EP 218. Do wrinkles cause aging?

A few years ago, some people and some publications tried to call time on the term anti aging. They made the valid point that aging is a natural process, one which we're very fortunate to experience, and that we can't stop it despite the myriad of claims that come out of the beauty industry. And a lot of people then tried to cancel the term anti aging. So I think it's safe to say that they failed quite badly. There was a short lived acceptance, I suppose, of the need to move on from what many people view as quite a toxic term. But I think the overwhelming call from people wanting to stop wrinkle formation and to embrace that term anti aging again has taken back over and as we heard in the podcast episode I released last week where I talked with Formula Botanica education manager Anna Green, even children are now starting to think about anti aging or so called prejuvenation, which as the mother of two children I find an utterly terrifying concept. So what I would really like to do in my latest opinion piece this week is to talk to you about why we should all feel privileged to age and why aging isn't scary or something to be stopped. However, I'm not going to do that. Instead, I want to talk to you about some research I read last year which totally blew my mind because it said that growing evidence is suggesting that the more your skin deteriorates, the more the rest of you ages prematurely. Now let that sink in for a minute. In other words, the signs of aging you see on your skin aren't necessarily a side effect of the aging process and might instead be a contributing factor to the whole body aging process. Yes, that one made my brain hurt too. So let's explore it in today's podcast episode. Hi, it's Lorraine Dallmeyer, chartered environmentalist, biologist and CEO of award winning online organic cosmetic formulation school Formula Botanica. I host the Green Beauty Conversations podcast and these are my Green Beauty opinions in which I challenge the beauty industry's terrible track record on sustainability and share my thoughts on how we make the beauty sector a better and more sustainable place. If you want to be the first to hear all of my latest episodes, make sure you subscribe to this podcast. So are you ready to potentially flip everything you've ever believed about skin aging upside down? Lets go. So in my house we subscribe to New Scientist magazine, which if you ever need a recommendation for a great weekly read on the latest science stories, then this is definitely it. And I'm not being paid to say that as we don't take any sponsorship on this podcast, New Scientist, is just simply awesome. And last year I picked up the latest edition as it came through the postbox. And the COVID article caught my eye because it was titled, the Radical New Theory that Wrinkles actually Cause Aging. Now, clearly I sat up and paid attention because this directly contradicts everything I've been led to believe so far. So let's dive in. The article said emerging evidence suggests that as skin ages, it releases a chemical cocktail around the body that could drive premature aging of other organs. In other words, wrinkles may not just be a result of aging, but also a driver of it. And as I was reading these words, I honestly couldn't believe what I was reading. So what is the science currently suggesting? Let's quickly do a recap of the aging of the skin. So as we get older, the very top layer of our skin, which is called the epidermis, and it's only a few cellular layers thick, it starts to thin and its surface gets rougher. And we then experience a reduction in the water and the oil content of the cells inside that layer, that epidermis, which means that you start to see the folds in your skin get deeper. And this is what causes our wrinkles. As we age, we also see the chemicals produced in the layer below the epidermis, which is called the dermis, start to reduce. And you'll have heard of some of those chemicals produced in that layer, the dermis, because we're talking about collagen, elastin, hyaluronic acid. These are all the buzz terms you've heard literally a thousand times in the beauty industry's adverts. And these chemicals give the plumpness to the dermis, and they also contribute to the youthful look of our skin. So the epidermis starts to deepen its folds, the dermis loses its plumpness. And then we also see some cells in our skin start to enter what this article in New Scientist terms a zombie like state called senescence, where they no longer divide, these cells are no longer dividing. Now, I'm not going to get too deep into the science here because I do recommend you read up more on this if you're interested and even go and read the article itself. A New Scientist it is behind a paywall. These senescent cells then can contribute to further issues associated with aging. That's what scientists now think. So think of things like cataracts or Parkinson's disease, or type 2 diabetes or Alzheimer's disease and even cancer. So this senescence in our cells, it is an inevitable stage of aging. Although some scientists are obviously trying to figure out ways of stopping senescence from even happening. And this is where the multi billion dollar anti aging industry is really starting to take off. However, senescence can also be made worse by extrinsic factors. So those are factors in our environment. Think of pollution, think of smoking, your diet. And of course this one's not going to surprise you at all. Think of the sun. Of course we can control a lot of these external factors. We've all been saying this for years. We even teach this in our courses as well. And we all know that the sun and its ultraviolet rays can cause premature aging in our skin. But I don't really think that scientists and us as consumers and shoppers probably realized that the extent of that aging doesn't just end with the skin. As the New Scientist article says, this isn't just cosmetic wear and tear. Instead it can affect your overall health and your longevity. That's amazing. So where's the science in this? Well, interestingly, there have been some studies to suggest there's a lot more to this than we perhaps currently realize. And many of them are linked in the New Scientist article itself. Let me give you just one example. So a 2023 scientific paper in the British Journal of Dermatology was titled Younger Facial looks are associated with a lower likelihood of several age related morbidities in the middle Aged to elderly. And this scientific paper concluded that systemic aging and cognitive aging as well are to an extent externally visible in the human face. And some scientists are now starting to think that skin aging might actually be driving whole body ag. Just let that one sink in for a minute. If this truly turns out to be the case, and of course far more research is needed to back that up. And all the scientists are saying this as well, this hypothesis has some really wide reaching implications for the entire beauty industry. This industry is often seen as a giant vanity project, but would perhaps instead start to be seen as, dare I say it, healthcare. But does that truly justify the need then to slather ourselves in dozens of lotions and serums? Well, I think the truth is that if much of it really comes back to the external factors in our lives, then I think a healthy lifestyle, a healthy diet and a very good sunscreen might honestly get us a significant part of the way there too. So my challenge to you for this week is to remember that there is always more to learn about something that we thought was perhaps a closed chapter. And I do recommend you go and read up on this because it is fascinating. So I've linked to the New Scientist article in the show Notes on our website and with this podcast on all the podcast platforms where you're listening to this. But it is behind a paywall. And once you have read it, if you do go and read it and you've let it blow your mind, tell me what you think. Should we perhaps start to reframe the way that we see the beauty industry? Or should everyone just be told over and over to go and wear sunscreen? Thank you for listening to my Green Beauty opinions. Remember to visit the Formula botanica website@formulabotanica.com to try our free online formulation course. And if you haven't subscribed yet to the Green Beauty Conversations podcast, please make sure you do so now in your favorite podcast app. Leave me a five star review if you enjoy the conversations I host and I'll be back soon with my next episode.