Older women who eat a healthy diet have significantly fewer wrinkles on their faces than is normal for their age, according to a study. Men’s skin, on the other hand, seems to be little affected by a diet high in fruit and low in red meat.
ROTTERDAM. In the vague hope of somewhat delaying the signs of aging on their faces, women spend billions of euros and dollars every year – not infrequently on creams and ointments whose benefits are more than dubious.
Perhaps they should try a healthy diet: If the results of a Dutch cross-sectional analysis are to be believed, facial wrinkles are somewhat less likely to be a problem in women with high fruit and vegetable consumption than in those who pay little attention to their diet.
Dermatologists led by Selma Mekic, M.D., of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, came to this conclusion after analyzing the facial skin and diet of more than 2,700 participants in the Rotterdam Study (JAAD 2018; online March 27).
The physicians evaluated information from a dietary questionnaire of 1613 older women and 1150 older men (average age 67 years). In all of them, they also photographed the face and determined the percentage of wrinkles using special analysis software.
The percentage of wrinkles on the face averaged 3.7 percent for the women and 4.6 percent for the men.
As expected, older people had significantly more facial wrinkles than younger people, active smokers had more than non-smokers and former smokers, while fat people had slightly fewer than thin people and, surprisingly, athletic participants had significantly more than coachpotatoes. This was true for both men and women.
High caloric intake and low education tended to be associated with more wrinkles, but the difference with people with less appetite and higher education was not significant.
Smoking women have the most wrinkles
Strikingly, smoking appears to have a stronger effect on women than men: smoking women had 38 percent more wrinkles and smoking men had 15 percent more wrinkles than nonsmokers.
The researchers led by Mekic now used the diet questionnaires to calculate how much the participants ate according to the “Dutch Healthy Diet Index (DHDI).”
The average DHDI score in the Dutch population is about 60 points. The better the participants adhered to the Dutch dietary recommendations, the higher the score.
Each ten-point increase was associated with a relative decrease in wrinkle percentage of 4.4 percent in women. The correlation was still significant even when BMI, smoking status, physical activity and education level were taken into account in addition to age.
Yes, smoking can have a significant impact on the development of wrinkles in women. Smoking damages the skin in several ways that contribute to the formation of wrinkles:
- Reduced Blood Flow: Smoking narrows blood vessels and restricts blood flow, which reduces the amount of oxygen and nutrients reaching the skin. This hampers the skin’s ability to repair itself and maintain its elasticity.
- Collagen Breakdown: Smoking breaks down collagen and elastin, which are essential proteins that give skin its strength and elasticity. As these proteins degrade, the skin becomes less firm and supple, leading to the formation of wrinkles.
- Free Radical Damage: Smoking introduces harmful free radicals into the body. These molecules damage cells and accelerate the aging process. In the skin, this damage can manifest as premature aging and increased wrinkling.
- Dehydration: Smoking can dehydrate the skin, making it dry and more prone to wrinkles. Hydrated skin appears smoother and more youthful, while dehydrated skin is more likely to develop fine lines and wrinkles.
- Facial Expressions: Smokers tend to make certain facial expressions while smoking, such as squinting to keep smoke out of their eyes or pursing their lips to hold a cigarette. Over time, these repetitive facial movements can contribute to the formation of wrinkles, especially around the eyes and mouth.
Overall, smoking accelerates the natural aging process of the skin, making it more vulnerable to the development of wrinkles, fine lines, and other signs of aging. Quitting smoking and adopting a healthy lifestyle can help improve skin health and reduce the risk of premature wrinkling.
For men, on the other hand, there was no significant correlation between wrinkles and DHDI adherence.
A similar picture emerged when the researchers assigned participants to one of four dominant dietary patterns: Women with a more unhealthy diet (red meat, pizza, snacks, soft drinks, coffee, and alcoholic beverages other than wine) had significantly more wrinkles than those with a more healthy diet (lots of vegetables, fish, nuts, water, a little wine, and white rather than red meat) or a diet emphasizing fruit. Again, the scientists found no significant correlations for men.
In men, a healthy diet does little to combat wrinkles
At least with women a nutrition with a high portion of pork and beef as well as many carbohydrates could accelerate the formation of wrinkles, assume the dermatologists around Mekic, whereas carotenoids and flavonoids from vegetable food perhaps slow down the UV-conditioned skin aging.
However, no causal relationships can be derived from pure cross-sectional data. Perhaps women who eat a healthy diet live healthier lives overall, which is also reflected in the condition of their skin.
And men? Here, a healthy diet apparently does little to combat wrinkles. At least they have one consolation: “Wrinkles make a man more masculine, a woman older,” the French actress and singer Jeanne Moreau is said to have once said.
They can hold on to that when they look at their wrinkled faces after getting up in the morning.