Everyone has a favorite facial cream or treatment, but great skin starts with nourishment from the inside out. Older cells are constantly being shed and replaced with younger ones, and a constant supply of key nutrients is essential to support this rapid growth. Eat the right balance of foods and you’ll be providing your skin with the essential nutrients it needs to help it stay soft, supple, and blemish-free.
That said, even if we try to resist it, our skin ages naturally. Age spots and wrinkles are the inevitable result of time, but skin aging can be accelerated by overexposure to the sun and tanning beds, harsh soaps, chemicals, and poor nutrition. With this in mind, a holistic approach is preferable. Treat your skin with kindness and optimize your diet by eating fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants, healthy fats from oily fish and nuts, and a varied and balanced diet. This should provide optimal levels of essential nutrients for radiant skin, including beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, zinc, and selenium.
1. Don’t crash the diet
Repeated weight loss and regain can take a toll on your skin, causing sagging, wrinkles and stretch marks. Crash diets are often poor in essential vitamins and minerals. Over long periods of time, this type of diet will affect your skin. It is always best to have a healthy, balanced diet. If you are thinking of trying a weight loss plan, make sure you have all the facts first.
2. Eat a minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
Fruits and vegetables contain powerful antioxidants that help protect the skin from cellular damage caused due to free radicals. Free radicals, pollution, smoking, and sunlight can cause age spots and wrinkles. Eat a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables and aim for at least five servings a day. Beta-carotene, found in carrots, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins, and lutein, found in kale, papaya, and spinach, are powerful antioxidants, important for normal skin cell development and a healthy complexion.
Also Read: How Good Potato Juice For Your Skin And Face
3. Eat enough vitamin C
Vitamin C is also a super antioxidant. It is needed to support the immune system, promote glowing skin, and help blemishes heal properly. The best sources are black currants, guava, blueberries, kiwi, broccoli, oranges, strawberries, papaya and sweet potatoes. Vitamin C is needed to produce collagen which nourishes the capillaries that supply the skin.
4. Eat enough vitamin E
Vitamin E protects the skin from oxidative (cellular) damage and promotes healthy skin growth. Foods rich in vitamin E include almonds, avocados, hazelnuts, pine nuts, and sunflower and corn oils.
5. Fill up on selenium
Selenium is a powerful antioxidant. It works alongside other antioxidants such as vitamins E and C and is essential for supporting the immune system. Studies suggest that a diet high in selenium may help protect against skin cancer, sun damage, and age spots. One way to increase your intake is to have Brazil nuts. Only four nuts will be enough to provide the Recommended Daily Amount (RDA). Toss Brazil nuts with other seeds rich in vitamin E as a snack or sprinkle with salad. Other good sources are eggs, fish, shellfish, tomatoes, wheat germ, and broccoli.
6. Drink six to eight glasses of water daily
The skin needs moisture to stay supple. Even mild dehydration will make your skin dry, tired, and slightly gray. Drink six to eight glasses of water a day – all fluids count towards your daily intake, but water is best. If you work in an office, keep a large bottle of water on your desk as a reminder to drink. Herbal teas without caffeine are also good. Remember that certain fruits and vegetables, such as watermelon, zucchini, and cucumber, also provide fluids – the added benefit is that the minerals they contain will increase hydration levels in your body and in your skin. Try avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, as both can age the skin.
