Your skin is a very important organ of your body. It is the largest organ of your body and the first immune system you ever had. It protects your internal organs and also protects your body from germs, parasites, harmful microbes, toxins, and foreign invaders.

Your skin helps in regulating your body temperature, it prevents dehydration and loss of essential body fluids. It excretes wastes and harmful substance through sweat and it gives you mechanical support. It is the main organ of your sense of touch and it helps in synthesizing vitamin D when you expose your body to moderate sunlight.

With all these important functions of your skin, it is important for you to take good care of your skin and ensures it has no problem or gets damaged. Dangerous Habits to Avoid includes; There are lots of things we do that can damage our skin and many are unaware of this. In this post, I will be exposing some of those bad habits.

If you avoid all these bad habits and lifestyles, you will improve the health of your skin, prevent a lot of skin problems and even skin cancers. You will slow down aging and improve the overall health of your skin. Below are some of the bad habits to drop or avoid.

Regular Bath

Your skin is a living organ and it has to be cleaned regularly. You can try to and have your bath once daily or two times a day if you can. This can be difficult especially if you have a long and tiring day.

This will help you clean and remove dirt, oil, and buildup of pollution which can cause skin breakouts, inflammation, and other skin problems. Even if you can’t have your bath after a stressful day, try and wash your face. You can also make use of gentle moisturizers and essential oils.

Smoking

Quit Smoking
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Smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products are one of the most destructive habits damaging your skin. Nicotine is harmful to your skin, it reduces the flow of blood to your skin. This prevents your skin from having a sufficient amount of oxygen and nutrients, therefore, your skin appearance is marred and damaged.

Other dangerous chemicals present in tobacco impair the production of collagen and other elastic proteins, this, in turn, affects the elasticity and structure of your skin. This is why most people who smoke, their skins are thin, dull, very wrinkled and if they have wound, it takes more time to heal than someone who doesn’t smoke.

Even if you don’t smoke, you will still have the same effect if you expose yourself to second-hand smoke. Avoid second-hand smoke so that your skin won’t sag, have wrinkles or have other skin problems.

Unhealthy Diets

Your skin is a living organ and it requires vital nutrients to appear nice and function optimally.  Regular intake of unhealthy foods mares your appearance and weaken the production of collagen.

You should eat healthy foods always and just cheat occasionally if you want to keep rapid aging and other skin problems at bay. Your meals should be mainly whole grains, dark green vegetables, fruits, and other vegetables.

Intake of Sugary Foods

Excessive intake of sugary foods and drinks accelerates aging. This is the reason why some people look older than their real age just because they take a lot of sugary foods and drinks.

This includes refined sugar, ice creams, refined carbohydrates, and other forms of refined starches. Rather, you should eat healthy and skin friendly foods like fruits and vegetables, sweet potatoes and whole grains. They are rich in vital nutrients and antioxidants that slow down the process of aging and improve the health and appearance of your skin.

Excessive Use of Sunscreens

The sun is actually good for you because it is one of the richest and cheapest sources of vitamin D. it boosts your immunity by increasing the production of white blood cells and remember that your skin is also part of your defense system. Excessive use of sunscreen damages your skin and a lot of studies have even proved that sunscreens cause skin cancers.

Insufficient Sleep

There is a particular time your body repairs and renews your skin, that is when you are sleeping. During deep sleep at night, your skin is renewed and repaired.

Health experts believe that night time is the best time for the skin to be healed and regenerated. This happens between 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM and then from 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM, collagen is produced rapidly, harmful substances are eliminated, and injured cells and tissues are healed.

When you go to bed very late and wake up early, you miss this golden opportunity and deny your body the opportunity to heal and repair itself. Insufficient sleep and insomnia make your skin function abnormally and it also disrupts your metabolism and nervous system. It makes your skin dry, inelastic, dull, wrinkled, and old.

If you want to improve the health and appearance of your skin, avoid staying awake at night. Make sure you have at least 8 hours of night sleep. Try and go to bed before 10 pm and this will help improve your skin and boost your overall health.

Using Devices before Going to Bed

Using devices like phones, laptops, tablets or watching TV just before going to bed is a bad habit. It induces sleeplessness, it affects your brain and makes it difficult for you to sleep.

It causes wrinkles and dark circles around your eyes. It also slows down the production of melatonin, this hormone induces sleep and helps your skin to regenerate while you sleep.

When the level of melatonin is low in your body, this speeds up the aging process and it has the same effects as harmful UV rays. Try not to use technological devices for at least 2 hours before going to bed and your room should be dark so that you can sleep well.

Chlorine

Chlorine kills germs in the water and makes it safe for drinking and swimming but it is harmful and bad for your skin. It dehydrates your skin, dries it and bleaches it. It also damages your melanin in the process of doing so. Reduce your intake and use of chlorinated water.

Excess Coffee

Coffee is good for your body in little amount but excess coffee inhibits sleep and we already know how that can harm our skin. Coffee contains caffeine and excess of caffeine is not good for your skin.

Caffeine keeps you awake at night, it dehydrates your skin, creates wrinkles and dries you out. If you must drink coffee, drink little and remember to drink a lot of water at intervals.

Sleeping With Makeup on

This clogs your pores, it makes your skin unable to breathe and makes your face a home for bacteria. This can lead to acne, inflammation, and other unpleasant conditions. If you are too tired to wash your face, you can use wipes and clean your face before going to bed.

Dehydration

Dehydration is one of the most common factors that destroy our skin. It affects the softness and elasticity of your skin and makes it wrinkled and dry.

When there is insufficient water in your body, your skin suffers t most. Your body draws water from your skin to supply it to other vital organs. This is why dry mouth and dry skin are one of the first signs of chronic dehydration.

Increase your intake of water, you need at least 8 cups of water daily and more in hot weather or when you exercise and engage in strenuous physical activities and hard labor.

Skipping Breakfasts and Meals

This starves your skin of vital nutrients which is it needs to look good and appear well. Don’t skip meals if you don’t want to starve your skin.

Do not form the habit of skipping breakfasts and meals, make sure you eat healthy foods rich in vitamins A, B, C, D, and E. They are all important for your skin, along with proteins and healthy fats.

Using Too Many Products on Your Skin

Using a lot of products on your skin, especially your face can lead to unpleasant reactions. You might have an allergic reaction and not be sure where it is coming from because you use too many products.

Use a few skin products and try a small amount of each on your hand first to see if there will be a reaction before applying them on your skin or face.

Regular Hot and Long Shower

Hot water feels good on the body but when you use hot frequently and for a long time when bathing, it can damage your skin, weaken it and enlarge your skin pores.

Hot water destroys the outer layer of your skin, leaving it dry, wrinkled, and scaly. Don’t use hot water always, and not for a long time. You can use it though in extremely cold weather but don’t form it as a habit to use hot water anytime you want to have your bath or shower. If you are using hot water and your skin becomes red and itchy, that is a sign that you need to get out.

Excess Intake of Table Salt (Sodium)

Sea salt

Taking too much sodium in your meals and in processed foods is harmful to your skin. Sodium makes your skin dry and dehydrated by absorbing moisture from your skin. This leads to a dry and flaky skin, so, it is better if you avoid salty foods.

Stress

stressed woman sitting with eyes closed on lake shore
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Excessive stress is bad for your overall health and your skin is not left out. Stress affects your skin negatively, especially your face. It causes the appearance of wrinkles, blemishes, stress lines, rashes, and a dull complexion.

Look for ways to reduce stress or manage it effectively. Effective ways to relieve stress is by hanging out with loved ones, reading books, exercises, and drinking some herbal teas like lavender, ginger, and peppermint.

Exfoliating Every Day

Exfoliating is good for your skin only when it is done at intervals. Exfoliation has a lot of wonderful health benefits like eliminating dead and dry cells, improving your complexion and making your skin shine, and it improves your overall appearance.

However, exfoliating always harms your skin and damages it. It reduces the natural oils on your skin thereby reducing your shine and complexion.

Sedentary Lifestyle

Sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise destroy your skin. It leads to accumulation of toxins in your skin. This leads to a dull appearance, inflammation, and other skin problems. When you exercise or have an active lifestyle, you do your skin a lot of favor.

You eliminate all the toxins in your skin through sweat, exercise improves the flow of blood to your skin and this help to improve your complexion and appearance.

Drinking Alcohol

Drinking excess alcohol dries your skin thereby leading to dehydration, dryness, and wrinkles. Dry skins also have a dull complexion and they are flaky. Consume alcohol moderately and it shouldn’t be given to children and little babies.

Over Washing

Washing your skin is good for your overall health, it keeps your skin clean and reduces your risks of infections and other skin problems. Over-washing your skin is dangerous for your skin.

Many don’t know that their skin is a very delicate organ. When you over-wash it, it strips your skin of its natural oils and it also affects the ideal pH of your skin. It also leads to wilting and cracking of your skin.

This makes your skin prone to infections and inflammations, it can induce eczema, and even boost signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles. Bath at most twice daily and do not use harsh soaps and chemicals on your skin.

Over-Indulgence in Sex

Over-indulgence in sex is bad for your body and your skin is not left out. This affects men mostly. Zinc is one vital mineral present in our skin and needed for a lot of important functions.

Zinc helps prevent inflammation of the skin, it treats a lot of skin problems like acne, inflammation, wounds, rapid aging, spots and brown patches on the face, excess production of oil, and other vital functions.

Zinc helps maintain the proper structure of cell membranes and proteins, it beautifies your skin and boosts the health of your skin. It hastens wound healing, it is one of the essential nutrient needed for optimum skin health.

On the other hand, zinc is needed for male fertility. It boosts the production of sperm and sperm motility. Zinc plays a critical role in the overall quality, quantity, and development of sperm.

Zinc is present in every cell of our body, and a deficiency in zinc leads to reduced sperm motility, therefore, leading to male infertility. It also causes oxidative damage and lower quality of sperm.

Studies made it known that the concentration of zinc in the testes increases during spermatogenesis. When a man overindulges in sex, and he is not getting sufficient zinc through his diet, his body draws out zinc from his skin to meet up with this demand.

This, in turn, leads to damaged and aged skin and a skin with a lot of problems like outbreaks and inflammation and a dull appearance. Excessive sex can damage men skin and make the skin prone to a lot of skin problems. These are some of the everyday habits we carry out and unknown to many, they are the reason why they have skin problems.

When you stop feeding the cause of a problem, the problem will go away without you even using any drug or medication. If you are guilty of any of these bad habits and lifestyle, try and quit and you will see a great improvement in the health of your skin.

Hydroquinone

Hydroquinone is a lightening agent used to in making lightening creams. At the early time hydroquinone was invented, it was considered safe but later it was recalled from the market when it was discovered that it is harmful to the skin and entire body.

The FDA later said it can be used in 2% concentrations in creams and body lotions. Even in this little amount, hydroquinone is bad for the skin, it has been linked to a lot of skin problems and health complications.

Hydroquinone is cytotoxic and mutagenic substance, it damages your cells and leads to mutation. It makes your skin sensitive to sunlight, it increases the harmful effects of radiation on your skin and it causes hyper pigmentation, sunburns, and even skin cancer.

They are safer and effective ways to improve and lighten your complexion naturallly, click here to see them and protect yourself from the dangers of hydroquinone.

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