Women's "cliff-like aging" often occurs at these two ages! Do these 6 things to prevent it in advance →

Time flies, and beauty ages. Skin is only bright for a few years. As we age, we gradually become anxious about our appearance and start to pay attention to wrinkles, spots, acne, and crow's feet and wrinkles that appear from time to time... Their appearance makes us look no longer young. Female friends are often more concerned about aging.

As time goes by, we are all getting older. So how should we define and evaluate aging? Do we age little by little, or do we suddenly age when we reach a certain age?

Women age fastest at these two ages

Recently, a study jointly conducted by research teams from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wenzhou Medical University attempted to systematically explore the biological markers of aging in Chinese women across five dimensions and established a multi-level composite clock for Chinese women, which can be used to evaluate the dynamic changes in aging in Chinese women.

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A total of 113 healthy Chinese female volunteers aged between 20 and 66 were recruited for this study. By comparing the aging dynamics curves of people of different age groups, the study found that the female subjects had obvious dynamic characteristics of accelerated aging changes at the ages of 30 and 50. [1]

Among them, the aging changes around the age of 30 are mainly manifested in lipid accumulation and steroid reduction at the metabolic level; the aging changes around the age of 50 are mainly manifested in drastic changes at multiple levels such as organs, cells and molecules, including a sharp rise or fall in a variety of highly aging-related indicators. In addition, the endocrine levels in these two age groups will fluctuate greatly, and changes in hormone levels will occur. This also roughly corresponds to the important dividing points between fertility and menopause of the female volunteers in this study.

So, based on this study, 30 and 50 years old may be two important turning points in the aging process for women .

There may be a turning point in aging, but health cannot be achieved by "cram school". It can only be accumulated through good habits in daily life. Let's start with eating.

To prevent aging, you should do these 6 things

From ancient times to the present, people have been trying to find ways to prevent aging and prolong life, and there is even a legendary "elixir of life". As far as current technology is concerned, there is no hope for "elixir", so it is more realistic to start with diet and lifestyle habits.

1. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables: Fresh fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamin C, which is the raw material for the synthesis of skin collagen, making the skin plump, smooth and elastic . At the same time, vitamin C is also a strong antioxidant that can protect the skin from free radical damage and reduce skin damage.

For example, vegetables such as sweet peppers, colored peppers, radish leaves, bok choy, bitter gourd, coriander, and radish; fruits such as fresh dates, kiwi, guava, strawberry, papaya, and orange.

At the same time, you should also choose more dark-colored fruits and vegetables, because the antioxidant content of dark-colored fruits and vegetables is significantly higher than that of light-colored fruits and vegetables. The intake of rich antioxidants can help us inhibit the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), anti-aging, and anti-inflammation .

For example, broccoli, carrots, spinach, pumpkin, mango, papaya, etc. are rich in beta-carotene; purple cabbage, purple lettuce, eggplant, purple sweet potato, wolfberry, blueberry, etc. are rich in anthocyanins; tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, etc. are rich in lycopene.

2. Eat less sweets: Most sweets contain a lot of added sugar. Eating too much sugar will promote the glycation reaction of the skin, which will lead to decreased skin elasticity, dark yellow skin, spots, and easy aging . For example, desserts, candies, shaqima, ice cream, milk tea and other foods.

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3. Don’t smoke : Smoking is a recognized unhealthy lifestyle, especially its damage to the lungs. Smoking also has certain negative effects on the skin, mainly in terms of promoting skin aging . Using a laser Doppler blood flow detector to detect skin blood flow, it was found that compared with non-smokers, smokers have reduced microcirculation function and reduced blood supply to the skin. It also reduces the collagen content in the skin, affecting skin elasticity, tension, wrinkles, and promoting skin aging. [2]

In addition, smoking will increase the production of free radicals, damage the skin's antioxidant capacity, and accelerate skin aging. If you want good skin, it is important to quit smoking as soon as possible .

4. Don’t stay up late : We all know that staying up late is unhealthy, but sometimes we have to do it. Studies have found that compared with people who don’t stay up late, the skin barrier of people who stay up late is damaged. This is manifested in a decrease in the water content of the stratum corneum, which in turn leads to an increase in transepidermal water loss. It should be noted that only when the stratum corneum has a high water content can the skin be bright and shiny. In addition, the amount of sebum in the skin of people who stay up late will increase, and the firmness of the skin will also decrease. [3]

This series of changes will make people's skin look older. If you stay up late at night and sleep late, you will obviously feel mentally tired the next day, and the whole person looks older.

Therefore, if you want to prevent aging, don’t stay up late. It is best to go to bed between 10pm and 11pm and get 7 to 8 hours of sleep.

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5. Exercise more: Exercising more can keep people young. Aerobic exercise, in particular, can effectively delay aging, prevent diseases, and maintain health . Aerobic exercise can also improve the body's DNA methylation level (DNA methylation is an important sign of aging). [4]

It is best to do aerobic exercise 5 days a week, 30 minutes each time.

**6. Sun protection: **Long-term exposure to sunlight is the main reason for accelerated skin aging. Different ultraviolet rays can be divided into three types according to their wavelengths, including UVA, UVB and UVC. UVA can cause the skin to become tanned, wrinkled and have spots; UVB can cause the skin to become red and sunburned, increasing the risk of skin cancer; UVC has almost no harm to the skin.

Therefore, in order to prevent skin aging, proper sun protection and avoiding prolonged exposure to the sun are also essential measures .

References

[1] Li, Jiaming et al. "Determining a multimodal aging clock in a cohort of Chinese women." Med (NewYork, NY), S2666-6340(23)00197-6. ​​24 Jul. 2023

[2] Chen Yu, Qian Hong, Sang Hanfei, Xiong Lizhe. Research progress on smoking and skin aging[J]. Chinese Journal of Aesthetic Medicine, 2010, 19(8): 1249-1251

[3] Liu Ting. Correlation between skin physiological characteristics and skin microecology of people who stay up late[D]. Shanghai University of Technology, 2020. DOI: 10.27801/d.cnki.gshyy.2020.000414.

[4] Wang Liang. Research on the role of DNA methylation in anti-aging of aerobic exercise[J]. Sports World, 2023(1):0137-0139

Author: Xue Qingxin, one of the first nutrition instructors of the National Health Commission, and a registered nutritionist in China

Reviewer: Zhang Na, Associate Researcher, Doctoral Supervisor, Peking University School of Public Health