5 Easy Diet Changes To Delay The Ageing Process

I believe that ageing gracefully but well is essential. It is possible if we understand what we need to do, to prevent premature and accelerated ageing.

Before I tell you how to delay the ageing process via my 5 easy diet changes, let me first introduce myself: I'm Marisa, your skin coach, skincare therapist to the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and our Australian wide online virtual clients.
As a skin specialist with over 25 years of experience, a wife, mother of two teenage boys, and a very busy business owner, I understand the everyday life stresses and the time crunch.

How is it possible to slow down the Ageing process?

With my tips and tricks below, you will delay the ageing process once you implement them. We cannot just rely on skincare, it is also our lifestyle and our diet.

As we age, we know that it is inevitable that our skin will have a lower production of collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid, which is a very worrying thought for many of us. 

We also know that genes and DNA play an essential role in how we age; however, the good news is that products are now formulated to help repair and protect our DNA from becoming damaged. 

Here is a visual example - which is the best way to illustrate how lifestyle changes can slow down the ageing process. Look at these identical twins born with the same genes but have very different skin due to stress, diet, environment, medication, or illness.

At what age do we begin to age?

We start ageing at the young age of 25. 

So here is what happens, our enzymes continuously break down our collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid, but as we age our production of collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid slows down. 

So now your probably thinking about what we can do to speed up this production, but before we get into that, let's look at how to prevent the production from slowing down quickly.  

Five areas factor into delay the ageing process:

1. Diet
2. Environment
3. Exercise 
4. Stress levels
5. Skincare

Today, I am going to focus on diet.  

Diet changes that are better than botox.

Diet does play such an essential role in collagen breakdown, especially if your diet is high in sugar. 

Glycation is when sugar attaches to the collagen and breaks it down. As a result, you may notice your skin develops a criss-cross line effect around the mouth, upper lip and chin area or a prune-like appearance to the skin. It can be challenging to treat but much easier if we prevent it from occurring in the first place.

The next time you are sipping your prosecco, think about the amount of sugar in that drink that is going to contribute to ageing. 

Want to know more? Explore my article on Does Eating Too Much Sugar Cause Ageing.

Easy Diet Lifestyle Changes

Superfoods

So my mantra is "Eat the rainbow drink the waterfall"

Superfoods need to be your skin's nutrients. So eat fresh veggies at least up to 8- 10 cups a day to help delay the ageing process.

These vegetables are best: 

• broccoli
• spinach
• watercress
• tomatoes
• red cabbage
• asparagus

Green Powders

For some of you who might find that a little challenging, then green powders are the way to go! It's so easy; all you have to do is mix it in with a smoothie or yoghurt. I recommend either Bestow Beauty Powder or Miss Vitality Elevate; both fill in the gaps of a modern diet.

Miss Vitality Elevate provides a source of Vitamins A, B6, C, E and K, and Iodine, all of which are nutrients that support normal skin.

Bestow Beauty Powder contains eight superfoods that are rich in the nutrients your skin needs to produce anti-ageing structures like collagen and elastin. It's like an anti-ageing serum you take from within!

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are the perfect way to reduce free radicals and provide our skin with vitamin C that stimulates collagen. Unfortunately, we come into contact with these unstable compounds (free radicals) every day through radiation from technology, fumes from our cars and even from sun exposure. These little nasties erode health, break down collagen, damage and prematurely age the skin. 

So an easy lifestyle change that you can quickly implement is to add these foods to your diet to fight free radical damage and boost your antioxidant intake:

• Blueberries
• Dark green vegetables
• Red Bell Peppers
• Papaya
• Nuts
• Avocado
• Watercress

Antioxidant drink

Antioxidants are the heroes who save the day. These natural compounds neutralise free radicals and interrupt the destructive process of premature ageing. 

The most potent source of antioxidants are brightly coloured fruit, and Bestow Berry Beautiful contains an abundant feast of these.

Bestow Berry Beautiful, which helps protect the collagen fibers.

Omega Oils preferably 3,6 and 9

Consider essential fatty acids to be your internal moisturiser, assisting your skin to function properly. Thus reducing inflammation, aiding you to produce good skin oils rather than bad congesting oils, and helping you to improve your skin's barrier, thereby reducing water and oil loss within the skin.

Foods high in Essential Fatty Acids in your daily diet include:

• Salmon, 
• Sardines, 
• Walnuts, 
• Flaxseed, 
• Flaxseed oil, 
• Chia seeds, 
• Frill oil, 
• Almonds. 

Supplements

For those not keen on eating all that fish or aren't that into nuts, you can get your daily intake of essential fatty acids and omega oils 3, 6 and 9 by simply adding in one of these two supplements into your daily routine.

Miss Vitality Good Oil capsules. This supplement only uses small fish because there is less mercury, and it is more potent. However, you will be pleased to know it does not leave a fishy taste. 

Bestow Beauty Plus Oil. To enhance the absorption of essential fatty acids due to ill-health and stress that causes blockages to occur, meaning the body cannot produce all the fats which are needed for skin and body health. Bestow Beauty Plus Oil skirts around this blockage and supports the body to produce all the life-giving fats it needs to thrive.

It is a perfect fit for vegans as it contains Flaxseed,  Safflower oil, hemp and coconut, evening primrose, and blackcurrant seed oil.

Are the holy grails of Collagen Powders required?

I am going to quote this from Skinformation by Biochemist Terri Vinson

"Oral collagen supplements can't journey from your mouth, through your digestive tract to your skin cells. Collagen is simply a protein source. Have a piece of steak or a bowl of lentils instead...they have more flavour". Terri suggests increasing your protein with high-quality sources of meat, fish, eggs, and legumes.

Because we need zinc and vitamin C to produce collagen, the collagen powders we stock are not designed to increase collagen production but rather to support the foundation of collagen production. 

The body builds collagen to keep skin plump and supple. The building blocks for making collagen come from your diet. Most people don't get enough of the nutrients they need to make collagen. These powders boost your supply of collagen-building blocks in a form that is easily used by the skin.

Bestow Collagen Boost Powder With added Vitamin C and Zinc slows down the visible signs of skin ageing. It boosts skin elasticity, plumps out wrinkles and promotes younger-looking skin.

Miss Vitality Elixir Collagen  A combination of Marine Collagen, essential nutrients Magnesium, Zinc and Antioxidant rich Blueberries. Marine Collagen contains Type 1 collagen that specifically targets the gut, skin, hair, joints and bones. The peptides in Marine Collagen are smaller, meaning they are readily bio-available to the body.

Some more simple tips and tricks

Just a couple more quick and easy tips for slowing down the ageing process.

Look for foods that help build collagen and elastin, such as pulses (lentils and beans).

Also, check out some herbal teas that are high in flavonoids. For example, we love the ingredient cinnamon for its anti-ageing benefits. Found in Bestow Eternitea.

Drink the waterfall!

By improving our water intake, we can help improve the hydration levels, keep our skin elasticity intact, help our skin function properly and reduce the appearance of fine lines. Make sure your water intake is at least 6-8 glasses a day:)

You can see how a few simple dietary changes can help you age gracefully from the inside out. In addition, there will be so many additional health benefits from incorporating these anti-ageing nutritional changes that people will stop you in the street to compliment you on how well you look!

Look out for our next article on lifestyle changes to help the delay the ageing process shortly.

Marisa
Skin therapist at TOB