But in order to have a long-term impact on wrinkles, one needs to understand how skin deteriorates, and then have a clear plan how to stop this. I hate to break this to you, but day by day the skin on your face is aging and breaking down. It is a law of nature that collagen-the protein molecule that holds your skin together and makes you look young-breaks down and is destroyed as you get older.
Collagen Destroyers
One of the main culprits is an enzyme known as collagenase, or MMP, which increases as you age and is responsible for the breakdown of collagen everywhere in your body, including your face. And putting topical creams on your face does very little to block these MMPs because they are doing their damage in the dermis, a skin layer that is too deep for topicals to reach.
Increased MMP levels in your skin is the main reason why you look very much different at 40 years-old than you did at 18, and why you'll look older and more wrinkled as you get into your 50s, 60s, and beyond (unless, that is, you do some of the things I recommend to stop this inevitable breakdown).
When you were 18 years-old, your face was full of collagen and production was greater than breakdown. The last thing on your mind was getting rid of wrinkles, and you had that "no sagging skin, no wrinkles" look of youthfulness. Ah, those were the days!
The Viscious Cycle of Skin Breakdown
One of the most important things you will ever do in the fight against wrinkles is to understand how this breakdown process happens so you can take steps to stop it in its tracks. This is the key principle one needs to understand.
Scientific research shows that the following takes place in your skin on a daily basis:
Damaging free radicals lead to increased MMPs in the skin, which then causes collagen breakdown, resulting in more free radicals. This process then repeats over and over again. A vicious cycle is then created that keeps on repeating and, unfortunately, you're left with runaway breakdown of collagen. Think of a smoker (who takes in enormous amounts of free radicals in the smoke they inhale) and what happens to their skin because of high levels of MMPs breaking down their collagen year after year (smokers are, without doubt, the winners of the "most-wrinkled face" awards).
Steps You Need To Take Now
So what do we do? We need to do two main things: Block free radicals so we can break the vicious cycle, and directly inhibit the collagen-breakdown activities of MMPs. There are many, many tools at our disposal that will help us accomplish these two things, but let's address free radicals first (I address MMPs and how to block them from destroying your skin in other articles).
Follow these simple steps to stop free radicals from initiating the process of causing wrinkles to form in your skin:
- Don't smoke.
- Avoid blasting your face with sunshine and wear sunscreen every day (pick a sunscreen that blocks both UVB and UVA).
- Eat a diet rich in antioxidants (fruits, vegetables, wild fish, nuts, beans, and some whole grains).
- Take antioxidants in the form of supplements.
Getting rid of wrinkles is a matter of taking steps to block skin breakdown while also using proven strategies that reduce the appearance of wrinkles fast. Click here to get a free report that describes one of the proven ways to get rid of wrinkles from the inside-out.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Alex_Sheehan
