You've heard people saying that when you're too stressed out, it ages you. But have you ever stopped to wonder how much truth is there behind it? Well, it turns out that stress can really have a pretty significant impact on our skin's health and appearance.
Sadly, the effects of stress may lead to premature aging and make various skin conditions and even other health problems worse.But what is the brain skin connection and how does it contribute to changes in the look of my skin cells?
There are multiple reasons why stress responses can lead to premature aging in the skin, involving neurology, immunology, inflammation, free radicals and sleep.
Which is why you should manage stress to help prevent and improve those processes.
In this blog post, join me as I dive into the science behind how stress affects skin and make it age faster. Let's also explore the role of inflammation, habit, neurocosmetics and chat about natural solutions to help fight the effects of chronic stress on your skin.
Article Highlights
- When you're constantly in stressful situations and always feel overwhelmed, it can take a toll on both of your mental health and physical wellbeing, causing numerous health issues that can affect normal skin aging.
- Managing stress through techniques like mindfulness, meditation, and making lifestyle changes can improve your body's stress responses and bring a positive impact in your skin's health and appearance.
- New natural compounds like CBDA, a cannabinoid found in raw cannabis plants, are coming on the market and can help manage stress. Finding the right one or combination can play a critical role in rejuvenation.
Understanding Stress and its Effects on the Skin
Now, let's talk about stress and how it affects your skin. You know that stress is your body's reaction to any changes that need some kind of response or adjustment. There are two main types of stress response:
Acute stress: This is the short-term stress that pops up whenever you face a specific event or situation, like meeting a deadline or having an argument.
Chronic stress: This one sticks around for a long extended time, often due to different environmental factors.
Stress responses are normally associated with the flight-or-fight response, which was necessary for our early ancestors to survive and thrive. However, since we no longer fight the proverbial tiger in the bushes, 99% of the time it is not an appropriate response.
You know how you respond to tight deadlines, or traffic jams with exasperation and stress even though its no help to you!
The extra parental stress from balancing kids and work can be excessive too!
Welcome to chronic stress responses that are going to wreck havoc on your health over the long term.
How Stress Hormones Mess with Our Skin
When you feel stressed, your body releases hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. This is called the HPA axis (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis), and it ramps up stress hormones based on your stimuli and how you respond to it.
While cortisol is necessary in the morning when you wake up, it gets you going, helps set your internal clock (circadian rhythm), it needs to slow down after it does its job.
A sign of too much stress is high cortisol over the whole day, indicating elevated activation of the HPA.
These hormones can cause several problems for your skin, such as:
Increased oil production: Cortisol tells your oil glands to produce more oil, which can clog your pores and cause acne.
Weakened skin barrier function: Stress can make your skin's protective barrier function weaker, making it more likely to get irritated, infected, or inflamed and have reduced elasticity.
Slower healing: Stress hormones slow down your skin's natural healing process, so it takes longer for injuries to heal and you might end up with more scarring.
Skin Problems That Get Worse with Stress
Stress can make some skin conditions even worse, like:
Acne: As mentioned above, stress can cause more oil production, leading to clogged pores and acne breakouts.
Psoriasis: Stress can set off psoriasis flare-ups by causing our immune system to overreact and make our skin cells grow too quickly.
Eczema: Stress can make eczema symptoms worse by messing with your skin's barrier causing dry skin and also increase your risk of inflammation.
Inflammation: The Sneaky Culprit in Stress-Related Skin Aging
Inflammation plays a big part in how stress makes your skin age faster. When you're stressed, your body makes these things called pro-inflammatory cytokines that can lead to:
Collagen breakdown: Inflammation can break down collagen in the major layers of your skin. It is the protein that keeps your skin firm and elastic. Lack of collagen in the inner and outer layer of your skin can cause wrinkles and sagging.
Oxidative stress: Inflammatory processes can create free radicals, which damage your skin cells and make you age faster.
Hyperpigmentation: Inflammation can make your skin produce more melanin, leading to an uneven pigmentation and dark spots.
Hair growth: Because skin cells and hair follicles are tightly associated, there is now research showing that stress can increase the local inflammation in the skin cells and cause a decrease in new stem cell migration that can impact hair follicle replacement.
Discovering Natural Solutions for Stress-Induced Skin Aging
Are you tired of dealing with the effects of chronic stress taking a toll on your skin?
Don't worry, you're not alone dealing with this problem, a lot of us actually are.
As you've seen in the outline, feeling stressed can lead to significant changes in your skin over time, so how to properly manage stress is going to be top of mind.
So, I've actually been on a mission to find natural and effective solutions to fight stress-induced skin aging. Let's dig into a few of the proven strategies that can help you take care of your skin and keep it looking youthful and healthy by combating the root cause - stress.
