4 Ways to care for skin to stay healthy and youthful

KONTAN.CO.ID – JAKARTA. Beautiful and healthy skin most people desire. Here’s how to care for your skin to keep it healthy and youthful.

The skin doesn’t just function as a sense of taste. The skin also protects the body, regulates body temperature, and more.

Also Read: Best bath time to make skin beautiful and healthy

Covering the entire human body, the total area of ​​skin that each adult has is about two square meters and weighs about 3.6 kg.

A patch of skin with an area of ​​about 6.4 square centimeters on average contains 650 sweat glands, 20 blood vessels, and more than 1,000 nerve endings.

Really complicated, right? The skin is a fairly complex organ. Likewise with its function for humans.

The skin has six main functions as follows:

• As protection for the body from disease-causing pathogens. In the skin there are Langerhans cells which are part of our immune system.
• As a sense of taste because the nerve endings in the skin will detect touch, temperature, pressure, vibration, and injury.
• As a storage area for fats and fluids.
• As a regulator of body temperature.
• The skin will keep the body temperature normal by producing sweat and widen the blood vessels when we are overheated. Meanwhile, when cold, the skin will creep and constrict the blood vessels to prevent body heat from escaping so that the body temperature remains normal.
• Retains water to prevent nutrients from being wasted from the skin. Control the discharge of body fluids by preventing water evaporation.

What about skin color function?

Human skin can vary in color from dark to almost black, to light to almost white.

Most of these color variations are caused by a pigment or skin colorant called melanin.

Apart from melanin, skin color is also caused by the connective tissue under the skin and hemoglobin or red blood cells in the skin’s blood vessels.

The main function of melanin is to protect the skin from damage caused by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. Too much exposure to UV rays can cause skin cancer.

Melanocytes protect the skin from these risks by producing more melanin when the skin is exposed to UV rays.

The impact, the skin will look darker. That is why the human population who live in areas with greater UV exposure, tend to have darker skin.

For example, inhabitants of the tropics at the equator. Conversely, human populations who live in areas with less sunlight and UV exposure will have less melanin levels in their skin.

Because of this, their skin color will tend to be lighter. However, whatever your skin color, exposure to UV rays should be avoided as much as possible so that skin health is maintained.

How to care for skin to stay healthy

You don’t have to do treatments at a skin beauty clinic to maintain healthy skin.

Basic care and a healthy lifestyle are sufficient to help slow down skin aging and prevent various skin problems.

You can apply the following simple skin care methods:

1. Protect skin from sun exposure

One way to maintain healthy skin is to protect it from ultraviolet rays which can damage the skin.

Too often exposure to sunlight will cause the appearance of wrinkles, blotches, and even skin cancer.

You can do tips to protect the skin from ultraviolet rays that are easy: Always use sunscreen when doing outdoor activities.

Choose a sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) above 15 and repeat the use every two hours.

Use it on the face and all over exposed skin areas and exposed to the sun.

Take shelter and stay out of the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. In that period, ultraviolet rays are very strong.

Wear clothes that cover your arms and legs when you’re out in the hot sun, such as long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and wide-brimmed hats.

2. Don’t smoke

Smoking will accelerate the skin aging process. As a result, wrinkles appear faster and the skin looks dull and unhealthy.

Smoking cigarettes also constricts the fine blood vessels in the outer skin. This condition causes reduced blood flow and the skin will appear pale.

Smoking habits will damage the collagen and elastin in the skin, so that the skin loses its elasticity.

The risk of squamous cell skin cancer will also increase due to smoking.

3. Clean the skin gently

Use soap with a mild chemical content and avoid prolonged bathing with hot water. The reason is, hot water can reduce skin oil levels.
Don’t forget to apply a moisturizer to the skin. Choose the type of moisturizer that suits the type and condition of each skin.

4. Healthy diet

Eat lots of vegetables and fruits, and drink enough water to keep the skin hydrated.

Also eat foods rich in omega-3s, and reduce your consumption of fats and processed foods so that they have a positive impact on skin health.
Given the important function of the skin for the body, maintaining its health is very crucial.

The reason is, the skin is the body’s foremost defense against germs and other microorganisms that can threaten the body. (Wisnubrata)

Also Read: Benefits of drinking warm water for health: losing weight to stress

This article has been published on Kompas.com with the title “How to take care of your skin to stay healthy and youthful“,

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