It’s going to happen. Your body is going to age, and your skin will show it. Aging causes your skin to thin and dry out, lose elasticity as collagen and elastin production lessen, decrease in plumpness as fat pads diminish and wrinkle from the wear and tear of life and sun exposure. These are the things you can’t control, but there are a number of habits you can adopt daily to ease your body’s aging process. Here are five simple things to add to your daily regimen in order to ease your body’s aging process:
Drink Organic Wine
If you do consume alcohol, red wine reduces mortality by more than 30 percent according to a meta-analysis of sixteen studies. I suggest eliminating or really limiting all alcohol but red wine, and recommend drinking one glass of it twice per week. In other words, wine can be chock-full of toxins—which is why you want to drink wine made from organic grapes. It turns out that in addition to being better for your health and the planet, organic wine can also taste superb, although you may need to adjust your palate and experiment to find ones you like.
Swap Coffee for Matcha Latte
Matcha is green tea that has been finely ground into a powder. With matcha you’re drinking the entire green tea leaf, not just tea water, which is partly why it’s so much more nutrient-dense than standard green tea. Matcha tea is high in antioxidants and amino acids (like L-theanine, which increases serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, and has a calming effect). It’s a little known secret that the caffeine in matcha can help focus energy, and remove the jitters.
Eat More Wild-Caught Fish
Marine fat is full of omega-3s and omega-6s, healthy fats that can actually keep you from gaining weight. Enjoy low-mercury, wild-caught fish, such as salmon, cod, steelhead trout, or halibut, two to three servings per week. They lower your cortisol levels, increase lean body mass, and improve vagal tone (as measured via heart rate variability), as well as raise DHA and vitamin D levels, both of which are good for the skin and mind.
Sleep on Your Side
Your brain’s glymphatic system works best when you’re sleeping on your side. I use a pillow between my bent legs to pin myself in a side-lying position, which helps decompress my low back. FYI, Sleeping on your right side activates your vagus nerve, which is key to stress resilience.
Floss
I recommend flossing at least twice a day. One of the best strategies for increasing healthspan, flossing fosters longevity, independent of brushing your teeth, as does seeing the dentist at least twice per year (I go quarterly). People who don’t floss have a 30 percent higher risk of mortality, and if you see the dentist only once per year, mortality is 30 to 50 percent higher. Flossing can prevent periodontal disease after as little as one month of regular use.
