When it comes to looking younger than your age, genetics play a huge part. However, the right lifestyle habits can also make a real difference.
Content creator Jessi Malay took to YouTube to show off her 70-year-old mum, who social media can’t believe is a day over 45. The ageless beauty mother shared how she has maintained a youthful look by kicking the habit of being stressed.
Jessi asked her mum how she manages stress, “as we all know that is a huge factor in ageing”.
Indeed, a journal published in the National Library of Medicine reads: “We become biologically older when our bodies are under stress, but younger again when we recover, according to a study that analysed people’s DNA when they had emergency hip surgery, had severe COVID-19 or were pregnant.
“This recovery suggests we have the machinery to be able to rewind the clock back at least a little bit,” said James White at Duke University in North Carolina, who co-led the study.
Stress is ‘a huge factor in agein’
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The 70-year-old said: “The easiest thing to do is reach for the ice cream, but that’s not good, or that extra cookie.
“So instead I would go out, go for a walk and walk a few blocks. By the time I got home, I noticed that my stress level was a lot better.”
When she was stressed at night, she lay down on the floor for 30 minutes and listened to music – “I suggest that to anybody and everybody who has any stress in their lives”. She also took to drawing to relieve her stress levels.
A dermatologist exclusively revealed to GB News that stress “makes everything worse”.
Indeed, cortisol is the main human stress hormone and “higher cortisol levels can break down the skin over time”.
Some ways to combat high-stress levels include meditation, yoga and walking. Of course, exercise has a myriad of health and wellness benefits.
An expert shared the ultimate anti-ageing workout: a low-intensity and low-impact exercise that can help you appear more “youthful”.
According to the American Fitness Professionals and Associates (AFPA), “exercise keeps your skin youthful and glowing”.
“The sweat clears your skin of impurities and dirt and opens up the pores allowing a free flow of air. It also improves the elasticity of the skin, which can be easily visible in any 40+ year-old adult.”
Not only this, exercise improves flexibility, enhances mood and ramps up your metabolism.
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For youthful, radiant skin, remove your make-up before going to bed
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Of course, skin care is essential if you want to reverse the clock. Jessi’s mum is a fan of a Clinique Smart Clinical duo product that works to resculpt and re-volumise the skin.
She also ensures she takes her make-up off before she goes to bed. After she washes her face in the morning, she adds very cold water to her face cloth – sometimes with a few ice cubes – twists the water out and places it on her face for just three seconds.
The experts at Kiehl skin care said: “Lukewarm water is advisable to wash your face with, but cold water has its benefits, too. Cold water tightens the appearance of your skin, so it may make you look renewed and refreshed. It also helps boost your circulation, which can help give your skin a healthier appearance, albeit temporarily.”
In the YouTube comments section, people could not believe the 70-year-old’s age. One said: “I literally cannot believe you when you say she’s 70!!! She literally looks 45.”
Another said: “She looks like she’s in her 40 years! What a beauty!” A third said: “She doesn’t even look 50!! That’s great.”
