The real reasons why people look old: excessive sleepiness, collagen breakdown, and sagging skin.

7.2 The Real Reason It Looks Old

7.2.1 Consequences of Drowsiness

Obesity can easily cause drowsiness because obese people have a high body fat content, and fat cells require more blood to transport nutrients and oxygen to maintain their activity. When the oxygen supply to the brain is insufficient, it causes brain hypoxia, resulting in drowsiness. Moreover, obese people are often prone to staying in bed longer. Below are the dangers of drowsiness and staying in bed longer.

(1) Disruption of the body's normal biological rhythm

The secretion of hormones in the human body is regulated. People who are addicted to sleeping in their beds have their biological clock rhythm disrupted. Hormone levels do not rise during the day and do not drop at night. As a result, although they sleep for a long time during the day, they still feel tired, weak, and listless. At night, they are excited and have difficulty falling asleep.

(2) Affects brain function

Each instance of oxygen deprivation in the brain kills hundreds of thousands of brain cells, but there are no particular symptoms in the short term because the human brain has hundreds of millions of brain cells. After 10 to 20 years, a significant number of brain cells die, brain tissue atrophies, and the conduction function of nerve organs is hindered, which may lead to Alzheimer's disease.

(3) Affects gastrointestinal function

Generally, a moderate dinner is mostly digested by around 7 a.m. the next morning. At this time, the stomach and intestines begin to function according to the "hunger" signal, preparing to receive and digest new food. People who linger in bed and do not eat on time are more prone to gastritis and ulcers over time.

(4) Hypotonia

After a night's sleep, muscles and joints are relatively relaxed in the morning. Getting up and moving around immediately after waking up can increase muscle tone, allowing muscle tissue to be in a state of active repair, while also expelling metabolic waste accumulated in the muscles overnight. This is beneficial for muscle fiber thickening and toughening. People who sleep in late miss this opportunity for muscle activity, and often feel soreness in their lower back and knees, back discomfort, and are also prone to lower back sprains after waking up.

(5) Leads to physical weakness

When a person is active, their heart rate increases, the myocardial contractility strengthens, and blood flow increases. When a person is at rest, the heart is also in a resting state. If one sleeps for a long time, it will disrupt the rhythm of the heart's activity and rest, causing the heart to contract weakly. Even slight activity will result in a palpitation, shortness of breath, and weakness in the limbs. Over time, this creates a vicious cycle, leading to physical weakness.

7.2.2 Consequences of Collagen Breakdown

Many people believe that wearing more clothes in winter can conceal their figure, and that spring is the perfect season to lose weight. However, winter is actually the season when it's easiest to gain weight. Excessive and rapid fat accumulation stretches the skin, causing skin fibers to lengthen. If you wait until spring to lose weight, even if you succeed, your skin will become loose and saggy, resembling a dehydrated grapefruit peel – very unsightly.

In addition, abdominal collagen is prone to breakage during pregnancy. Due to hormonal changes during pregnancy, abdominal fat accumulates, and as the fetus grows, abdominal collagen breaks down, resulting in loose abdominal skin after childbirth.

7.2.3 Loose skin

A 50-year-old woman had been getting beauty treatments at a salon for 20 years. She recently missed a month due to other commitments, and her pores became significantly larger, and her skin became much looser. Why is this?

Our subcutaneous skin is very thin and close to blood vessels. When we touch the skin, it stimulates the blood vessels, causing them to reflexively secrete endothelin. In beauty salons, if a facial massage is prolonged, the blood vessel walls react by secreting large amounts of endothelin. What is the function of endothelin? It is primarily responsible for dissolving collagen and elastin fibers.

Can elastic fibers repair themselves after they've been dissolved? If they can repair themselves, people won't age, and their skin won't sag. If they can't repair themselves, their skin will become very loose, and they'll definitely age faster in the end.

Therefore, in the United States, all estheticians must pass a qualification exam. Professional estheticians know that facial treatments performed with their hands should never exceed 15 minutes. If a treatment lasts an hour, they will use instruments or face masks, but the hands must never be on the face for more than 15 minutes.

7.2.4 Obese people lack vitality

A lack of passion and energy is often a common trait among obese individuals. Because of their weight, they dislike shopping, are afraid to have their pictures taken, and their only daily hobby is eating; the fatter they are, the more they crave food. Fat adheres to blood vessels, reducing the oxygen content in the blood. When a person is oxygen-deficient, they are prone to drowsiness and lack of energy.

People often say that fat people are "lazy and gluttonous," but in reality, they are powerless to do what they want!

The "great appetite" stems from unstable blood sugar and insufficient nutrients, requiring constant eating to replenish these deficiencies. The "laziness" arises from a lack of usable energy and nutrients, leaving one feeling weak. This combination of "great appetite and laziness" further contributes to obesity, creating a vicious cycle. Ultimately, you accumulate more fat and lose more nutrients.

It's commonly believed that obesity is caused by overnutrition. In reality, the opposite is true: obese people have excess fat and are malnourished! Most modern people suffer from nutrient deficiencies (sub-health), and obese people are even more malnourished! Most obese individuals consume too much sugar and refined starch in their early stages, leading to varying degrees of glucose metabolism disorders (glucose intolerance or insulin resistance) in later stages. Glucose metabolism requires the consumption of vitamins B and C, various minerals (such as iron, vanadium, selenium, zinc, chromium, etc.), and coenzyme Q. Unburned sugar is converted into fat, causing further obesity and glucose metabolism disorders. As a result, obese people consume more nutrients than normal people, leading to malnutrition and unstable blood sugar. The past belief that eating less fat leads to weight loss is actually the opposite. Low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets stimulate insulin secretion, causing and exacerbating blood sugar fluctuations, nutrient deficiencies, and insulin resistance, thus leading to obesity.