How to Make Your Skin Health a Priority–One Habit at a Time

TL,DR (too long, didn't read)

We lose collagen and elastin at a rate of one percent per year, and over time, we often see more wrinkles, poor elasticity, and decreased hydration of the skin. Supplementation and a proper skincare routine can help to reverse the skin aging process.

I’ve outlined best practices in food, lifestyle, supplements, and skin routines in today’s newsletter. The links throughout take you right to the science behind this information.

WHY

As we age, many of us notice changes in skin quality. Dull skin, fine lines, and a loss of elasticity are among the most common grievances in women during perimenopause and menopause.

While fillers and injectables are certainly options, I would put them second in line after a few items well within your control–your nutrition (or your internal health), your exercise habits, and your skin routine (external topicals). All of these can address wrinkles, elasticity, and hydration both from the inside out and outside in.

While you likely won’t see immediate results, when done consistently, you may see a noticeable difference in your skin in about three months.

I’ve made a personal goal to have my best skin ever this year, and it has become such an interesting rabbit hole to go down!

WHAT

Fine Lines & Wrinkles
The facial muscles are a group of about 20 flat skeletal muscles lying underneath the skin of the face and scalp. Most of them originate from the bones or fibrous structures of the skull and radiate to insert on the skin. This is a unique feature of facial muscles–a direct insertion point to the skin.

Other skeletal muscles typically originate from and insert into bone. The insertion directly into the skin is what allows for the face to move.

Years of facial expression start to show up at perpendicular angles to the muscle fibres. For example, the infamous “11” lines in between the eyebrows are exactly perpendicular to the muscle fibres of the procerus muscle. This muscle originates off the nasal bone and then flares upwards and inserts into the skin of the forehead. It is involved in furrowing or depressing the medial part (inside part) of the eyebrow.

This is in part due to wear and tear, but also an accumulation of oxidative stress, and a decrease in collagen and elastin production. As we age, this can look like a one- to two-percent loss per year.

Elasticity
It’s well known that collagen hydrolysate has several positive biological actions in the body, such as acting as an antioxidant, an antihypertensive, and being involved in lipid-lowering activities, and reparative actions in damaged skin.

Collagen is super interesting because it has a dual action in the skin where it first provides the building block components for collagen and elastin to be synthesized in the body. It then binds to dermal receptors to stimulate the synthesis of collagen and elastin as well as hyaluronic acid.

I think collagen is the heavyweight champ of skin supplements.

Hydration
Drink more water–YES! We all have to do this.

I typically aim to drink 3-4 litres daily. Most days, I settle on 2.5 to 3 litres. One thing that helps me is flavoring the water. I often add cucumbers and blueberries to a big jug. This little action makes the water feel more special.

Another component of hydration is your ability to hold onto that hydration. This is where you might find an electrolyte helpful.

Electrolytes, including sodium, potassium, and chloride, are minerals that carry an electric charge when they dissolve in water. Sodium is a cation with a positive charge (Na2+), while chloride is an anion with a negative charge (Cl2-). Other common electrolytes include phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium.

Electrolytes are involved in:

• transporting nutrients to cells,
• transporting waste out of cells,
• proper function of nerves, heart, brain, and muscles,
• pH balance, and
• fluid balance.

Hormones
While hot flashes are often ascribed to “typical” menopausal symptoms, declining levels of estrogen can have devastating effects on our skin and hair.

Decreased estrogen levels in perimenopause and menopause can look like:

• skin dryness and itchiness (pruritus),
• skin thinning and atrophy,
• wrinkles and sagging,
• poor wound healing, and
• reduced vascularity of the skin.

Many women find that using topical estradiol on the face and décolletage area improves the appearance of the skin. This topical application does not act systemically when applied only to the face. However, you must discuss this use with your primary healthcare provider and consider your individual risk factors.

HOW

LIFESTYLE INPUTS
Generally, consuming darker-colored foods like blueberries, blackberries, pomegranates, cherries, raspberries, etc., are great for skin health as they contain polyphenols that love your skin. Salmon, avocados, nuts, and seeds are good foods to be consuming often for their healthy fats.