The Importance of Stress Management Techniques
Before we deep dive, first things first, did you know that managing stress is crucial for your skin's health? Relaxation techniques such as practicing mindfulness, meditation, and deep breathing exercises can really help keep stress levels in check, improving your mental health and alleviating symptoms of stress.
Not to mention, these strategies have the added bonus of reducing cortisol levels in your body, which is great for our skin just as it is great for your emotional wellbeing.
Making Lifestyle Changes for Stress Reduction and Skin Health
Making simple lifestyle changes can also significantly relieve chronic stress and improve skin's health. Here are some habits you can adopt to reduce stress and improve your general health:- Prioritizing sleep and sticking to a consistent sleep schedule. Sleep deprivation can cause increased inflammation, weaken the immune system, and lead to chronic stress itself. Poor sleep is one of the biggest factors that can drive chronic stress in a positive feedback loop.
- Minimizing exposure to external environment stressors like pollution and UV radiation. Too much exposure to sun can be bad for your skin, especially if sensitive. However, too little is not good either, we need the activated vitamin D that our skin creates. Moderation is key here.
- Practicing proper skin care habits, such as cleansing, moisturizing, and using sunscreen.
- Avoid smoking. It is well known that smoke from burned material (most common being cigarettes) causes inflammation and free radicals that age your skin.
- Cutting back on alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption is also a cause of systemic inflammation which contributes to skin aging and health. However, alcohol consumed before bed is one of the leading causes of poor sleep, which is critical to aging and skin health.
The Role of Diet and Nutrition in Stress-Related Skin Aging
Eating a well-balanced diet is a great stress relief method and can also make a huge difference in your skin's health.Try to focus on consuming foods rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals to prevent stress and its effects on your skin.
Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C have been particularly helpful in maintaining skin elasticity, reducing inflammation, and promoting overall skin health.
What are these food specifically?
- Fish
- Red meats and chicken
- Whole fruits
- Leafy greens
- Unprocessed nuts
- Whole milk
- Eggs
As a general rule, the less processed your food is, the better it is for you.
The Benefits of Exercise and Physical Activity in Skin Aging
Lastly, I just can't emphasize enough how much regular exercise and physical activity can help manage stress and improve your skin's health.
In this study out of Canada by Dr. Tarnopolsky, they looking at skin aging markers after endurance exercise in humans and mice. They found that endurance exercise significantly improved skin aging through specific changes in gene and protein expression.
How does exercise help with skin health?
- Increases blood flow
- Promotes collagen production
- Decreases inflammation
- Reduces stress hormones like cortisol over the long term
Plus, staying active improves overall mental well-being and extends overall lifespan. What's not to like?
CBDA: A Natural Solution for Stress-Induced Skin Aging
Now there's also natural compounds that can help you manage stress and improve not just your skin's health but also promote general wellness.
If your like me, you also use natural remedies to help boost your health and improve your stress management training.
So, have you heard about this cannabinoid called cannabidiolic acid (CBDA)? It's found in raw cannabis plants, just like CBD which you might be more familiar with.
CBDA is an acidic precursor which means it turns into CBD when the plant is exposed to heat or light. Recently, CBDA has been making big waves in the wellness space for its promising potential therapeutic properties, especially when it comes to fighting stress and its effects on skin.
The Endocannabinoid System (ECS) and Our Skin
Your body has this endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is a complex cell-signaling system that helps maintain internal balance, or homeostasis.
The ECS is made up of endocannabinoids, receptors, and enzymes that break down these endocannabinoids. It's involved in all sorts of bodily processes, like pain sensation, mood regulation, and immune functions.
What's really really fascinating with ECS is that recent research has shown that it plays a huge role in our skin health.
It helps regulate skin cell growth, differentiation, and survival, as well as inflammation and immune responses. When the ECS is out of balance, it can lead to various skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis to name a few.
CBDA and Stress-Induced Skin Aging
So, what do ECS and your skin have to do with this compound CBDA?Well, scientists have found that CBDA could be a real game-changer if you're dealing with stress-induced skin aging. Just imagine having a natural solution to help keep your skin looking healthier.
Overcoming the huge absorption hurdle of CBD, CBDA is over 500% better absorbed than CBD.
This compound has only recently been finding a home in the hemp space due to advances in purification technology developed at Natural Dos and a few other companies.
Multiple studies are showing promise for CBDA in areas associated with:
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Inflammation
- Nausea
- Sleep
Conclusion
To sum everything up, chronic stress can have a very big impact on your mental health and your physical wellbeing too. As such, stress symptoms can manifest in your skin's health and appearance.But don't worry too much, there are plenty of natural solutions that can help you combat its effects. By managing stress through proven strategies like relaxation techniques, making lifestyle changes, prioritizing diet and exercise, and exploring promising natural compounds like CBDA, you can take absolute control of your overall health and keep your skin looking radiant.