6 biohacking tips to slow skin aging
Unlock radiant skin and improve your overall health with 6 quick biohacking tips. Your journey to healthier, glowing skin starts here!
What to know
Skin health and overall health are all connected. Strengthening skin health can not only slow skin aging, but also slow overall aging in the body.
General longevity practices can positively impact skin health by promoting cellular energy through improved mitochondrial health.
Facial tools like gua shas and red light can contribute to healthy skin. These tools can also enhance the benefits of longevity topicals.
Longevity topical skin products can help reduce inflammation, prevent cellular damage, and promote skin health.
Timeline’s Skin Health products, containing Mitopure® (a highly pure form of Urolithin A), have several clinically proven benefits.
Skin appearance, skin health, and overall health are all intertwined. By improving skin health, you improve both skin appearance and overall health. And if you work on physical health, you achieve stronger, more radiant skin! To grow in all three of these areas, we can take advantage of biohacks for skin and anti-aging biohacks! Let’s take a look at 6 skin biohacking tips and why they work.
Aging skin ages us
Our skin is the body's first line of defense against the outside world. Interestingly, skin health and appearance are not only indicative of overall health but can also influence it. The skin is highly vulnerable to extrinsic aging: aging that occurs due to external factors. When the skin ages, it releases inflammatory substances into the rest of our body, potentially accelerating aging in other organs. This underscores the interconnected nature of skin health and overall bodily wellness. By strengthening our front line, we can slow both skin aging and overall aging.[1]
How can you slow skin aging?
Scientists are improving their understanding of how aging works. Biohacking is a movement that brings this science to life, and allows us to turn these insights into actionable lifestyle tips to incrementally improve health! Here are a few skin biohacking tips to help you tackle skin aging.
Tip #1: Try intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is not only effective for weight management but also helps with overall health and longevity; this makes it a key anti-aging biohack. This practice focuses less on what you eat and more on when you eat. Certain longevity pathways get stimulated when you have periods of no food intake. Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind before starting your fasting journey![2]
- Start slow. A common practice is the 16/8 method, where you have all your meals within 8 hours and fast for the remaining 6. Ease into this practice with a 12/12 system to give your body time to adjust. You might find that a 12-hour fast is all you need.
- Stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of water not only helps manage hunger but also allows your body to detox more efficiently. Add a squeeze of lemon and mineral salt to effectively hydrate.
- Be consistent. Staying true to your fasting regime will allow your body (and cravings) to adjust to this time window.
Intermittent fasting comes with a slew of benefits, including better glucose regulation, better stress resistance, decreased inflammation, and the reduction of free radicals. It also promotes better metabolic health by generating more mitochondria. Intermittent fasting is one of the best diets that prompt autophagy: a cellular cleaning process that improves mitochondrial efficiency. [3]
Intermittent fasting for skin
But what does this all have to do with skin? Mitochondria are key organelles necessary for multiple cellular processes, making them fundamental to overall skin health. For one, mitochondrial processes are involved in the production of collagen.[4] Skin collagen levels are a vital biomarker of skin health and longevity; collagen assembly in the skin reduces sun sensitivity, keeps skin hydrated, shrinks pores, and reduces wrinkles.[5]
As a cellular cleaning process, autophagy also promotes better cell turnover in the skin. [6]Improved cell turnover is great for skin appearance, keeping it smooth and radiant. It also helps fade scars and acts as a biological exfoliator. You’ll see the impacts of intermittent fasting from the inside out!
Tip #2: Try facial tools
If you’re looking for a less invasive (and expensive) way to stimulate skin activity, try facial tools such as the gua sha and cryo spoon. Gua sha are known to increase blood circulation and lymphatic flow while jade rollers can be used to reduce inflammation and swelling in the skin. Facial skin treated with massage tools can boost collagen and lead to more youthful-looking skin. Using these tools to apply and massage in an anti-aging skincare product can also maximize the product’s effects.[7]
When selecting your facial tools, make sure to avoid those made from porous materials such as crystals, as the crevices can collect bacteria and lead to infection. The Timeline gua sha are made from nonporous and antimicrobial material making it a more hygienic option!
Timeline Gua Sha
NewElevate your skincare routine with Timeline's Gua Sha
Tip #3: Use topical longevity products
Topical longevity products occasionally harness particular ingredients that positively affect skin health[8]. Ingredients like niacinamide, retinol, CoQ10, [9] and Urolithin A can promote skin longevity[10]. Some topicals can go even deeper, promoting better cellular health, skin health, and overall health simultaneously.
Urolithin A is a potent anti-aging compound with several skin-promoting benefits. This compound has similar effects on mitochondrial health as fasting; it enhances mitophagy, a process where damaged mitochondria are cleared out. Mitophagy promotes cellular rejuvenation, stimulates collagen production, and promotes cell turnover. Topicals with compounds such as Urolithin A are a game changer for the skin.
Tip #4: Avoid toxic skincare
Many products claim to have anti-aging effects or benefits for our skin, but unfortunately, many of these products can contain toxic ingredients that are no good for skin health or appearance. Harsh chemicals can increase skin sensitivity and accelerate skin aging. Sometimes products will include synthetic fragrances or colors that can actively damage your skin's health. Look out for a product’s Yuka Score to see if it's clean before adding it to your regime!
