As it turns out, one of the best-kept secrets for healthier, younger-looking skin is as easy to find as turning the tap. Water makes up a large percentage of your body weight, and when you don't drink enough of it, it shows in your skin. Without enough water, your skin looks dull, and prematurely aged.
Media Articles on the Benefits of Drinking Water
It went: “Doctors recommend drinking 8 glasses per day; however, we say make it a habit to drink at least 12 glasses a day. Not only will these keep you healthy, but will leave a radiant glow on your skin, which will make you look younger.”
Board Certified Dermatologist Dr. Kimberly Jerdan agrees: “The theory that drinking water prevents wrinkles or signs of aging is false.”
Green tea. Green tea may help protect your skin from damage and aging. The powerful compounds found in green tea are called catechins and work to improve the health of your skin in several ways. Like several other antioxidant-containing foods, green tea can help protect your skin against sun damage ( 38 , 39 , 40 ).
"You may feel a difference within minutes of drinking water," explains Mary Stewart, R.D., L.D., the founder of Cultivate Nutrition in Dallas. "In fact, one study found that participants experienced an increase in caloric burn 24 minutes after drinking water."
Most people begin to notice a shift in the appearance of their face around their 40's and 50's, with some also noticing a change in their 30's. But with these physical changes brought on by aging also comes a change in the appearance of our face - Luckily, there is treatment available.
People who had just 2 or 3 more cups of water a day seem to have less fat, sugar, salt, and overall calories through the day. That means proper hydration could help you lose weight. Extra water can replace empty, sugary calories many people drink with meals.
The more hydrated you stay, the fewer wrinkles and fine lines you'll see. Water helps your skin maintain moisture, which increases your elasticity. The more elastic your skin, the fewer wrinkles you'll see.
If the outermost layer of the epidermis doesn't contain enough water, skin will lose elasticity and feel rough. Despite this connection, however, there's a lack of research showing that drinking extra water has any impact on skin hydration or appearance.
"If you get dehydrated, your body is going to pull water from your tissues, from your skin to maintain the concentration in your blood," Besser explained to ABC. "When it does that, your eyes are going to look sunken, your skin is going to feel dryer, it's not going to be as elastic and so you will look a lot older."
When I started drinking more water, my energy improved, and my motivation to pursue other healthy habits came with it. I drank water instead of soda, so I did not experience an afternoon sugar crash. I had a glass of water before and after my meals, so I felt more satiated and did not need to eat as much.
Here is one more reason to enjoy that morning cup of joe: “Coffee counts toward your daily water intake,” says Lauren DeWolf, MS, RD, a registered dietitian with Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Centers. The water in coffee, tea and other caffeinated beverages helps us meet our daily fluid needs.
This is called extrinsic aging. As a result, premature aging can set in long before it was expected. In other words, your biological clock is more advanced than your chronological clock. Controllable factors such as stress, smoking and sun exposure can all play a role in expediting extrinsic aging.
Exposure to light is a top cause of premature aging: Sun exposure causes many skin problems. Ultraviolet (UV) light and exposure to sunlight age your skin more quickly than it would age naturally. The result is called photoaging, and it's responsible for 90% of visible changes to your skin.
According to the United States Social Security Administration, anyone age 65 or older is elderly.
Benefits of Drinking Water
Getting enough water every day is important for your health. Drinking water can prevent dehydration, a condition that can cause unclear thinking, result in mood change, cause your body to overheat, and lead to constipation and kidney stones.
When you drink a glass of water, it takes approximately 15 minutes for your body to absorb the fluid. However, when you're dehydrated, it can take about three times as long (45 minutes) for fluids to make their way from the stomach into the bloodstream and to the rest of the body.
Vitamin D is one of the best vitamins for your skin, along with vitamins C, E, and K. Making sure you get enough vitamins can keep your skin looking healthy and youthful. This could translate to a reduction in: dark spots.
Loss of muscle tone and thinning skin gives the face a flabby or drooping appearance. In some people, sagging jowls may create the look of a double chin. Your skin also dries out and the underlying layer of fat shrinks so that your face no longer has a plump, smooth surface.
As a plastic surgeon sees it, there are structural reasons that people age differently. “Asians have a wider bone structure than a typical Caucasian face,” Dobryansky notes. “The soft-tissue loss is seen and felt to a lesser extent because of the wider structure.