Younger Looking Skin

A Lovelier Complexion for a
Younger Looking You!

Part 2

Circulatory System:

Your circulatory system is important to the health of your skin. Trillions of skin cells are invigorated with every breath. Every living cell in our body needs air; it is required for the proper production of new skin cells. Your skin will show when too little air is being taken into the body. Skin tone becomes ashen and shallow, and lips have a bluish caste.

Air is almost as important as moisture when it comes to keeping skin looking its best. So important, in fact, you can enhance the appearance of your skin just by routinely performing deep-air exercises. Not only will you feel more energetic and alert, but the health of your skin will be improved by the higher blood oxygen levels. Follow the simple steps below:

1. While outside in clean fresh air, away from crowded rooms or places where smokers are present, take a few minutes to relax.
2. Close your mouth and breathe deeply through your nose.
3. Hold the air in your lungs for as long as you comfortably can or until you have slowly counted to five, in your mind.
4. Force the air out of your lungs, breathing out through your mouth. Do this as slowly as possible, releasing air a little at a time until your lungs are emptied.
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 five more times.
6. Relax, breathing normally.

Other deep-breathing exercises that benefit air circulation and skin include blowing balloons. Leave a bag of balloons in a visible area of your home, so you will be reminded to blow up a balloon every day.

Excretory System:

Although we don’t usually think of it in that way, the skin plays a key role in ridding the body of wastes and toxins. While food is being converted into energy to be used by the body, waste materials are also being produced. When retained in the body, they act as poison.

The skin comes into play by eliminating salts and fluids through perspiration, releasing harmful toxins and helps keep our bodies at a stable temperature. Covering the body with paint, plastic, or even a very thick coating of cream impedes perspiration and is not only uncomfortable, but dangerous.

Fiber speeds the food’s passage through the digestive tract, and helps in the elimination of waste from the intestines. While some studies indicate that a high fiber diet can help prevent certain digestive diseases, too much fiber can inhibit the absorption of calcium and zinc — two minerals vital for skin health.

Water is another essential component of the excretory system. Water is also vital for healthy skin. Because our bodies are two-thirds water, adequate amounts are critical to prevent dehydration and damage to tissues — and skin. Without adequate amounts of water, skin looses elasticity and vitality.

Medical experts recommend drinking a full six to eight glasses of water a day, more if you exercise regularly. This not only helps to replace moisture lost through perspiration, but helps to flush harmful toxins out of the body. But what type of water is best?

Tap water is inconsistent and can contain unusable minerals and additives. Rainwater, once thought to be the best of all water sources, is no longer a good choice because of contaminates and pollutants. Even bottled mineral water might not be a good long-term choice.

While the body does require essential minerals, proper food sources remain the best choice for obtaining them. This is because the body can only use organic minerals. Some found in mineral water are sources the body cannot effectively use.

For instance, calcium can only be used by the body when it is in milk or dairy products. When it is in the form of “dolomite,” a calcium clay mined as a mineral, it cannot be used by the body. There are other such unusable minerals found in mineral water. Retained by the body, they can cause health problems, some serious, such as kidney stones.

The overall best choice when it comes to drinking water, as well as for cosmetic use, is distilled. Distilled water is pure, free of inorganic minerals. In addition to water, eat plenty of water-rich fruits such as melons, and vegetables — both also rich sources of important vitamins and minerals for healthy skin.

Nervous System:

Because nerves affect every other system in the body, skin health and quality is also affected. Your skin is covered with sensory cells; one square inch of skin contains more than 19,000 of these cells. They carry messages about touch, taste, pain, smell, cold, and heat to the nerve centers in the brain.

By stimulating sensory cells through a series of stimuslaps, using pressing, (gentle but firm) slapping, stroking, pressing, and massaging, muscles and blood vessels expand. When expanded, a greater supply of blood flows to the skin, improving nourishment and color.

In addition to all the above, lack of sleep not only makes a person feel sluggish and grumpy. It also affects their appearance and the quality of their skin. A person’s skin tone and texture are adversely affected when deprived of adequate sleep.

While we mid-lifers cannot stop the inevitable natural aging process, we can slow it down considerably. A more youthful, glowing complexion truly is within our grasp. All it takes is the desire for more healthy skin, proper skin care techniques, responsible life-style choices, and a few minutes each day.

©2006 Remedium