Keep Holiday Stress From Aging Your Skin - cardiologix.comCardioLogix.com

Don’t let holiday stress make you look older…

For years medical scientists have proven over and over that one of the best ways to look and feel young is to avoid stress. Obviously, these scientists don’t live in the same universe that you and I do. Avoiding stress just isn’t going to happen.

That’s why…

In this week’s issue of CardioLogix Magazine Expert Panelist Alison Heath presents some great advice about how to keep the stress of the holidays (or any day!) from taking its toll on the way you look as well as the way you feel.

Happy Holidays!

From Peter Julian and the Staff at CardioLogix Magazine!

8 Ways to Keep Your Skin Young Through Holiday Stress and Beyond

By Expert Panelist Alison Heath (See Alison’s Expert Profile Here)

The holiday season can raise your stress levels, especially if you have to worry about those wrinkles, age spots and sagging skin! Well you don’t need Botox, surgery or expensive procedures to be confident about your younger looking skin.

A few simple guidelines can erase years off your appearance without resorting to surgical or chemical intervention. These practices will help you maintain smoothness, tone and integrity during the holidays and for years to come.

Many of the popular procedures these days can be hazardous to your health. Patients are often left with a look that is far from “natural”. Just think of the waxy looking skin people can have after chemical peels. Those costly injections of muscle-freezing toxins can leave the face with a frozen look or unnatural puffiness and cosmetic surgery is very costly with a long recovery period.

I’m sure we can all recall some horror stories of drastically botched facelifts. A medical procedure is not going to offer a natural solution to beautiful skin. Instead you can make a few lifestyle changes and reverse your aging process.

Let’s look at eight for a start.

1. Hydrate your body

Our body is composed mainly of water! Top off the level of water in your body to counter act the effects of dehydration as we age. Get a good water filter or a reverse osmosis system and drink three glasses of water upon awakening each morning. Keep drinking some water throughout the day. Make pure water your favourite beverage of choice.

Pure unsweetened coconut water is a close second. It’s a great way to hydrate your body and has more electrolytes than leading sports drinks. Coconut water is an excellent source of potassium. That’s important as potassium keeps your body from cramping.

2. Avoid those holiday temptations of refined sugar and simple carbohydrates

I know it’s hard to resist refined sugar during the holiday season. But it’s so worth it! When you eat refined sugar a process called glycation is triggered. The sugar molecules attach themselves to proteins and creating harmful new proteins called “AGEs”. The acronym is perfect because advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) will harm all cells in the body. They age your skin and reduce the elasticity by making the collagen more rigid. That’s when wrinkles and creases will form from any of our habitual expressions like frowning, squinting or even smiling.

Eating refined sugar and processed carbohydrates accelerates the aging process and compromises the underlying structure of the skin. It reduces the resiliency and integrity of the foundation of your skin.

3. Enjoy a deep, restful sleep all night long

The holidays can be disruptive on your sleep patterns. Yet nothing reduces your stress like a good night’s sleep. This is when your body produces human growth hormone (HGH). That name really should be changed to human maintenance hormone. Once your growth period is over, human growth hormone plays a very important role in maintaining your energy. It is responsible for many of your youthful skin characteristics and helps your keep skin smooth and supple.

You produce this important hormone most heavily during the deeper stages of the sleep cycle. This means that if your sleep is interrupted, you won’t produce as much human growth hormone. A good night’s sleep also gives the appearance of vitality and improves the skin’s color and tone.
A helpful tool I use to ensure a deep night’s sleep is a “grounding” or “earthing” matt or sheet.

These simple devices can be purchased on the Internet, even on Amazon’s website. The matt or sheet has a prong that plugs into the ground socket of any standard electrical outlet. As you sleep your body is grounded with the earth’s magnetic forces and protected from the environmental electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs). Scientific studies have shown a host of health benefits. I found a good night’s sleep was most appreciated.

4. Avoid sleeping on your side

With a bit of practice you can learn to comfortably sleep on your back. That position actually helps you to avoid wrinkles by working with the natural forces of gravity. The prolonged pressure of sleeping on your side can also inadvertently cause wrinkles and creases on the facial skin.