Tip #5: Defend against blue light
Blue light from phones, TVs, computers, and other electronics are known to disrupt our sleep,[11] but this light can also damage our skin. Long exposure to blue light can be devastating for skin health; this high-energy light leads to DNA damage, skin barrier damage and also accelerates skin aging. This DNA damage doesn’t only affect our cells, it also disrupts our mitochondrial DNA. This hurts both skin health and overall health. [12]
Blue light defense skincare works like a physical sunscreen; it forms a layer that deflects blue light off the skin's surface. Some of these products also contain antioxidants to fight off free radicals brought on by blue light exposure[13]. Additionally, consider using a night shift setting on your electronics to minimize exposure.
Tip#6: Embrace red light
While we want to avoid blue light emitted from tech, red light is a different story. Photomodulation with red light therapy can help to stimulate mitochondrial function, enhancing skin health by improving collagen production and reducing inflammation[14].
There are several at-home devices, from wands to masks, that biohackers are embracing to improve skin health. Usually, they need to be used consistently several times a week to see the results.
It’s important to note that these devices tend to be costly, so we recommend starting with tips 1-5 first.
Timeline’s Skin Health Line
If you’re looking for a topical that can enhance skin appearance while improving cellular health and skin health, Timeline’s Skin Health Line may be for you.
All of the Timeline products contain Mitopure®, our patented, highly pure form of the Urolithin A compound. Mitopure® is clinically proven to help our cells fight intrinsic and extrinsic aging. People found that after using Timeline’s products for only two weeks they had visible improvements in skin appearance![15] Timeline’s Skin Health products are also free from toxic ingredients with a terrific Yuka score of 93/100, making it a safe and effective skin biohacking option.
Authors
Written by
Freelance writer
Reviewed by
Lead Regulatory Affairs & Scientific Manager Alliances at Timeline
References
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Longo, Valter D et al. “Intermittent and periodic fasting, longevity and disease.” Nature aging vol. 1,1 (2021): 47-59. doi:10.1038/s43587-020-00013-3
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Alirezaei, Mehrdad et al. “Short-term fasting induces profound neuronal autophagy.” Autophagy vol. 6,6 (2010): 702-10. doi:10.4161/auto.6.6.12376
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Stout, Roisin, and Mark Birch-Machin. “Mitochondria's Role in Skin Ageing.” Biology vol. 8,2 29. 11 May. 2019, doi:10.3390/biology8020029
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Bolke, Liane et al. “A Collagen Supplement Improves Skin Hydration, Elasticity, Roughness, and Density: Results of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Blind Study.” Nutrients vol. 11,10 2494. 17 Oct. 2019, doi:10.3390/nu11102494
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- Mijaljica, Dalibor et al. “Autophagy is the key to making chronic wounds acute in skin wound healing.” Autophagy vol. 19,9 (2023): 2578-2584. doi:10.1080/15548627.2023.2194155
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Nielsen A, Knoblauch NT, Dobos GJ, Michalsen A, Kaptchuk TJ. The effect of Gua Sha treatment on the microcirculation of surface tissue: a pilot study in healthy subjects. Explore (NY). 2007;3(5):456-466. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2007.06.001
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Ganceviciene, Ruta et al. “Skin anti-aging strategies.” Dermato-endocrinology vol. 4,3 (2012): 308-19. doi:10.4161/derm.22804
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Ayunin Q, Miatmoko A, Soeratri W, Erawati T, Susanto J, Legowo D. Improving the anti-ageing activity of coenzyme Q10 through protransfersome-loaded emulgel. Sci Rep. 2022;12(1):906. Published 2022 Jan 18. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-04708-4
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TD D’Amico, AM Fouassier, J Faitg, N Hennighausen, M Brandt, D Konstantopoulos, C Rinsch, A Singh Topical application of Urolithin A slows intrinsic skin aging and protects from UVB-mediated photodamage: Findings from Randomized Clinical Trials medRxiv 2023.06.16.23291378; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.06.16.23291378
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Guarana CL, Barnes CM, Ong WJ. The effects of blue-light filtration on sleep and work outcomes. J Appl Psychol. 2021;106(5):784-796. doi:10.1037/apl0000806
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Sadowska, Magdalena et al. “Blue Light in Dermatology.” Life (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 11,7 670. 8 Jul. 2021, doi:10.3390/life11070670
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Sadowska, Magdalena et al. “Blue Light in Dermatology.” Life (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 11,7 670. 8 Jul. 2021, doi:10.3390/life11070670
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Couturaud V, Le Fur M, Pelletier M, Granotier F. Reverse skin aging signs by red light photobiomodulation. Skin Res Technol. 2023;29(7):e13391. doi:10.1111/srt.13391
- ↑
TD D’Amico, AM Fouassier, J Faitg, N Hennighausen, M Brandt, D Konstantopoulos, C Rinsch, A Singh Topical application of Urolithin A slows intrinsic skin aging and protects from UVB-mediated photodamage: Findings from Randomized Clinical Trials medRxiv 2023.06.16.23291378; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.06.16.23291378
