The Secret to Looking and Feeling Young. (It's not what you think)

Posted by Linda on August 21, 2018

Feeling young

While I agree with many of the concerns people have about the ever-increasing pressure on women to look younger, I also think it’s perfectly natural to want to look as youthful as you feel inside. I know I do. I see no problem with seeking to restore the natural glow of your 20s, even if that means reaching for the help of good skincare, treatments, and makeup.

When I can feel the symptoms of ‘burn-out’, I will take myself off to The Viva Mayr Clinic in Austria for a few days of rest, relaxation, fasting, colon hydrotherapy treatments, vitamin infusions, and massages. The photograph above is of me part-way through a Viva-Mayr visit a few years ago. I always come back energised and feeling 10 years younger.

The question is – just how do you age gracefully? With so many lotions and potions promising to remove all your ‘flaws’ and images all over the media, not to mention the influence of celebs who have gone under the knife in an attempt to slow the hands of time, it’s little wonder we’re left feeling bewildered.

Plastic surgery – yes or no?

Cosmetic surgery procedures have come a long way over the past few years, and with the technology advances of today, there seems to be a treatment to iron out even the smallest of imperfections. There’s no denying the strong demand for subtle, understated anti-ageing procedures such as eyelid surgery, brow lifts and lower jaw lifts that promise to give a more ‘rejuvenated’ appearance.

Cosmetic surgery is no longer a taboo in society. It’s also much more affordable and accessible for the average person; it’s very much part of the culture we live in – one in which we are expected to combat signs of ageing in any way we can. After all, we don’t want to ‘let ourselves go’.

However, we have to ask if these procedures are friend or foe. New research has found that facelifts and other forms of facial plastic surgery only help patients look a few years younger. So, is it really worth it?

Good health depends upon a healthy root system. Just like a tree depends upon healthy roots to provide nutrients, so does our own root system, our intestines, by absorbing nutrients from food.

Healthy ageing starts in the gut

What I would say to anyone contemplating a cosmetic procedure is to first of all, take a good look inside. Growing older affects nearly every part of your body, including your hair, skin, heart, muscles, digestive system, gut and more, but it’s my view that ageing well may be as simple as adopting a few easy everyday habits.

The food we eat and how we treat ourselves can prevent or even reverse ageing. Your body needs the right nutrients to fight off free-radical damage, and your skin is no different.

You are what you absorb

While healthy foods provide the foundation for optimal health and vitality, even the healthiest foods are of little use if they are not properly digested, absorbed, and assimilated. As we age, normal digestion slows down, inhibiting our ability to process vital nutrients for use throughout the body. If the body cannot extract all the nutrients in our food, our overall health will begin to suffer, and can result in a wide range of unwelcome diseases. These problems are often caused by decreasing levels of stomach acid and digestive enzymes that facilitate the crucial breakdown of food in our digestive tract.

Constipation is another sign that your digestive system is not in tip-top condition. If your body cannot get rid of toxins via the bowel, these toxins may break out via your skin instead. Retained bowel wastes stress the liver, and if the liver cannot break down all toxins, they may spill into the bloodstream increasing the risk of skin problems. The skin looks sallow, greasy, or spotty with dry, red, flaky patches – and this may stem from internal gut/liver issues.

Make Digestive Enzymes part of your anti-ageing strategy

Digestive enzymes enable the more efficient breakdown of the food we consume, especially if we are over the age of 45, peri or post-menopause, and are not producing sufficient amounts of stomach acid, pancreatic enzymes, and bile. As we age, the production of stomach acid and enzymes can begin to slow down, affecting the digestive capacity of the stomach and gut. If you are recovering from a period of illness, or perhaps an operation, digestive enzymes can help you get back to full strength, by helping absorption of key nutrients. Not only do these important chemicals help to properly digest our food, but they are also instrumental in ensuring nutrients are properly absorbed and assimilated through the small intestine, where they are taken to the liver, and the liver decides which part(s) of the body they need to be transported to.

If there are insufficient acids/enzymes, the digestive system and gut have to work even harder, causing extra stress on other body organs, including our skin. This can show up in wrinkles (I don’t mean lines on the skin; they are normal signs of ageing, wrinkles are not) – a sign that there is a lack of something, such as fluid, oils, and nutrients in the skin and in the connective tissue that binds everything together. Healthy skin is silky smooth, dense, and tightly elastic, firmly covering the face and body like a perfectly fitted, unwrinkled pair of tights, covering our skeleton and muscles without wrinkles and without blemishes.

The bottom line?

Supporting your digestive system with digestive enzymes and looking after the health of your gut is a powerful tool in your quest for healthy ageing, internally and externally, and is likely to eradicate any thoughts of nips and tucks! I’ve been taking plant-based Digestive Enzymes tablets for the best part of 30 years, and it’s probably one of the reasons people often compliment me on how good my skin is. Give them a try yourself here. Take one just before meals: