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What Is Estrogen and How It Affects Your Skin Health
Estrogen is a hormone in your body that helps to regulate various bodily functions, including your skin’s health and wellness. Estrogen, produced mainly in the ovaries, is one of the primary female sex hormones and is linked to women’s health and aging processes. It has a great impact on your skin’s health and, as it plays an important role in collagen production (a key ingredient for healthy skin), its levels can have a significant impact on skin conditions, both good and bad.
The Association Between Estrogen and Skin Health
Estrogen plays a key role in your skin’s health, as it helps to maintain skin collagen levels and increase skin thickness. Healthy levels of estrogen promote skin elasticity and firmness, while low levels are linked to premature aging and skin laxity. Research has also indicated that skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis, and rosacea, can be made worse in women due to hormonal fluctuations, as can other conditions such as melasma, the brown patching of the skin.
Estrogen and Aging
As age increases, the level of estrogen drops, and this decrease in estrogen production is significantly linked to aging. Increasing age is often accompanied by a decrease in collagen and skin elasticity, which can lead to dryness, wrinkles, and saggy skin. As production of collagen declines, the skin becomes thinner and less elastic, leading to age-related wrinkling and changes in texture. Maintaining adequate levels of estrogen may slow down the process of aging by helping the skin to stay healthy and hydrated.
How to Boost Skin Health with Estrogen
If you’re looking to maintain healthy skin, you may want to consider increasing your body’s estrogen levels. Generally, diet and lifestyle have a big impact on hormones and can help improve the levels of estrogen in your body. The following tips can help boost your skin health and slow down the aging process:
Increase Your Intake of Soy Products:
Soy products are a great source of plant-based estrogens. Many studies have shown that increasing your intake of foods such as edamame, tempeh and tofu can help increase your estrogen levels and boost your skin health.
Eat Cruciferous Vegetables:
Cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, contain compounds known as isothiocyanates which act as powerful antioxidants and can help reduce harmful oxidative damage to cells, assisting in skin health.
Exercise Regularly:
Regular physical activity has been shown to reduce estrogen imbalances and increase the production of other hormones such as testosterone, insulin, and cortisol, which all play an important role in skin health.
Limit Your Intake of Caffeine and Alcohol:
Caffeine and alcohol are known to affect hormone levels, and up to two drinks per day can disrupt estrogen levels in your body. Limiting their intake can help to improve skin health.
Conclusion
Estrogen plays an important role in maintaining the health of your skin and slowing the process of aging. If you’re looking to boost your skin health and maintain younger-looking skin, focusing on improving your body’s estrogen levels through diet and lifestyle changes is key.
