What to Avoid That Can Cause Skin Problems

Posted by DermaZinc® on Sep 26th 2022

Our skin is our body’s biggest organ, and it’s important that we treat it with the care it deserves. Not only is it large, but it’s also visible to ourselves and those around us. Taking care of your skin will help you avoid getting wrinkles, sunspots, and other unsightly damage to your skin.

However, skincare isn’t just about appearances. Taking care of your skin will help lower your risk of a variety of skin diseases, including skin cancer. Part of what you can do to take care of your skin is to avoid tasks or activities that are notorious for causing skin problems. So, here’s a look at what you should cut out to help keep your skin healthy.

Sun Exposure

Of course, you shouldn’t avoid the sun forever. Sunlight gives us great health benefits, including providing us with copious amounts of vitamin D. However, spending too long in the sun, or being in the sun without protection, can cause way more harm than good. Sun exposure can lead to the early onset of wrinkles and age spots and even increase your risk of skin cancer.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, getting sunburnt five or more times can as much as double your risk of developing skin cancer. This fact alone should be enough to make you think twice about going out in the sun without the proper protection. Make sure to use sunscreen, stay in the shade when you can, and wear light layers of clothing that will help you avoid unwanted issues with sun exposure.

Tanning Beds, Too

While similar, tanning beds should be addressed separately. Tanning beds give you a high dose of UV rays in as much as 10 to 15 times the intensity of the sun during its peak hours. In fact, many states have banned indoor tanning for anyone under 18 years old. To do your part in avoiding skin problems, it’s best to avoid tanning beds completely, as they usually will cause more harm than good.

Smoking Harms More Than Lungs

When you hear people talking about the negative effects that smoking cigarettes has, it often focuses on the damage to your lungs. While this is a huge problem, it’s not the only one. Smoking can cause damage to your skin in a variety of different ways.

For one, smoking will cause wrinkles. Not only will it cause wrinkles around your mouth from the repetitive action of wrapping your lips around the cigarette, but it also depletes the amount of collagen in your body. Collagen helps your skin keep its elasticity, so losing it will cause sagging or wrinkling.

In addition to the wrinkles, smoking can also increase your risk of skin cancer. While decreasing the number of cigarettes you smoke can help lower your risks, it’s best to quit smoking completely if you want to do everything in your power to avoid skin problems.

Food and Drink

Everything you put in your body can affect your skin, whether positively or negatively. If you want to avoid skin problems, there are certain food and drink groups you need to steer clear of.

Alcohol

Whenever you drink alcohol, you’ve probably noticed that you can easily get dehydrated. While you may not have considered it, this dehydration reaches more than just your dry mouth. Drinking alcohol can also dry out your skin through the dehydration process.

Dry skin can lead to an abundance of skin problems, such as flaking, dullness, or cracking. Not only that, but your skin losing the fluids it needs can also lead to sagging or even premature wrinkles. The next time you consider picking up that extra beer or wine, consider how its effects could stay on your skin much longer than the feeling the drink gives you.

Fried Foods

There are mixed opinions on the long-standing saying that greasy food will lead to oily skin. While experts can’t seem to agree on this one way or another, there is something they will agree on. Eating fried foods that have a lot of grease can be an issue as the grease has to go somewhere. Unfortunately, as this grease works its way through your body, it can slow down your circulation. This, in turn, can lead to your face appearing much puffier than usual.

Try to avoid eating fried foods or greasy food, in general, to help keep your circulation up to par. Circulation affects so many elements of our body, with the skin being only the beginning. It’s important we do all we can to keep it working smoothly.

Whey Protein

Whey protein is a food that most people wouldn’t even connect to their skin. However, it has been shown that it can cause acne to flare up when used regularly. If you have a history of having acne flare-ups, the dairy substances that are in whey protein can lead to you experiencing a flare-up. It’s important to avoid whey protein if your skin has a history of reacting to other dairy products.

Sleeping In Your Makeup

While most people have the intention of following a healthy skin regimen, life often gets busy and can prevent it from being practiced. However, it is vital to your skin health that you take off your makeup before you go to sleep at night. Makeup is made of a variety of chemicals, oils, and other ingredients that can keep your skin from being able to breathe how it should.

When your skin can’t breathe, it can begin to have a problem clearing your pores. Pores can get blocked with makeup, oil, and sebum (the naturally occurring substance that your pores create). This buildup can lead to acne and blackheads because your skin isn’t able to function as it should.

Takeaway

Our skin is one of the most important parts of our body. It’s meant to protect the rest of our bodies from outside elements. However, it can only work as well as we let it work. Making an effort to avoid certain foods, habits, and environmental factors that can damage our skin can help lower our risks for a variety of skin problems. Always take the time to ask yourself how what you’re doing is harmful or beneficial to your skin – we promise your future self and health will thank you!