Deteriorating eyesight

Why it happens

Around 40-45 we develop a new mannerism – pulling our head back while peering at the paper or brochure held at arm’s length. It’s called presbyopia, it’s normal and there’s nothing we can do to prevent it. From adolescence the lens in our eye slowly thickens and becomes less flexible making it more difficult to focus.

What to do

Visit the optometrist regularly to monitor eye health and vision changes.

Buy reading glasses if necessary.

Eat plenty of yellow and dark green fruit and vegetables such as corn and spinach. They are rich in the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin which accumulate in the retina and are thought to be important for eye health.

Skin wrinkling

Why it happens

“As you get older you have to choose between your face and your legs,” my friend’s French mother-in-law told her. Great legs and gaunt face or a great face and podgy legs – some choice!

As we get older our subcutaneous fat diminishes so there’s less padding under the skin. (It’s probably headed off to the stomach!) Collagen, which gives support and shape to our face, also reduces. If we’ve spent too much of the last 40 years stressed, smoking or in the sun, we’ll probably notice those wrinkles a whole lot sooner.

What to do

Collagen, keratin and elastin are all important for healthy skin, and are all made from protein. Make sure you’re eating enough protein but remember more is not better. Excess protein won’t give you more collagen; it’s stored as fat – more likely around your tummy than under your cheek-bones.

Collagen also contains silicon. Foods high in silicon include whole grains, oats, citrus, cucumber skin and the stringy bits of rhubarb, celery, asparagus and mango.

Vitamin C is essential for making collagen. Eat plenty of citrus and kiwifruit.

Dehydration results in sunken eyes and saggy skin. Drink plenty of fluids, especially water and tea, to keep your skin hydrated and plumped out.

Always wear moisturiser and sunscreen.

Bits Sagging

Why it happens

“How’s it hanging?” is not a greeting to use with the 40-plus set. Plenty of bits are starting to sag and we don’t need to be reminded. Gravity is partly to blame but it’s also caused by loss of collagen and muscle.

What to do

Build or re-build muscle with weights and exercises.

Re-contour your body with push-up or pull-in underwear!

Drink tea, juice or water. Vitamin C in juice and flavonoids in tea both help build collagen fibres to keep connective tissue springy and elastic rather than saggy.

For more flavonoids eat a variety of fruit, vegetables and legumes including citrus, apples with the skin on, chickpeas, lentils, onions and garlic.

In the next post we’ll look at balding and impotence.