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How to Protect Your Skin

By Joy Healey

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 06Aug2008
Word count: 730
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No one can deny that having a healthy skin is important and desirable. Quite apart from enhancing your attractiveness, it frees you from the embarrassment and discomfort of symptoms caused by skin diseases.

Skin is perhaps one of the most important parts of your body, protecting you from a host of diseases that may pose a threat to your existence.

It is our body's main line of defense. It guards you against infections and insulates your body from the ever-fluctuating external environment in order to keep a relatively stable body temperature.

It is also the body's main point of contact to the outside world, sending constant information to the brain about pain, heat, texture, cold, etc. If this function is impaired you can be at increased risk, for instance, of burning.

With these functions in mind, there is no doubt that proper skin care and staying away from skin damaging activities is important.

SPFs, Lifestyle and Diet

One of the most important steps you can take to protect your skin is to minimize unnecessary sun exposure and tanning. Unavoidable sun exposure such as recreation or as part of occupation is one of the hazards of everyday life but without protection sun exposure increases your risk of developing skin cancer later in life. There are misconceptions about skin color. People believe that the fairer you are, the more you are likely to suffer burns caused by exposure to sunlight. That may be partly true, but overexposure to UV light can cause serious skin problems however fair or dark your skin is.

No-one but a recluse can completely avoid some level of sun exposure, and quite apart from the feel-good factor, some sun-light can be beneficial to health. (Vitamin D production) However, when exposing yourself to the sun's rays, the following recommendations will help prevent excessive exposure:

Wear Protective Sunscreen - More and more people are starting to realize the importance of wearing lotions with Sun Protection Factor ingredients (SPF). High rated SPF sunscreen lotions are effective in blocking UV rays from penetrating your skin. Increasing SPFs means increasing protection.

Intensive application should be made on exposed spots of the body such as the lower arm and legs, ear lobes, nose, feet and the face. Choose sunscreens that contain a high amount of titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, benzophenone, oxybenzone, sulisobenzone and/or butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane known as avobenzone (Parsol 1979).

Wear Protective Fabric - Tightly woven clothing are effective in warding off unwanted UV rays. Today, some fabrics are even labeled according to how effective they are in intercepting UV rays. Hats with wide brims also offer protection. The back of the neck can be a particularly vulnerable spot.

Cosmetic tanning is unnecessary and poses the same kind of risk as the sun, due to UV-induced damage. It uses UVA rays and does not always cause obvious burns, which makes it particularly dangerous. The amount of damage is comparable to UVB rays which cause visible tanning and damage.

Other damage can occur from exposure to cigarette smoke, either as an active or passive smoker. Avoid smoky atmospheres and if you, or someone whose company you keep regularly smokes, it's time to quit!

Eat Healthily - Maintaining a well-balanced diet is critical to the care of a healthy skin. You've heard it before, but bear in mind that fresh fruits and vegetables contain anti-oxidants such as vitamins C, D and E, which are excellent skin rejuvenating ingredients. Studies on skin care show that Vitamin D can help the body combat skin cancer.

These organic foodstuffs bind with highly reactive free radicals and neutralize them. They protect the body against damage caused by these injurious chemicals.

Whole grains, seeds, nuts, fish such as tuna and salmons are excellent sources of fatty acids and essential oils that keep the skin hydrated. Fatty acids act like a bullet-proof vest in preventing UV rays from penetrating deeply into the skin and causing damage.

Fluids such as water and juices also keep your skin dehydrated and minimize the effect of sun exposure. Alcohol will dehydrate it. Research shows that dehydrated skin are more prone to burns and structural damage.

As well as keeping you looking young and healthy, your skin is designed to protect and shield you from the threats of the environment. For the optimum chance of success, give it the best possible care.

Joy Healey qualified as a nutritionist in 2000, at the prestigious Institute for Optimum Nutrition in London. Read about other aspects of skin care by downloading a free ebook at: http://www.nutrition4all.co.uk/skin.html

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