Looking visibly aged now, more than expected. page 2

[Damiana]

From a female point of view, I have to stress the importance of skincare. I grew up in an Asian community where the women are absolute meticulous in their skincare regime. SPF every day, skin cream every night, and it shows. I know Mark days it's important to get sun exposure, I say screw it. I use a high SPF every day without fail, so do the other ladies I know, and they all have gorgeous skin and look years younger than their age. Yes, diet is important, but so is taking good care of what's external.

[Derpamix]

Good Info-Sunlight's beneficial effects

Q: Doesn’t exposure to the sun age you?

This effect is variable, and depends on our hormones and diet.

The unsaturated oils have been identified as a major factor in skin
aging. For example, two groups of rabbits were fed diets
containing either corn oil or coconut oil, and their backs were
shaved, so sunlight could fall directly onto their skin. The
animals that ate corn oil developed prematurely wrinkled skin,
while the animals that ate coconut oil didn’t show any harm from
the sun exposure.

Also, zinc and copper imbalance will leave you vulnerable to damage from the sun.

[gopintos]

Just by observation, the people who follow a primal/peleo eating diet consistently do age rapidly

I see alot of befores & afters, on sparkpeople (50%carb/30fat/20protein - not that everyone does it that way) but many times, the afters look older than the plump-faced befores. Of course they are a bit older now than they were, but many times they look alot older.

[Nekron]

Also, zinc and copper imbalance will leave you vulnerable to damage from the sun.

You know, if you use the word "imbalance" without any clarification you cant really expect people to understand what you are going for. Imbalance as in too much of each of them, not enough of each of them, too much of one in relation to the other?

[Sabine]

You might look at the Perricone Diet, and see if some of his recommendations for skin health, can be fit into your diet.

[RichMahogany]

I think it's the stress from the umm... marital issues... you allude to in your other thread.

[quelsen]

YO! Brother,

Skimmed the answers but my thought is.... check your Omega 3 intake. Lipids Lipids Lipids.

they make all of your cell membranes you know

next... collagen/gelatin , EAT IT!!!!!!! how do i do it.

1/8c of dried gelatin in every soup/stew i make. sometimes even in a burger.

You are rebuilding a body. give it something to work with.

Your brother in arms!

[Neckhammer]

Stress is right. Maybe I should drop coffee after all. And go back to day shift so I can quit flip-flopping back and forth.....

Two reasons I think it may not even be diet related:

1. Night shift sucks. At thirty...middleaged we tend to handle it less and less well. My wife did OK on it all through her twenties (nurse), but in her thirties here she began having heart arrhythmia, droping BP to the point of fainting, and poorer mood. We switched her to day shift and reduced her caffeine and watched all those symptoms disappear!

2. I've seen your pics. You weigh a lot less than you use to. I'm not saying you should be all wrinkled like a prune, but between the stress of night shift and being lean....well lean people do show lines and such a lot more. I personally have an inherited trait where even if I'm the least bit tired my eyes (bags I guess youd say) really come out. But, I too am pretty lean and don't have much adipose in the face to hide these changes when overstressed.

Just some musings on that. Anyhow if your going to go starches you can use plantains too as a jumping point. I also liked quelsons answer as I didn't read the rest yet....

[SarahW]

What does your dad look like?

What did your dad look like at your age?

Could be genes, unfortunately.

Beyond that - you could try washing your face with egg whites.

And I second the CO idea. I think Price talks about a tribe (in the tropics, obviously) who always slathered their skin with CO. They said it made them healthier and live longer, or something. I think I read about it in something written by Masterjohn. Sorry I can't be more precise.

[ryanmercer]

It could just be change in muscle and body fat percentages. For example... look at a kid headed into the corp, he's soft and puffy, baby faced, looks like the kid that he is. Look at him 1-2 years later, his face looks like it's carved from granite, he's lean and mean and looks far older than 19-20.

Sure that isn't always the case, but I've seen a lot of friends go into the corp, go in baby-faced and 6-12 months later if I passed them on the street I wouldn't recognize them.