Top 5 Most Common Causes of Skin Damage

It is a lot easier to damage your skin than we would like to believe, but the fact is that the decisions we make on a daily basis can have a dramatic effect on our skin healthiness. Everyone knows that eating fast food and other greasy food can regularly cause zits and acne, but it is less common knowledge that not drinking enough water can actually cause your skin to become quite dry.

Here are 5 of the most common causes of skin damage:

1. Not drinking enough water – Staying hydrated is incredibly important every day, not just when you get a cold. Without ingesting proper amounts of water, our bodies would have difficulty functioning and the same can be said about our skin. Skin cells are made primarily out of water and regularly needs to refresh itself with new skin cells to stay healthy and hydrated. Without enough water in our system, our skin has a tough time supplying those new skins cells which causes your skin to become dry and cracked.
2. You are a smoker – Setting aside the obvious negative side effects caused by smoking (lung cancer, throat cancer, heart disease, etc…), smoking also has an effect on your skins health. Over time smoking will cause your skin to dry out and look very cracked. Long time smokers have been known to look aged more quickly.
3. Too much fun in the Sun – Everyone loves having fun in the sun, particularly in the summer months, but if you go out there without the right amount of sunblock and UV protections you are asking to get burned. The suns UV rays are incredibly harmful to your body. Recurring sun burn can not only make you be at higher risk of developing skin cancer, but also cause your skin to age more quickly. Nobody wants to look like a raisin in their 30s.
4. Not enough exercise – Aside from causing you to gain weight, not exercising also causes your skin to look less healthy. The reason this happens is by not exercising your body isn’t pushing enough blood flow throughout your body on a daily basis. The reason this is important is that your blood carries oxygen throughout your body and that includes your skin cells. Without oxygen, your skin cells begin to get dry and will eventually crack and form blemishes.
5. Eating unhealthy – As mentioned earlier, the food we eat has a tremendous impact on our skin health. As the saying goes “You are what you eat!” so don’t spend every day chomping down fast food if you expect to have healthy looking skin. It is important to feed your body (skin included) healthy food on a daily basis to ensure everything works the way it is supposed to.