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In an interview with HT Lifestyle, experts shared that diet, facial yoga, and collagen boosters can promote skin health; however, their effectiveness compared to clinical treatments — think Botox, fillers, or lasers — may be limited.

Dr Rachana Tataria, consultant, breast reconstruction and plastic surgery, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, Mumbai, said, “Definitely, diet, facial yoga, and collagen boosters cannot compete with or give comparative results to clinical treatment. At the same time, anti-ageing procedures cannot substitute for a healthy lifestyle.”

According to Dr Raina Nahar, consultant dermatologist at PD Hinduja Hospital and MRC, Khar, Mumbai, diet and facial yoga, along with skin treatments, can give you the best benefits. She explained: “None of them can be independent of each other, especially without diet and a disciplined lifestyle. You cannot achieve the best treatments for even the skin sessions that we do, the procedures that we do. So this is mandatory and non-negotiable — you follow a diet which is rich in protein, protein as per the body weight requirement, depending on your physical activity.”

Best approach: combining natural, clinical methods

She added, “The aim of these overall — the holistic approach that you’re following or the skin treatments that you’re doing — is to stimulate the body to age gracefully, to slow down or delay the ageing process by stimulating collagen and elastin. These are the protein, fibres formed in the dermis which give you the tenacity, elasticity and youthful appearance; production of hyaluronic acid, your natural proteins, all these will hold water and give you that hydrated and tight skin.”

Dr Tataria explained that healthy eating, exercise, yoga, and supplements aim to support and maintain the body’s natural processes effectively. “Equally important are sufficient sleep, stress management, and avoiding habits like smoking and drinking. These can help you age well rather than focus on anti-ageing,” Dr Tataria said.

She went on to add: “Various clinical treatments, both surgical and nonsurgical, aim to improve and enhance the body’s features to a more youthful appearance. Diet and exercise work by improving biological age, increasing longevity, and enhancing the body’s immunity to age-related diseases via reducing oxidative stress and improving metabolic health. But they cannot reverse the existing age-related damage and changes. Anti-ageing procedures cannot help improve these dramatically through various procedures that are quick and effective, some with less or more downtime.”

Quick and effective results

Chemical peels, skin boosters, and anti-pigment medications can improve skin texture and quality. Face lifts, blepharoplasty, and neck lifts can address loose skin and volume loss. Dr Tataria shared that various non-surgical procedures available in India include chemical peels, skin boosters, and anti-pigment medications and can ‘help improve skin texture, quality and clear dark spots’.

She added, “Outpatient procedures like Botox, fillers, endolift, laser help with wrinkle and skin tightening treatment. Surgical procedures like face lift, blepharoplasty, neck lift, and fat grafting can help with ageing in people with loose skin and volume loss to a great extent.”

How to use diet as part of your anti-ageing routine?

A balanced diet rich in protein, fibre, and complex carbs supports skin health, Dr Nahar said and explained: “All of this is important. So if you are having three meals in a day, plan it according to 20 grams approximately of protein and 10 grams of fibre per meal. Include your essential fatty acids and complex carbs so that you can digest the protein very well. This will help you age slowly. The fibre will add to your gut bacteria again, which will help.”

She added, “When you are taking care of everything — your mental well-being, your gut — your skin will reflect the good health. So diet forms a very, very important part. It is basic, wholesome protocol for any good treatment, be it for your heart, for your kidney or for your skin. Diet forms the basis. It is the nutrition or the boost that you give.”

How to use facial yoga to look younger?

Dr Nahar further said, “The facial yoga that you’re doing will stimulate the muscles, improve your blood supply, improve the elasticity of your skin, and tighten your muscles. Also, along with that, you can do certain procedures that help you drain the lymphatic fluid in the skin. So, your lymphatic drainage, de-puffing, all this will help you get tighter skin. You will improve the elasticity, fluid retention, water retention, and muscle.”

Collagen boosters for youthful appearance

She added that while dietary collagen is difficult to obtain, consuming greens rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids can help slow down ageing. Asked if you need to add collagen to your diet after the age of 25, Dr Nahar said: “All foods have collagen. It is difficult to get that from the diet, but it can be in a lot of greens that you include in your diet. They will help you age gracefully — your fibre, your antioxidants, your omegas, all these will slow down your ageing process.”

She also shared how skin boosters, exosomes and such skincare procedures, help the skin: “They work directly when injected in the skin or applied on the skin. Some mesotherapy, mesoporation, and microneedling will directly stimulate your dermis to produce collagen, improve your hyaluronic acid, and water retention. So you’re directly doing procedures at the level that you want, and you’re anti-ageing. You cannot compare eating clean to doing an angioplasty. So, these two are independent, but when you combine the two — ‘I had to do the procedure, but along with that, I’m eating clean, I’m maintaining my lifestyle’ — you get the best benefits. We’re all going to age, but a clean diet, a good lifestyle like doing yoga, and treatments, along with skincare, are the way to go.”

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.