the dermatologist Anna Molina She has been working for more than a decade at the Fundación Jiménez Díaz University Hospital in Madrid, but many know her because she is a professor at the Autonomous Hospital and, above all, because for three years she has been collaborating on ‘Las Mañanas de RNE’, advising on what she most you know: our skin. Precisely, “the largest organ in our body, weighing about five kilos and has an area of about two square meters” is the protagonist of his latest book, ‘Healthy skin, beautiful skin‘ (Paidos), a kind of bible to take care of our dermis, so that it looks great.
Molina assures that “investing time in taking care of her is one of the best gifts we can give ourselves.” “In addition -he comments-, different studies have shown that what most influences the perception of beauty is not skin without wrinkles, with symmetrical volumes or typical features. No. What most influences the perception of beauty is the quality of our skin; to have a skin healthy, luminous, without stains and with a pleasant texture”.
What characteristics should a healthy skin have?
-A healthy skin has a balance between adequate luminosity, an adequate and healthy color, a good structure, a good function (barrier, endocrine, immunological, thermoregulatory…), and is capable of transmitting emotions, blushing, expressing through the facial muscles, which forms wrinkles in certain areas…
-You say that the greatest enemies of the skin are the so-called “white enemies”: refined flour, salt and sugar.
-Indeed, the one that has the most negative impact on our skin, of course, is free sugar, sugar added to food. Not the sugar itself, but all the added sugar, especially in ultra-processed foods. The free sugar that circulates in the blood binds to proteins in our skin and forms the so-called advanced glycation products. And what these do is directly destroy collagen and elastin, so they directly damage our skin.
-And stress or lack of sleep, how do they affect it?
-Both are very harmful and contribute to aging. Just as you have to avoid tobacco, protect yourself from the sun, avoid pollution, eat a healthy diet… it is very important to have adequate emotional management. Today we know that the skin and the brain come from the same layer in the embryo, and that they are two closely related organs.
-Our skin has memory.
-An infinite memory, and we always say that what has the most impact on the development of long-term skin cancer, or photoaging, is the sun and the burns we receive in the first 20 years of life. The best gift we can give our children is to ensure correct sun protection for them until the first 20 years of life. I think this is the most important message of the book.
-Why are there still centers with beds and tanning booths, if more cases of skin cancer are attributed to them than those caused by tobacco in the lungs?
-I always say, and this is how I begin the chapter on sun protection, that there should be a sign on the doors of tanning booths that says “this kills”, “this causes skin cancer”, just as has been done in tobacco packets.
-“A tan always implies previous damage to the cells,” he writes.
-For a dermatologist, getting a tan is always bad. It tells us that solar radiation has reached the skin, has damaged it and our cells are trying to protect themselves through the secretion of melanin, which makes us brown. You have to find the balance, because it is true that thanks to the sun on the skin we also produce vitamin D. You have to get a little sun every day (about 15 minutes), in some area of the body that is not the face. The face must always be protected.
-What would be the essential skin care in summer?
-The cosmetic routine in winter and summer is usually quite similar, which is the routine in four steps: good cleaning, good hydration of the skin, good sun protection and a good transformation with active ingredients that have proven effective against aging of the skin, such as retinoids and hydroxy acids. Yes, it is true that in summer we have to intensify photoprotection and we have to lower, perhaps, the dose of these nocturnal transformers, because they can irritate the skin a little.
-Now that we’re back to talking about ‘bikini surgery’, are anti-cellulite creams effective?
-Cellulite is not a pathology, but a paraphysiological process, that is, a process inherent to women of childbearing age, which all women suffer to a greater or lesser extent, and which is very difficult to eliminate completely. In order to improve it, many treatments must be added: medical, cosmetic, in the cabin… The benefit or what an anti-cellulite cream can provide is very, very low or practically nil because cellulite forms mainly in the third layer of the skin. , the deepest, and the creams do not reach there.
-“Chocolate does not cause acne”, another myth that he throws to the ground in his book.
-The message I want to convey is that acne is not due to specific foods, such as chocolate, chorizo, etc., but is due to a food trend, a way of eating, a global diet. In other words, if a person eats chocolate from time to time, that is not going to cause an acne breakout, but if a person eats a diet that is very rich in ultra-processed foods, sugar, and fats, especially from meat sources, that has shown that severely worsen acne.
-Also warn about the fashionable semi-permanent manicures.
One aspect of manicures, whether temporary, permanent or semi-permanent, that dermatologists like the least is cuticle damage. The cuticle must be taken care of and must be left there, it must not be damaged because it protects us from infections, humidity and many factors. On the other hand, in semi-permanent and permanent manicures it is important to know that using an ultraviolet drying lamp does not make sense because we are applying ultraviolet radiation to the skin surrounding the nail and this can cause skin cancer in the long term if it is done too frequently. . You have to use LED lights, which is what is already in most centers. And finally, I advise resting between manicures to let the nail rest.
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-Finally, how often should we go to the dermatologist?
I always say that a visit to the ‘derma’ a year does not hurt, to do a complete self-examination of all the skin at least once a year. This does not mean that we do not also have to do a self-examination ourselves, which includes all parts of our skin, especially those parts that we often forget: between the toes, the genitals… An examination is also recommended. with a trusted person, who can be our partner or a family member, at least once every six months.
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