[helpwithskin]

Hey does anyone know how stress affects your skin. For about the last year I have been emotionally back and forth and I've noticed that this affects my skin immensely. To start, when I am extremely stressed by something emotional, my skin gets really dry and looses its glow, the pores on my face will enlarge and my skin texture will change. This may be weird but it's something that I have notice about my skin as of recently. I felt great last week and my skin looked amazing.

 

[fawnie]

Stress affects the hormone levels in your body. This affects the way your skin acts - oily, blotchy, dry, dull.

Also stress affects your diet, I bet, and that has an affect on your skin and health.

Also, when you're stressed, you probably don't have much time to devote to proper cleansing and treatment of your skin. It's a vicious cycle.



Skin | care | talk

 

[helpwithskin]

Yes, I think mostly its a hormone thing, genetically, I was blessed with great skin, no matter what I ate or did to it, however, when I am stressed out beyond a functioning limit, I've noticed my skin gets terrible. By the way, I am eating worse now due to money issues and yet my skin has gotten much better then it was last year. However, in the last 4 days I got some bad news, and I got a bit stressed and today my skin is colorless and bland. I guess I have to really avoid stress if possible. Thanks for your help.

 

[fawnie]

I'm sorry for your troubles, Help. I hope the bad news turns around for you soon.

You truly do feel "drained" when something bad happens. You know the old Fight or Flight response. It really does a number on you, doesn't it. Is there something at all that you can do to recharge your battery?

How is your diet? You can eat well even if you can't afford caviar! Beans and brown rice isn't all that exciting, but it's quality protein and cheap. Add some fresh veggies and call it stir-fry. I can tell you how to shop wisely, but that's another thread! Hope things get better, Help.



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[helpwithskin]

I would like to hear about eating right, it would greatly help.

Right now, to tell you the truth, I eat fried foods, sadly, mostly french fries. I also drink like 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day (it seems to help with the stress). But, I also eat eggs(sometimes not fried) and ham, maybe bacon, this with cereal. I can't seem to fit in a regular dinner anymore, I do eat something, but not as of recently. To be honest, I eat six meals a day, for a while now almost 4 months its been eggs and cereal mostly.

I used to eat much better, about a year ago, I would eat a nutritionally based meal, usually six times a day, with lots of vegetables, and I would watch my intake of vitamins and minerals. However, also about a year ago, I saw my skin get horrible so I got discourage and abandoned the whole nutritional thing. However, now that my stress levels have been going down, I have noticed an improvement in my skin, so I am now taking better care of myself.

 

[ondine]

You really ARE under a considerable amt of stress. It is easy to reach for the greasy/salty stuff when stressed. While the coffee might give you a caffeine 'boost', its help with stress is an illusion. All that caffeine & salt is dehydrating you. It can also make you bloat & get greasy OR extremely dry. The first thing I'd suggest is cutting down the coffee & salt & make drinking water (doesn't have to come in bottles from the himalayas!) a priority. Which cereal are you choosing? If you can, buy oatmeal (not the kind with chocolate chips & marshmallos in it!) do so. It is very inexpensive & one of the best things you can eat. Switch the sugar (you're probably putting in your coffee) for Splenda.

Please make healthier choices. your body can only work with what you give it. Your major organs (brain, heart etc) will NAB what it can get to maintain themselves then the remainder of your body is stuck going without. This economy has done many people in & driven many to fast food & comfort food. Please do not fall into this trap.

 

[vencasand]

stress, wouldn't you love to invent something that would make the stress in life go away? everyone has stress levels, it affects everything from your skin to your heart and brain. it can cause depression, skin diseases, strokes, heart attacks and more. no one can help being stressed. there are some things you can try. yoga, meditation, prayer, all the asian ways to destress yourself. they all help but there is no getting rid of the stress. best of luck to you. if you find a way to control stress let me know.

 

[fawnie]

Help,
I found that once I started eating more nutritiously and taking care of #1, I had more reserve to handle stress effectively. B vitamins, which are found in veggies and brown rice, help the nerves.

If you can't eat a nutritious meal, what about a healthy meal replacement? The health food stores have many types, some have whey protein, some hemp, all would be good as long as they aren't sugared. I use VEGA and blend it with water and fruit. It gives me sustained energy to last til midday.

Healthy food sounds expensive, but it pays you back in how you feel and how you don't have to be dependent on prescription medications for stress-related illnesses.....and they are ALL stress-related!

It's funny, but doing something charitable for others makes you feel better. There are lots of charities needing help, no matter how small the job.

Hope we are helping you a bit. Stress is unavoidable, but we can control our response to it!



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[fawnie]

Help, sorry to bombard you! Here is the book that got me through college days when I had no money but wanted to eat nutritiously:

The Small Planet Institute | Diet for a Small Planet

Very simple recipes and healthy yummy eating!! The recipes are vegetarian, some have milk, eggs and cheese. Not too many vegan recipes. Complementary protein is the message - combining grains and legumes to provide complete protein and not depend upon meat.



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[helpwithskin]

By the way, how did you know that I was aiming to being a vegetarian.

 

[fawnie]

By the way, how did you know that I was aiming to being a vegetarian.

Haha! Good plan Help! It saves the planet and helps you be healthy too! That book is always on Amazon used for very cheap! Hope you are feeling better soon!



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[lordm]

Stress makes you get old faster

If you have a lot of stress, say researchers at the University of California, your cells will age faster, you will be at higher risk of age related diseases earlier in life - put simply, you will get old faster and more likely die earlier.

You can read about this new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers, led by Dr Elissa Epel, say that chromic psychological stress can lead to the shortening of the telomeres on the ends of chromosomes in white blood cells - accelerating their death.

The researchers compared 39 healthy mothers of chronically ill children to 19 mothers of healthy children. Both groups of mothers were pre-menopausal.

Questionnaires were given to the mothers to measure their levels of stress. The telomere lengths of their white blood cells were also measured (blood samples).

They found that the highly stressed mothers had telomere lengths indicating an equivalent ageing ten years (more than the mothers with normal stress levels). In other words, the very stressed mothers seemed ten years older.

The most highly stressed women, 14 of them, had telomere lengths of 3,110 units. The least stressed women (14 women), had telomere lengths of 3,600 units.

The average adult loses about 31-63 units of length per year. If the most highly stressed women had lost 550 units more than the women with normal stress, this would indicate their cells were 9-17 years older.

Shorter telomere length is associated with premature death, especially from infections and heart disease.