SOS - Save our skin

Source: New Idea, November 17, 2001.

This article from New Idea gives tips on how to look after you skin to stop it aging faster than you do!

1. Stop smoking!
   
   
2. Drink at least two litres of water a day.
   
   
3. Apply sunscreen (SPF15+ or more) before you leave the house and every 90 minutes. Don't forget those hard to reach areas like the tops of the ears, eyelids and the backs of the knees.
   Don't mix sunscreens either as it can dilute their effectiveness, since sunscreens often have different chemical bases, says Stephen Shumack.
   
   
4. Get an annual skin check from your GP or dermatologist. Watch out for anything that changes colour, shape or size, or for wounds or scabs that don't heal or that bleed easily.
   
   
5. Don't forget your hands. 'There's no point having the face of a teenager when your hands look like exposure they belong to Methuselah,' says Stephen.
   Always rub an SPF15+ sunscreen into your hands daily, especially before driving.
   
   
6. Know the food link. The latest research says that the key to line-free skin may lie in your fridge. In a recent study at Melbourne's Monash University on a large cross-section of elderly Anglo-Celts, Greeks and Swedes, it was found that those people on a Mediterranean-style diet were less prone to wrinkling. 'The foods associated with less wrinkling were olive oil, legumes, vegetables and fish, especially sardines,' says Dr Antigone Kouris-Blazos, lecturer in nutrition at Monash University.
   'Other foods associated with less wrinkling include tea, prunes, nuts, apples and berries.'
   
   
7. Forget fatty, sugary foods. Foods that are bad for our skin or make us more wrinkle prone are full-fat dairy products, cordials, soft drinks, sugary pastries and desserts. 'It's theorised that sugary foods may disrupt the function of the skin cells because glucose attaches to proteins in the cell membranes. In theory at least, this may make skin more susceptible to UV damage and wrinkling,' says Dr Kouris-Blazos.
   
   
8. Go natural. According to naturopath Linda Kotis, from Sydney's Macquarie Naturopathic Clinic, tomatoes are great for our skin. 'Tomatoes are high in Iycopene, which protects the DNA in cells from oxidation damage caused by sun and burnt skin. It can help prevent wrinkles,' she says.
   A US study reported in The Journal of Nutrition suggests that Iycopene may also be 'an important defence mechanism against the adverse effects of UV radiation on the skin'.