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leading to sagging and wrinkles. The process of sloughing off dead cells and growing new, healthy cells also slows down. The result is a dull, grayish complexion. Finally, older skin is more likely to develop brown spots, also known as age or liver spots, because the pigment cells in skin begin to grow irregularly. While this deterioration in the function of skin eventually happens to everyone, a number of factors can accelerate the process.
Genetics can play a huge role in how fast your face shows signs of aging. Some people are blessed with good genes that allow them to look much younger than their contemporaries. Others are not so lucky and develop gray hair and skin wrinkling earlier in life. While you can catch a glimpse of how quickly you’ll age by looking at your mother and grandmother, there’s more to skin aging than the DNA you were born with.
 Then there is also the free radical factor. Free radicals are unstable molecules that are missing one electron. Because of this, they can damage skin cells by causing oxidative stress. Just as oxidation makes a cut apple turn brown, free-radicals produce this same corrosive process when skin is exposed to the elements. Collagen is especially vulnerable to free radical damage, and when this damage occurs, it causes the collagen protein molecules to break down and then link back up again in a different way. Known as collagen cross-linking, this process causes the normally mobile collagen to become stiff and brittle. Free radicals also make the membranes that cover cells more permeable, allowing the cells to dehydrate. Antioxidants, abundant in our skin during our younger days, neutralize harmful free-radicals. But as the years pass, nature’s antioxidant delivery system becomes compromised.
Researchers have also begun looking at how inflammation impacts our skin. Inflammation is at the root of aging in all of your organs, including the skin. One of the reasons inflammation occurs is because of a rapid rise in blood sugar, which causes biochemical changes in the cells that accelerate aging. Some scientists speculate that pro-oxidative factors that accelerate skin aging might activate a self-maintained micro-inflammatory process that interferes with skin elasticity and thickness. One of the primary factors causing this oxidation – and hence inflammation – is diet. Fortunately, this study also found that antioxidants decrease this inflammatory cascade and help to protect the skin’s structure.
While there isn’t much you can do about the genes you are born with, adopting a healthy diet, avoiding overexposure to the sun and using the right skin care products can help to limit the signs of aging and help you avoid looking older than you should. |
