is the second layer and what contains sweat glands. Another gland is found in this layer of the skin which is responsible for our skin elasticity. This part of the skin is also where nerve endings are located – making you feel all that you do.
- Subcutaneous – the third layer acts as a shield as it contains a layer of fat. It is this fat that protects our muscles and bones. This layer also has all the blood vessels located in it.
5. Stressed Skin
How you feel impacts how your skin feels as well. The intricate relationship between our skin health and physiological factors have been an area of research since ancient times. Stress, fatigue, anxiety, depression all has negative impacts on our skin health.
Stress leads to the production of cortisol – a hormone that leads to the overproduction of sebum and can cause skin breakouts like acne. Stress also impacts your immune system and can cause breakouts like rashes, hives, and redness to occur. Inflammation is also a known effect of stress on skin. Collagen (responsible for making the skin look youthful and supple) production is adversely affected by stress as well.
6. Skin Loves Sleep
Hanging eyelids, redder eyes, under-eye bags, dark circles, inflammation, fine lines, and wrinkles are only some of the signs that your body has not had its share of sleep. Sleep has a direct impact on our sleep. When we sleep, our bodies go into recovery mode. From your epidermis to your brain, everything is being repaired when you snooze.
In case of skin, sleep is the time when collagen levels are being replenished. Also, UV exposure is being reversed and wrinkles and age spots being worked upon.
Each adult has their own sleep requirements, but a good six to eight hours of sleep per day is recommended. Add that to your healthy skin care regime and see the difference.
As far as skin is concerned, you do not lose when you snooze.
7. Oily Skin May Delay Aging
Oily skin is a nightmare during our teens, unbearable during our 20s and just something that we start to live with in our 30s. However, what most of us do not want to understand is that our body produces oil or sebum as a layer of protection.
The sebum produced has a high concentration of Vitamin E. This vitamin acts as the first line of defence for our skin health. It is an antioxidant and helps banish free radicals caused by food metabolism and toxins in the environment.
Vitamin E also reduces the chances of blood clots and helps with widening of blood vessels, ensuring healthy body temperature. Dry skin may result in the early onset of aging, whereas oily skin may delay aging as oil enhances the vitality of skin.
8. Second-Hand Smoke Is Bad Too
Modern lifestyle hazards such as drinking too much coffee, happy hours, smoking – all of these reverse the effects of a healthy skin care regime. But even things like passive smoking have similar effects on your skin.
Smoke exposure may reduce the supply of blood to the face. With restricted blood supply, facial skin starts looking dull and lifeless. Inhaling smoke passively also deprives the skin of nutrients it needs to remain strong and elastic. Uneven skin tone, droopy skin and aging are just some of the menaces of second-hand smoke as well.
How To Get Healthy Skin?
Now that you know your skin better and the effects that external factors have on its health, let us learn how you can take care of your skin better. Like most other aspects of your health, your skin too is impacted by your gut health.
Our guts are home to millions of good and bad bacteria and maintaining a healthy balance of both is crucial for our overall well-being. While nutrition and exercise are vital impact creators, modern and demanding lifestyles can reverse all the hard work you do.
Gut Glow is an herbal supplement that is based on the scientific and ancient principle of cleansing your inner blaze – which is the roots of skin inflammation that cause breakouts and other much dreaded skin woes. It works from the inside out and helps you nourish your skin.
Made with natural, vegan, gluten-free ingredients such as Rhubarb, Scute Root, Coptis and more, its fine-tuned formula regulates good gut bacteria and lets you glow from within. It is a must-have for any healthy skin care regime.
Gut Glow is a skin health powerhouse that works hard, so you do not have to.
Take kaer.
*collaborative post
Author Bio
Amber Tsai is a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur in the wellness industry. She values her family and her health above everything else. Upon receiving her MBA from USC Marshall School of a Business, she began Kaer to as a continuation of her family’s legacy in the herbal supplement space.
