Fabulous Body – Fried Face? Skin Health Tips for Outdoor Athletes

When AARP started sending me solicitations to join their group, I was a bit put off. Looking for some inspiration, I found it helpful to read about other, much older, athletes who were still out there having fun in their 70’s and 80’s.   While flipping through a copy of Master Athlete magazine, it struck me: great bodies, but their faces!  Ouch!  Pictures with smiling, but wrinkled, sun-weathered, saggy faces.   Not exactly the look I was aspiring to achieve.  However, cosmetic problems are minor in comparison to the risk of too much UV exposure.  Skin cancer is the real enemy of outdoor athletes.  According to the American Cancer Society, skin cancer is the most common of all cancers, accounting for more than 2 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer in 2009.

Preventing cancer and early aging is possible. 

Blocking harmful UV rays from the sun in the first step.  Using clothing and sunscreen is essential.  What you eat can affect the health of the skin, also. 

Low fat and high intakes of vitamin C and A both are associated with less photodamage from the sun and improved connective tissue linkage.  Topical skinceutical products such as tretinoin gel, a vitamin A preparation and 20% strength vitamin C can also reduce wrinkling and photodamage.

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