The holidays are notorious for unhealthy habits. That’s why as they come to a close we all end up desperately making New Year’s resolutions. From eating 10 different kinds of pie at family gatherings to reduced exercise in colder weather, the holiday season is just not good for physical health. While most people think about their waistline during this time, skin health can be just as frustrating. We usually imagine poor skin health to just mean a teenager’s pimples but several different types of acne affect adults, too. Such conditions include blackheads, whiteheads, pustules, and several others. We hope that this Keeping Your Skin Clear Through the Holidays post inspires you.
If you’re one of the 50 million Americans affected by acne, you know just how much damage can be wrought during the holiday season. For that reason, below is a brief list of actions you can take to protect your skin.
The holidays are almost synonymous with sweets. Pies, cookies, and sugar-loaded meals abound. Unfortunately, sugar is terrible for your skin in several substantially documented ways. It affects everything from cellular membranes to the gut, immune system, and inflammation. Biochemically, sugar also produces glycation, which means that proteins get damaged and free radicals are produced that ultimately causes the skin to sag and wrinkle.
The holidays are also known for tons of processed foods, which are bad for the health of your skin as well as your overall health. It’s important to remember that your nutrition, eating habits, and diet all play a substantial role in your skin health. The body is a single integrated machine and if you’re having problems with one system, it can affect all the others. While it may not be realistic to say you’re not going to have any sugar during the coming weeks, you can make a conscious effort to dramatically reduce your intake.
Like sweets, the holidays are a time of heavy imbibing and alcoholic libations. While you probably already know that excessive alcohol is bad for your overall health, it is also particularly bad for your skin. From the metabolizing of toxic by-products to dehydrated skin, alcohol wreaks havoc on the epidermis. There’s a reason that hangovers feel so horrible – you’ve poisoned yourself. You know that can’t be good for your skin! Alcohol also adversely affects your sleep, which plays a key role in rehabilitating the body and regenerating your skin cells.
This one may be next to impossible this year, what with the pandemic that is surging. 2020 may easily be the most stressful holiday season in recent memory, as countless families worry about their health, their jobs, their kids, and their families. There’s no other way to say it: this is an incredibly stressful year.
However, there is an ironic flipside to the pandemic equation in 2020 when it comes to holiday stress. The pandemic is likely to force many families to forgo in-person gatherings and instead conduct virtual holidays through Zoom or Skype. While this is sad for many, it is possible this could reduce stress levels because it means not having massive numbers of family members staying with you over the weekends. It also means it might be easier to avoid the dreaded political arguments, which have created tension in many extended families.
Generally speaking, stress is terrible for your skin because it causes hormonal fluctuations that create oil and clog your pores. So if you can avoid stressful situations, you give yourself a much better chance to achieve excellent skin health. The holidays are a rough time for your skin. Cold weather by itself is bad for it but when you combine the incomprehensible amounts of sugar, alcohol, and stress, you’ve got yourself a perfect storm for an acne breakout.
With everything that’s going on in the world this year, there may be no better time to focus your efforts on self-care and try to discipline yourself. You don’t have to completely deprive yourself of everything….but with pecan pie and hot toddies, a little goes on a long way. We hope that this Keeping Your Skin Clear Through the Holidays post inspires you. Good luck!
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