Why asians age gracefully

A Chinese weather anchorwoman recently stunned the internet for appearing to not having aged after 22 years on the job. In a video posted online showing a collection of footage from to of forecaster Yang Dan, netizens found that Yang, now aged 44, looks no different than her year-old self. Many who have followed Yang's career expounded about how they have aged over the decades while she has not.

This raised the question about why Chinese people tend to look younger than their actual age. One Australian internet user posted "Marry one [Asian] aged 20 and you'll be looking at the same person for the next 40 years.

What causes this difference? We asked some foreigners living in Shanghai for their input, showing pictures of Chinese celebrities and asking our interviewees how old they appear. Generally, the people we interviewed tended to believe that Chinese look much younger than their real age.

On the contrary, people living in Asia still overall prefer a pale skin, taking an umbrella when sunshine unthinkable in Western countries , covering themselves at the beach etc. Both Western and Asian food are very diverse, with huge differences from a country to another, from a social class to another, from regions etc. But we can spot the Western cuisine integrate more items likely to age the body, such as sweet food, processed food etc.

Look at these people. Obviously, beyond surgery, they must have paid good attention to their lifestyle. Ok, there are undebatable factors making Asian people overall looking younger.

Why Asians look younger than white people? David Douillet has been a French Olympics winner in Judo in and But he looks quite different. Yes, there is some science involved. At many levels. Skin types We may age through internal reasons genetic, tiredness, hormones etc. To sum up, the more eumelanin your skin has, the darker your skin will be. People who have more pheomelanin will have paler skin, usually accompanied by freckles. Sunlight can be damaging due to the UV radiation it contains.

UV radiation can destroy folic acid or cause DNA mutation in some skin cells. Sometimes this mutation can even cause skin cancer. This is where dark skin has its advantages. Dermatologists distinguish six skin types based on the color, from the palest type I to the darkest type VI.

An ethnic African person of skin type VI, for instance, does not feel the effect of aging as much as an ethnic Caucasian with blond hair and light skin of type I. The mechanisms we are talking about are processes to increase epidermal thickness, DNA fixing and apoptosis, antioxidant enzyme and, most importantly, skin pigmentation. UV radiation is a primary environmental factor that affects the function and health of various cells and is considered as a prime risk factor for skin tumors, such as basal cell carcinoma BCC , squamous cell carcinoma SCC or malignant melanoma.

Generally, skin pigmentation is believed to be a photoprotective agent due to melanin having antioxidant properties and free radicals prophylactic. Other than that, a lot of evidence suggests that people with darker skin have a far lower chance of skin cancer than lighter-skinned people. Collagen also takes part in fighting against premature aging. While melanin absorbs UV radiation and protects the skin from the inside, collagen is a skin tissue forming molecules that provide protection against diseases and injuries.

The thicker the skin is and the more melanin it contains, the greater its anti-aging effect, including its protection against wrinkles and fine lines. As a result, people who have darker skin tend to look younger than their paler counterparts. Nonetheless, dark-skinned people are not immune to UV damage. Therefore, it is important to use moisturizer rich in vitamin E and C and also sunscreen with a minimum sun protection factor SPF of 30 every time you go outdoors, even if you have dark skin.