A recent study published in "Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery" discussed what lifestyle factors make you look older -- or younger!
Things you might want to think about:
Cigarettes: If you ignore every other bad effect from smoking, you're left with ... smoking cigareets makes you look older! Just smoking for 5 years is enough to start seeing the effect! Each 10 years of smoking adds about 2 and a half years to your appearance. So ... if you smoke for 40 years, you'll look 10 years older than your natural age!
Divorce: Divorce is a stressful period -- and stress ages you! Curiously, becoming a widow (or a widower) results in a more youthful appearance! It's about a 2 year difference each way.
Body-mass index: Some surprises here -- too much weight makes you look older ... until you reach about age 40. At that point, you begin to look younger!
Alcohol: Like smoking, alcohol drinkers look older than non-drinkers.
Hormone replacement: Twins who used hormone replacements (ie, estrogen or progesterone) for a number of years looked 2 years younger than their siblings who did not receive such treatments.
Antidepressants: Like tobacco and alcohol, antidepressant usage results in a significantly older appearance.
The study compared the appearance of twins when each practiced different lifestyle factors.
Summary? Even more reasons to stay away from cigarettes, alcohol, and antidepressants. You might try to keep your youthful weight -- but you really need to accept those few extra pounds once you reach middle age; it'll make you look better!
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