If you sleep on your back, you will find your face is free from those creases and wrinkles when you awake. After all you didn’t have a pillow wedged up against your face all night! Women also enjoy the benefit of preventing “cleavage wrinkles” when they learn to sleep on their back.

5. Exfoliate your skin several times a week

This process is an easy calming ritual that you can enjoy three times a week after your shower, sauna or steam bath. Exfoliation helps to increase cell turnover and slough off dead skin. New skin cells are continuously brought to the surface enhancing a youthful appearance. The result is a smoother and more radiant face without the dulling effect of dead cells.

Collagen production is also enhanced by exfoliation. The gentle message on your face as you exfoliate is very relaxing and triggers the skin to produce more collagen. After your mid twenties you no longer produce abundant amounts of this important protein and stimulating collagen production is a good idea.

6. Use certified organic personal care products

Your skin is the largest organ in your body, and the thinnest. Only 1/10th of an inch separates and protects you from the many harmful elements in our environment. Your skin is also highly permeable and absorbs whatever toxins you put on it directly into the blood stream. They wind up in your other organs or soft tissues where they can cause a great deal of damage.

The Environmental Working Group, quoted statics from recent surveys citing women on average are exposed to 168 ingredients in 12 products they use daily. They absorb 5 lbs of chemicals annually. While men absorb 2.6 lbs using 6 products exposing them to 85 ingredients, and every day children face 61 ingredients in their personal care products.

7. Choose your sunscreen wisely if you live in the south or holiday in a sunny locale

Vitamin D from the sunlight is extremely important to your health and wellbeing, but you want to limit your exposure. Excessive exposure to the sun can accelerate wrinkle formation, cause age spots, and compromise the firmness and elasticity of our skin. Free radicals are the culprit and are created from too much sun exposure. These free radicals roam the body and destroy or damage healthy skin cells accelerating the aging process.

The best options to protect your skin from too much exposure to the sun is to wear thin layers of clothing that you can adjust to control the amount of sun on your skin and to supplement your diet with Astaxanthin (that’s step 8).

Many commercial sunscreens can do more harm than good. Sun block containing vitamin A, called retinyl palmitate, should be avoided. Recent scientific research by the federal Food and Drug Administration indicates the chemical may accelerate tumor growth and heighten skin cancer risk when used on sun-exposed skin.

PABA, parabens, oxybenzone, octisalate, avobenzone and triethanolamine are a few of the other chemicals to avoid in sunscreen. Hormonal disruption and cellular irregularities are linked to these chemicals.

8. Introduce Astaxanthin to your diet

Many years ago scientists discovered carotenoids, a class of naturally occurring pigments with powerful antioxidant properties that are crucial for your health. You’ve probably heard of carotenoids in carrots. They are responsible for the bright colors in bell peppers, red beets, and even the beautiful flowers in your garden.

The natural form of Astaxanthin is proving to be right at the top of the list. It is formed when the microalgae Haematoccous pluvialis has its water supply cut off. The algae creates Astaxanthin as protection from the ultraviolet radiation of intense sunlight. This survival mechanism of the algae is transferred to you when you supplement your diet with Astaxanthin. There are numerous health benefits from this powerful antioxidant and here are three benefits for your skin.

Reduces the existence of wrinkles, dry skin, age spots, and freckles
Helps protect skin from overexposure due to sun-induced free radicals
Helps reduce the visible signs of aging

Don’t let holiday stress write its message on your face this year! These 8 simple steps will get you started on a delightful path toward rejuvenating your face. Enjoy knowing you’re in control this year and have decided to take responsibility for the quality of your well being and longevity.

Your body loves you more than you can imagine. If you give it the building blocks it needs to flourish, it will respond in ways you’ve never imagined. There is no need to risk your health and take a bite out of your pocketbook with expensive cosmetic procedures. As you start to experience the immediate benefits of reduced stress, a younger face and beautiful skin you’ll want to learn more.

Let this be your gift to yourself. Come check out the 4 FREE videos at http://www.EasyNaturalFacelift.com