From the time they emerge at puberty, our breasts face an uphill battle against the effects of gravity. You may not be worrying about saggy breasts when you are in the prime of your youth, but we hate to break it to you that even young women can suffer from saggy breasts.
The science behind sagging is quite straightforward: as we age, the Cooper’s ligaments, which are the connective tissues that help support the bulk of the breast, lose their elasticity. (Thanks gravity.) The skin also loses collagen with age and droops.
Research shows that the way in which breasts age have a lot to do with genetics. There are also many myths surrounding wearing a bra and how it causes your girls to droop, or that breastfeeding exacerbates sagginess. (None of the two are true, by the way!) Fear not, we have put together 5 super effective tips to help you keep your assets in tip-top perky shape 🙂
1) Eat well
As with everything related to our bodies, it all starts and ends with what we eat. Ensuring our breasts don’t sag prematurely is no different: what we eat matters. Firstly, we need to eat more of what our breasts are made of so as to provide our body with the raw material to maintain the cells and tissue in the breasts. So what are our girls made of? Fats, collagen, connective ligaments and glandular breast tissue — which means we need to get plenty of lean protein, complex carbs and fruits and veg into our diet.
Soy (in moderate amounts) is also important as it is a source of phytoestrogen, which mimics the hormone estrogen in boosting breast size during pregnancy. Fennel seeds stimulate the development of new glandular tissue, which rejuvenates the appearance of breasts and keeps them looking plumper and younger. Pomegranate is another great addition to your diet as it is extremely high in antioxidants, which helps reduce the risk of cancer as well as keeps free radicals at bay.
2) Maintain a consistent weight
Say NO to crash diets, which wreak havoc on your weight and breasts. You do not want to keep your weight fluctuating because we all know what happens to people who lose a whole lot of weight suddenly right? Yes, lots of droopy, loose and saggy skin! So the same goes for breasts, which have a high fat content. Losing weight suddenly will cause skin all over to lose their elasticity. If your weight keeps fluctuating drastically, the elasticity of your skin will be broken down. If you have to lose weight, you want to make sure you do so gradually by exercising and eating healthily.
3) Drink plenty of water
Your skin is primarily made up of water. Lots of water. Drinking more water to keep your skin supple and firm all over will automatically also improve the condition of skin on your breasts. This also improves the elasticity of your bust skin, which helps keep your assets perky and firm. Water also helps keep the fat and breast tissues in your boobs firm and plump. Too little water and your breasts will be deflated, saggy and tired-looking. So drink up!
4) Exercise with the right support
While it is true that your breasts are made up of fat not muscle, and it is also true that you therefore cannot tone your breasts by exercising, you CAN definitely still reap the benefits of exercise in the form of perkier breasts. This is because there are muscles holding the ligaments in place, and exercising will strengthen those muscles. You can also strengthen your back muscles through targetted exercise for better posture, which will give the happy illusion of perkier breasts (see point 5 below!)
Whether you lift some weights to tone those pectorals or you go for a run to work the whole body, always wear a fitted sports bra so that your girls are well-supported throughout your work-out. Not doing so will speed up the sag which would be the last thing you want to do!
5) Posture
Slouching causes the breasts to hang lower. For an instant lift, square your shoulders, draw yourself up and lift your chin — your boobs will look perkier and livelier immediately. Having prolonged poor posture also causes problems in the long run, as the constant over-hang you subject your breasts to exerts a downward pull and causes them to sag.
Cheryl W is all about wholesome, healthy living, and taking the best care of your body for all-over body positivity. Feeling good about the way your breasts look will help you feel more confident and good about yourself, so take care of your assets now while you’re still young!