9 Bad Habits That Make You Older Faster, According to Research!

Don't play into the hands of old age. There is no cure for aging. Our bodies begin to break down in our 20s what they have just built up with great effort. From 30, 40 and 50, the unstoppable path towards old age progresses in stages. There is no reason to be afraid of it, unless you have nothing to be proud of except a pretty appearance. Nobody can really do anything against old age. Even going under the scalpel and the most expensive cosmetics that money can buy can't really stop the natural aging process. However, we can do something for it ourselves or even better: put a roadblock in its path. In this article, we'll introduce you to nine bad habits that can age you faster than you'd like.

1. Extreme eating behavior.

Our bodies are generally not a fan of extremes, even though nature has equipped them perfectly for it. From the beginning of human history, we have been programmed to build up reserves for later in good times and store them in the form of fat deposits. In barren periods such as the winter months, our clever organism can fall back on these stocks and we do not starve despite a lack of food. Deliberately causing such situations, such as crash or zero diets, unnecessarily stresses our body and causes all alarm systems to call for an emergency. This causes our blood sugar to ride a roller coaster and disturbs our sleep and our general well-being. Whether it is actually true that our body can completely shut down the metabolism from a certain calorie deficit is still hotly disputed in empirical medicine. The fact is: There is another way to be healthy and to feel young, fit and dynamic.

2. Lack of sleep.

The importance of getting enough sleep on a regular basis cannot be stressed enough. Seven to eight hours of sleep per night ensures that our organism can regenerate, minor construction sites in the body can be remedied immediately and vital repair mechanisms can be set in motion. In addition, sufficient dream time guarantees mental strength and psychological balance. Sleep deprivation was and is a popular torture method for a reason. People who have had to work shifts all their lives have an above-average incidence of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Research sees the responsibility for this in the decades-long lack of sleep and irregular circadian rhythms. Without sufficient nightly rest, we are not only physically and mentally exhausted. We even gain weight over time as our hormone balance gets out of whack. All this contributes to the fact that lack of sleep makes us look older. Anyone who can still remember their wild youth knows that a night of drinking can make us feel ten years older.

3. Too much sun.

It is important for our psyche and our sleep. Without the sun we would be depressed, stressed and only a shadow of ourselves. But as with any remedy, the dose determines whether it is a blessing or a curse. Anyone who exposes himself unprotected and without restraint to direct rays of the sun risks not only skin cancer. It also brilliantly ensures that your skin ages faster and develops pigment spots and wrinkles. Sun damage to the face, for example, makes for unsightly scars that can only be concealed with difficulty. Most of the time, however, these attempts to cover them up make the result worse rather than better. On the other hand, those who opt for a high sun protection factor at an early stage and do not expose themselves to the sun any more than is absolutely necessary have a very good chance of maintaining a younger face, décolleté and even younger-looking hands for longer. After all, these are the body parts that most ruthlessly reveal our true biological age at some point.

4. Stress.

If you're constantly overtaken by your own life, you shouldn't be surprised by a worn-out and battered appearance. Stress is a factor that affects many areas of life. We eat more and unhealthier under stress, sleep less and worse and do not allow our bodies sufficient rest. Prolonged periods of stress are pure torture for our organism. No wonder it makes us feel older and, unfortunately, look exactly the same.

5. Smartphone, tablet, laptop, and other devices.

Our favorite digital addictive substances are not only bad for our self-esteem and our psyche. Excessive consumption of devices whose screens work with blue light robs us of sleep and disturbs our natural day-night rhythm. But it gets worse: lowering the head toward the display causes tension in the neck, back, shoulders and arms. Staring too intently at these devices also gives us wrinkles on our faces, which become a lasting souvenir of this leisure activity due to unconscious frowning. After several hours of unrestrained scrolling, we don't just feel as if we've aged by years; at some point, we actually look like that.

6. Smoking.

It's no longer a secret that nicotine consumption is harmful to our health and appearance. If you ask stunningly beautiful older models and actresses for a beauty secret to aging gracefully, giving up cigarettes ranks pretty high up there. What smoking does to our skin can be compared to sun damage. Nicotine causes a whole series of microscopic but serious system failures in our body. Premature aging is just one of them. This unsightly side effect results from the fact that nicotine constricts our blood vessels in the outer layers of the skin. The blood flow to our skin is thus significantly impaired. As a result, this can lead to dry skin, which becomes as thin as paper, flabby and pale, and can even form ugly spots. In this way, fine lines form prematurely in the skin, which over time mutate into distinct wrinkles.

7. Dehydration.

Our bodies are made up of approximately 80 percent water. It is therefore only logical that water is vital for us. But not only healthwise: optically a sufficient daily supply of the cool wet plays a crucial role. We should allow ourselves and our skin up to 64 ounces a day. Otherwise it becomes thin and wrinkled and makes us look older than we are in no time at all.

8. Alcohol.

Among other things, it also attacks the condition of our epidermis by disrupting blood circulation and dehydrating our body. The skin is the first to suffer from this artificially induced form of dehydration. But that's not all: alcohol consumption on a regular basis boosts sebum production, which leads to blemished skin, enlarged pores and acne. Our blood vessels dilate, which can result in annoying redness. Dreaded rosacea is caused by alcohol consumption too and is made significantly worse by it. Its harmful effects on our digestive tract even compromise our immune system, which also results in obvious signs of aging skin.

9. Lack of exercise.

Last but not least, our bodies want to keep moving for as long as possible. Humans were designed by nature to be hunter-gatherers, not couch potatoes. Exercise in the fresh air is a free fountain of youth that we should ideally take advantage of on a daily basis.

Today’s Conclusion:

Getting older is for the birds. Facing your age is healthy and certainly a dignified approach to start your second half in the best possible shape. Health clearly takes precedence over beauty. But beauty has an influence on our well-being that should not be underestimated. Aging is not for cowards. But with a little sense and feeling, it's a challenge that can definitely be met.