Younger Skin!

When we think about skin aging, most people immediately think of creams, serums, or cosmetic procedures. While these can certainly help, the truth is that skin aging is largely an inside-out process. Your skin is a living, metabolically active organ that reflects your nutrition, hormones, inflammation levels, hydration status, and overall cellular health.

The encouraging news is that many of the factors that age skin are modifiable. With the right lifestyle and nutritional strategies, it is possible not only to slow skin aging, but in many cases to improve skin thickness, elasticity, tone, and hydration over time.

Let’s review the most important pillars for maintaining youthful, resilient skin—and even reversing some visible signs of aging.

1. What Actually Causes Skin to Age?

Skin aging is driven by a few key biological processes:

• Oxidative stress, which damages collagen, elastin, and DNA
• Chronic low-grade inflammation (“inflammaging”)
• Glycation, where excess sugar stiffens collagen fibers
• Mitochondrial decline, reducing cellular energy and repair
• Hormonal shifts, especially with age and stress
• Reduced cellular repair and autophagy, the body’s cleanup system

Effective skin rejuvenation requires addressing these root causes—not just moisturizing the surface.

2. Nutrition: Feeding Your Skin from Within

Your skin depends on a steady supply of nutrients to rebuild and repair itself.

Protein and amino acids are foundational. Collagen, the protein that gives skin structure and firmness, is built from amino acids such as glycine and proline. Inadequate protein intake is a common and overlooked contributor to thinning, fragile skin.

Helpful sources include:

• High-quality meats and fish
• Eggs, dairy, and whey
• Bone broth
• Collagen peptides
• Glycine supplementation of 3 to 4 grams a day

Vitamin C is essential for collagen formation and also protects skin from oxidative damage. Diets rich in citrus, berries, kiwi, bell peppers, and leafy greens support this process, and supplementation is often helpful.

Healthy fats maintain cell membranes and the skin barrier. Omega-3 fats from fish or krill, olive oil, and avocado help reduce inflammation and are associated with smoother, more resilient skin. Excessive intake of processed seed oils, on the other hand, may accelerate aging.

Key minerals—such as zinc, copper, selenium, and silicon—play roles in wound healing, pigmentation balance, and skin structure. A whole-food, nutrient-dense diet is the best foundation.

3. Blood Sugar Control: A Powerful Anti-Aging Strategy

Excess sugar in the bloodstream leads to glycation, a process that stiffens collagen and accelerates wrinkle formation. This is one reason high-sugar diets and alcohol are so damaging to the skin.

Strategies that protect the skin include:

• Reducing refined carbohydrates, sugars, and alcohol
• Prioritizing protein and fiber at meals
• Walking after meals to lower your blood sugar levels
• Practicing time-restricted eating when appropriate

Stable blood sugar supports not only metabolic health, but also softer, more elastic skin. My recent article on carnosine describes a way to fight glycation through daily carnosine supplementation.

4. Lifestyle Habits That Keep Skin Young

Sleep is one of the most powerful anti-aging tools available. During deep sleep, growth hormone rises, and skin repair accelerates. Poor sleep increases the stress hormone cortisol, which breaks down the collagen in your skin and joints.

Stress management matters as well. Chronic stress directly accelerates skin aging by increasing inflammation and impairing healing. Breathwork, meditation, gentle exercise, and time outdoors are not luxuries—they are skin-protective strategies.

Exercise, when balanced, improves circulation, oxygen delivery, and hormonal signaling to the skin. Both resistance training and moderate cardiovascular activity support skin vitality. Overtraining without recovery, however, can have the opposite effect.

Sun exposure should be smart and measured. Regular sunlight in appropriate doses supports vitamin D and mitochondrial health, while burns and chronic overexposure accelerate photoaging. If you are going to be out in the sun for extended periods of time, a good-quality sun block is the best way to save your skin. Early morning or evening sun exposure is safe, but midday sun should be limited to 15 minutes of direct exposure. That will meet your vitamin D needs.

5. The Missing Link: Electrolytes and Cellular Hydration

One of the most overlooked contributors to aging skin is electrolyte imbalance.

Many people drink plenty of water yet still experience dry, dull, or crepey skin. That’s because water alone does not hydrate cells. Electrolytes are required to pull water into skin cells and keep it there.

Key electrolytes include:

• Sodium, which drives water into cells
• Potassium, which maintains intracellular hydration
• Magnesium, which calms inflammation and supports energy production
• Calcium, which supports the skin barrier and repair

Electrolyte depletion is common in people who eat whole-food diets, exercise regularly, use saunas, or practice intermittent fasting. Low electrolytes can make skin look dehydrated even when water intake is high.

Restoring electrolytes often leads to:

• Improved skin plumpness
• Better elasticity
• Reduced fine lines
• Faster healing

Hydration is not just about the quantity of water—it is electrical and mineral-dependent.

6. Fasting, Autophagy, and Skin Renewal

Periods of reduced caloric intake activate autophagy, the body’s cellular recycling system. This process helps clear damaged proteins and supports healthier skin cell turnover.

Short daily fasts or occasional longer fasts can improve skin clarity and tone when done appropriately. Electrolyte support during fasting is essential to prevent dehydration and maintain skin health.

7. Targeted Skin-Specific Supports

Certain interventions directly stimulate skin repair:

• Topical retinoids increase collagen production and normalize cell turnover
• Red light therapy improves mitochondrial function and collagen synthesis
• Microneedling, when done properly, triggers controlled collagen remodeling

These work best when the internal environment—nutrition, sleep, hormones, hydration—is already optimized.

Can Skin Aging Be Reversed?

While deep structural aging cannot be completely undone without procedures, many aspects of skin aging can improve:

• Skin thickness
• Elasticity
• Texture
• Hydration
• Tone and glow

In other words, your skin can become biologically younger, even if the calendar keeps moving forward.

A Final Thought

Youthful skin is not created in a bottle—it is the outward expression of metabolic health, hormonal balance, cellular repair, and proper hydration.

When these systems are supported consistently, the skin responds.

Take care,

David

Ellen

It has been a challenging December for Ellen. First she had that thyroid biopsy, which turned out fine, then we both developed a head cold. While mine turned into an annoying cough, hers turned into full on pneumonia. Additionally she suddenly developed a low back problem that was so painful she could not get out of bed. Her oxygen levels got so low I ended up having to have EMT’s show up and take her to the hospital. She was there on IV antibiotics for 5 days and now has been transferred to a rehab facility to get her strength back.