Resistance Training: In researching for this newsletter, I was delighted to discover that resistance training also positively contributes to healthy skin by reducing circulating inflammation, increasing skin turnover rates, and by thickening the dermal matrix.

• This is great for women in their 40s and beyond! Why? Because the tendency is for our skin to get thinner with declining collagen and estrogen levels.

Cardio: Tomato-faced cardio bunnies rejoice! Regular cardio is going to be wonderful for improving circulation to the face, which allows the blood to deliver nutrients to the skin.

• Cardio also helps to increase mitochondrial function of the skin cells and reduce circulatory inflammation factors.

Red Light Therapy: This has been one of the interventions (above resistance training and regular cardio) with which I have noticed the biggest difference.

• Research shows that red light therapy, or photobiomodulation, improves the enhancement of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production, cell signaling and growth factor synthesis, and the reduction of oxidative stress.
• I invested in the BON CHARGE Red Light Face Mask and the Red Light Neck & Chest Mask and I use them daily in the morning when I check my emails. This is a simple habit stack! I always check my emails at my desk, so it’s an ideal time for me to pop these on while I organize my inbox.

Supplements: Collagen Supplementation: A daily scoop of hydrolyzed collagen has been shown to augment the effects of aging including poor elasticity, fine lines and wrinkles, and skin hydration. I add a heaping scoop of Equip Foods collagen or mindbodygreen collagen to my morning water as I’m heading to the gym.

Vitamin D: Vitamin D is well known for improving many hallmarks of skin aging. Here are a few good things that it does:

• prevents DNA damage,
• stimulates DNA repair mechanisms,
• regulates keratinocyte proliferation (keratinocytes produce keratin and make up 90 percent of your epidermal cells), and
• regulates mighty antioxidative responses.

I love the mindbodygreen Vitamin D3/K2 supplements. I take 4000 IU in the spring and summertime, and pump it up to 6000 IU in the wintertime.

Electrolytes: I use LMNT, a salt-based electrolyte, daily with hot water. My current favorite is Chocolate Caramel. My regular rotation includes Watermelon, Grapefruit, and Raspberry.

OUTSIDE INPUTS
I have incorporated these steps into my skincare routine following a conversation with my friend Dr. Tony Youn on the Better! podcast at the start of this year. This cadence included Dr. Youn’s routine essentials for better skin through topicals:

Morning Skin Routine: 1. Cleanser, 2. Vitamin C or antioxidant serum, 3. Sunscreen

Evening Skin Routine: 1. Cleanser, 2. Retinoid, 3. Moisturizer

I am also becoming interested in peptides and stem cells and their ability to help rejuvenate the skin. Coming up:

• Dr. Adeel Khan will be a guest on the podcast to discuss regenerative medicine through stem cells and peptides (not just for skin, but aging in general).
• I’m visiting his clinic to have some peptide treatments done on my skin and can’t wait to share the results with you!
• And, I’m already knee-deep in stem cell and peptide research and will have a special Mini Pause newsletter on this topic.

NOW

You may have some of these foundations already in place like eating good fats, or resistance training.

I want you to pick only one item from the HOW section that you want to incorporate into your existing skin routine. One of the best ways to make it “stick” is to pair it with something you are already doing. For example:

• I put collagen into water I am already taking to the gym.
• I use my red light face mask when I am seated and already checking my emails in the morning.

Habit stacking is an efficient way to make a small–and significant change–to your routine that won’t be overwhelming. This way the new habit is not an extra step, it is blending into an existing one.

YOUR TURN!

What are your skincare questions? Which one of these steps are you going to try? Let me know at support@drstephanieestima.com.

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WHAT THE SCIENCE SAYS

KEY POINT

If you are going to eat a lot of meat, it is probably a good idea to pair it with a lot of fruit and veg.

Typically, individuals who eat high amounts of meat often miss out on the opportunity to consume foods with fibre. That does drive up the risk for heart disease and cancer over the long term.Vegan ideology might be tempted to conclude that it is meat consumption that drives heart disease and cancer. Hear me on this: it’s the lack of fibre consumption in individuals who consume meat that drives up cancer risk.

SHORT-TERM VS. LONG-TERM BEHAVIOR