Posted Aug 12, 2010
THINK OF YOUR FACE. Now think of a prune. Think of a grape. Which would you rather look like?
Pick the grape. It’s fuller, rounder, more colorful, full of fl uid and antioxidants. That’s what you want — a bright, healthy look without the wrinkles.
Bad habits — smoking, alcohol consumption, lack of exercise and poor nutrition — won’t get you there.
If you don’t care what bad habits do to undermine your health, think what they are doing to your looks.
A recent European study said these four bad habits age people as much as 12 years. Here’s how:
Smoking: Smoking breaks down the collagen, fi brous protein found in tissue and bone cartilage. With the collagen breakdown, repeated facial expressions cause fine lines and wrinkles to develop early. Smokers also tend to develop a yellow tint to their skin. Microscopic studies can detect the beginnings of aging in smokers as early as their 20s. Not a pretty sight. Don’t smoke.
— — —
Alchohol: Heavy drinking, especially in women, often leads to low body weight, malnutrition, infertility and osteoporosis (loss of calcium). This makes women look fragile and old.
For men, excessive alcohol consumption results in the beer belly. Drinkers also often have red skin or a yellowish, jaundiced look, reflecting the impact of alcohol on internal organs such as the liver. Alcohol also dehydrates the skin and deteriorates brain cells. You’ll look confused and act it. It is high in calories, low in nutrition. Malnutrition does nothing to minimize the natural aging process affecting the skin and loss of collagen.
— — –Eating junk: People who don’t eat the right foods will have aging issues, such as obesity. It’s common sense. It’s not an intellectual issue. It’s a behavioral one. If you don’t eat right, you might not see or feel changes overnight, but over 20 years or more, you will. You need a minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. What’s that? A half cup of orange juice, a half cup of peaches, a small apple and a cup of broccoli. Not much, but that’s the minimum. Strive for nine servings daily. Fruits and vegetables give you the fl uids, fiber and antioxidants, substances that slow down deterioration of the body.
— — –Lack of exercise: We were made to move. You don’t have time not to exercise. People might like to look good, but have a realistic body image of yourself. Only 5 percent of women have big breasts and small hips. If you have big breasts, you’re most likely to have big hips, too.
Also, just because you are young and look good, don’t think not exercising won’t catch up with you when you age. It’s the things you don’t see that will kill you — high blood pressure and cholesterol, heart disease.
What to do? Take 10,000 steps a day. It doesn’t matter how you get there — walk, run, swim, play basketball. Buy a pedometer for motivation.
Sources: Douglas C. Albright, director of respiratory care services, St. Joseph Medical Center (smoking); Cheryl Knepper, executive director of adult drug and alcohol treatment programs, Caron Treatment Centers (alcohol); Sandra Fishman, Wyomissing nutritionist and registered dietitian in private practice (eating); Dina Hayduk, instructor in personal health management, Kutztown University (exercise).
Contact Bruce R. Posten: 610-371-5059 or bposten@readingeagle.com.
—–
To see more of the Reading Eagle, or to subscribe, go to http://www.readingeagle.com.
Copyright © 2010, Reading Eagle, Pa.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
