Everyone is looking for perfect skin, not just when they’re young, but as they age. In fact, the skin is one of the first areas of the body to show age. The most common symptom of aging of the skin is the loss of mobility and flexibility. This is due to a process called cross-linking, commonly known as wrinkling. Cross-linking is a binding process whereby cells that are normally independent of each other become damaged, losing their cellular integrity and becoming glued together. This is purely the result of free radical chemical reactions. The largest stimulation to free radical activity and therefore wrinkling is dehydration.

Throughout our lives, we have a tendency to not only drink insufficient amounts of water, we tend to replace water with soft drinks, alcohol, juices or even energy drinks.  Then when we are exposed to pollutants, stress, chemicals in our food and our beverages, we are exposing our body to millions of free radicals and damage will occur from the inside beginning at a cellular level. After years of assault, the results will begin to show in our skin.  In fact, our skin is the reflection of our lifestyle choices.  The visible aspect of this process begins generally in our late 40’s as the integrity of the collagen in our skin begins to stiffen, break down and collapse as a result of free radical exposure.  In fact, sun damage is actually the result of the amount of free radical damage your skin has already sustained, which explains why one woman can have extensive sun damage, while another who also sunbathes, will have little or none.

This process of skin aging can even be accelerated with the presence of excess sugar in the blood that reacts with the skin proteins, a process called glycation. In fact the skin of diabetics ages 30% faster because of the glycation action of sugar. We also tend to make less collagen with age, so our skin loses its natural elasticity. Another problem can be lack of essential amino acids, particularly those that are heat-sensitive or heat-labile. This can cause excessive sagging of the skin which speeds the development of wrinkling and ages the skin dramatically.