What are the Lifestyle Factors that Affect your Skin Health

Whether you visit a dermatologist or it is an online skin consultation, depending on your skin issues, the dermatologist is likely to ask some questions about your lifestyle. Your skin health reflects your lifestyle. From healthy juices to tobacco, whatever you put in your body affects your skin. Bad lifestyle habits lead to premature skin aging. 75% of your skin health depends on your lifestyle and 25% on your genes. So, in this article, we will see how the following lifestyle factors affect your skin health: 

1. Stress 
2. Diet 
3. Exercise 
4. Sleep 
5. Screen time 
6. Smoking 

In addition to these lifestyle factors, we will also see how pollution affects your skin.  

Stress   

Stress can worsen eczema, psoriasis, vitiligo, and several other skin disorders. Acute stress leads to less skin moisture. Studies show that skin heals more slowly in students with exam stress and couples going through a divorce. Stress is also not good for your stomach, heart, and brain. Studies also suggest that mindfulness is one of the best antidotes to stress. This helps wounds heal faster. Therefore, if you are suffering from stress, before online skin consultation, speak to a therapist for stress treatment. 

Diet 

Want clearer skin? Drink water and eat healthy food. A healthy diet and other lifestyle changes can also prevent skin cancers such as carcinoma or melanoma. Drinking water improves moisture levels. Foods with omega-3 fatty acids and healthy oils improve skin health and prevent wrinkles. In addition to proteins, fats, and oils found in olive oil, nuts, fish and other foods are also good for your skin health. These foods supply nutrients that boost collagen production. This is essential for smoother skin. This further prevents premature skin sagging and wrinkles. 

A healthy diet also protects skin against skin cancer and other effects of severe sun damage. Include fish and leafy greens in your diet. Sugary and high-fat drinks and foods can prevent blemishes.

Exercise 

Exercise is good for every organ and the skin is the largest organ of your body. In a study in Canada, skin scientists involved 30 subjects age between 20 and 84 to study the impact of exercise on skin. Half of the participants used to spend less than an hour a week on physical activities. The remaining participants used to spend 3 hours a week on demanding physical activity or exercise. The study revealed that regular exercise makes the outermost skin layer thinner and healthier. The epidermis and dermis become denser and thicker. 

Sleep 

Melatonin is a hormone that makes your skin healthier when you sleep. This multifaceted hormone is very effective. This hormone makes you feel tired and helps fall asleep easily. It is also an antioxidant. Melatonin counteracts aging. As the darkness falls in the evening, the melatonin level rises while you are asleep. It repairs the damage done due to the sun. This hormone also boosts your immune system. Sleeping too little or sleeping in a room with lights on lower melatonin levels in the blood. This often leads to fatigue, apathy, and even depression. Some people even claim that it has anti-aging effects. However, only a few clinical studies support this claim.

Screen Time 

It is often believed that screens’ blue light speeds up the aging process. There are many products available in the market to protect your skin against blue light. However, no study suggests that exposure to blue light causes wrinkles. However, if you have darker skin, exposure to blue light can cause hyperpigmentation. You can prevent this damage by using an ordinary sunscreen. Moreover, you can also use a light filter for screens.

Smoking 

Skin ages faster when you smoke a lot. Smoking leads to free radicals formation. Heavy smoking is linked to premature wrinkles. If you are a heavy smoker, you can also find wrinkles on your arms. Smoking develops elastosis, a condition in which elastin fibers lose their elasticity. 

Pollution 

One of the main components of pollution is airborne particles. More exposure to pollution has an adverse impact on your skin. This aggregates enzyme activity and inflammation. This reduces the amount of elastin and collagen in the skin. Drier skin, patches of pigment and wrinkles are very common in people living in polluted areas.

You can prevent most of the skin issues by making some changes in your lifestyle. If you already have a certain skin issue, you can go for online skin consultation.