Aging offers many blessings: greater self-assuredness, deeper wisdom, an undeniable sensuality, a sense of peace with yourself. You can’t stop the passage of time, but given perks like these, would you really want to?
Of course, in aging’s “con” column is its normal yet—let’s face it—undesired effect on the skin. A beautiful complexion is a sign of a healthy skin barrier, which is the outermost layer of the skin. Imagine this layer like a wall made of bricks: the bricks are skin cells called corneocytes, and the mortar in between is composed of crucial fat molecules called ceramides. A strong and healthy skin barrier effectively seals in glow-bestowing moisture and hydration. But as you age, the body’s stores of ceramides become steadily depleted, resulting in transepidermal water loss, which is when all that good moisture and hydration essentially evaporate through vulnerabilities in the skin barrier. Over time, skin also naturally loses its elasticity, or its ability to literally bounce back. (Elasticity is a product of a protein called elastin, which the body stops producing around puberty.) What you’re left with is a complexion that lacks some of its original brightness, smoothness, and plumpness, and that may have gained some pesky creases here and there.
The skincare market is rife with topical products, gadgets, and treatments claiming to turn back the clock. But in the quest to age gracefully, look to your diet first and foremost. Dehydration, excessive refined sugar consumption, and lack of nutrients can all contribute to premature skin aging. And research suggests that inflammation-triggering imbalances in the gut microbiome show up in your complexion too. So a solid foundation of nutrition that includes plenty of colorful, antioxidant-rich plants; fibrous leafy greens; healthy fats; and nutrient-dense superfoods is your closest ally. You have to eat at least three times a day. Why not take those three opportunities to make food choices that help keep your skin looking radiant?
Plant Magic For Ageless Skin
Though silver bullets are generally a myth when it comes to getting (and keeping) results, this is possibly as close as it gets: phytoceramides, the edible answer to glowing, vibrant, hydrated skin, brought to you by Mother Nature herself. Think of phytoceramides as a plant-based, vegan-friendly alternative to popular collagen supplements. Simply put, they are ceramides (remember those essential fats that reinforce the skin barrier?) sourced from plants (see: phyto). Often derived from sweet potatoes, rice bran, and wheat, these botanical ceramides replenish your body’s natural stockpiles, giving you a leg up in the anti-aging game. By restoring the body’s natural lipids, phytoceramides help maintain the skin barrier, locking moisture in and plumping up fine lines while keeping pollutants out.
You have to eat at least three times a day. Why not take those three opportunities to make food choices that help keep your skin looking radiant?
The Fast Track To A Better Complexion
It’s no wonder ceramides are the go-to ingredient in many topical anti-aging products; outside-in application has shown to be beneficial. But as the scientific community leans ever further toward an inside-out approach to skincare, it tracks that ingesting phytoceramides would have real beauty benefits too. Case in point: In a clinical study conducted over two weeks, women between the ages of 30 and 60 with dry skin who ingested 70 mg of phytoceramides each day reported improvements in skin elasticity, reduction in micro-wrinkles, and increase in skin smoothness.
So how do you harness the skin-restoring magic of phytoceramides in your daily diet? Once again, look to what you’re already doing daily. For those who love to end the day with something sweet, there are Sakara Beauty Chocolates: a 30mg daily dose of skin-boosting phytoceramides wrapped in raw, organic dark cacao and only one gram of unrefined, low-G.I. coconut sugar. The phytoceramides in these edible beauty products are derived from wheat, but are 100% gluten-free, and promise results backed by two clinical trials.
As Maya Angelou said, “when you know better, you do better.” Guided by the newfound knowledge that comes with age, consider a gentler, more holistic approach to beauty: one that favors total nourishment through the wisdom of plants. What you’ll uncover is the glow of radiant health—no time travel necessary.
More Ways To Beautify Your Skin From Within:
