'I'm a plastic surgeon - a diet change will make you look 10 years younger'

Dr Anthony Youn (known as America's Holistic Plastic Surgeon) said that it's possible to look 10 years younger without surgery by making a diet change.

According to the expert, one way to drop a decade is through intermittent fasting or the fasting-mimicking diet.

He said: "Intermittent fasting is otherwise known as time-restricted eating and it's restricting your eating interval to about eight hours - sometimes less - during the day.

"A lot of people do intermittent fasting by not eating after 8pm and then holding off on eating until noon the next day.

"Another way to do this is a fasting-mimicking diet. This is a five-day, low-calorie plant-based diet where you trick your body into thinking you're actually fasting for those five days."

The plastic surgeon explained that following these types of diets can result in a more youthful appearance.

Autophagy is an intracellular process "where the body clears itself of intracellular debris". The expert described it as a "self-cleaning mechanism".

Dr Youn said: "Now that's not necessarily going to make you look younger - but it's the step after that that does."

He explained that after the body goes through its autophagy process, it goes into a process of creating stem cells.

"It's this process of renewal of the body. Intermittent fasting and the fasting-mimicking diet can do that for you."

City Skin Clinic also seconded the idea that intermittent fasting could have a positive effect. As well as promoting autophagy, the experts also cited improvements such as improved skin hydration and texture, clearer and more radiant skin, reduction in acne and other skin conditions, and anti-ageing.

Experts said: "During intermittent fasting, the body can better regulate hydration levels, which is crucial for maintaining healthy skin. Enhanced hydration leads to improved skin texture, giving the skin a plump, more elastic and smoother appearance.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• 'I'm a plastic surgeon - look out for four criteria in your foods if you want to maintain youthful skin'
• 'I'm a hairdresser - there's a style you should avoid if you want better hair'
• The 4-minute routine to get rid of neck lines, sagging skin & a double chin

"Intermittent fasting can decrease inflammation in the body which can alleviate conditions like acne, rosacea and other inflammatory skin issues. This results in calmer, clearer and more even-toned skin.

"By promoting cell turnover and regeneration, intermittent fasting can have major anti-ageing effects on the skin. It helps slow down the ageing process and results in skin that looks and feels more youthful."

Intermittent fasting also has weight loss benefits. Harvard Health said: "Intermittent fasting makes intuitive sense. The food we eat is broken down by enzymes in our gut and eventually ends up as molecules in our bloodstream.

"Carbohydrates, particularly sugars and refined grains (think white flour and rice), are quickly broken down into sugar, which our cells use for energy.

"If our cells don't use it all, we store it in our fat cells as, well, fat. But sugar can only enter our cells with insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas. Insulin brings sugar into the fat cells and keeps it there.

"Between meals, as long as we don't snack, our insulin levels will go down and our fat cells can then release their stored sugar, to be used as energy. We lose weight if we let our insulin levels go down.

"The entire idea of intermittent fasting is to allow the insulin levels to go down far enough and for long enough that we burn off our fat."

In other anti-ageing news, Dr Youn revealed that an alcoholic drink will make your skin look younger when enjoyed once a day.