Do you have skin issues? If so, then it’s probably from to a poor diet. The foods you eat can make a dramatic impact on your skin. If you are not eating well then your appearance will suffer, and you certainly don’t want that. We’ll tell you the best foods to eat in order to improve your appearance, and also which foods that you absolutely should avoid.
Best Foods
The first food you’re going to want to add to your diet for great skin is, well, not a food. It’s water! Good hydration is essential to proper skin functioning. Your body needs lots of water to be able to flush out toxins, move vitamins and minerals around in your body, and repair damaged cells. Water is the cheapest and most important thing your body needs, and your skin is no exception.
A good rule of thumb is to drink your body weight in ounces of water, every day. That means if you are 120 pounds, you need to drink 120 ounces of water every day. That comes to 15 cups, or about 7.5 glasses a day. If you’re 200 pounds, that’s 200 ounces of water equaling 12.5 glasses a day. That may seem like a lot of water, or you may be drinking that much already. If you are, good for you and keep it up! You’re doing your skin a big favor by keeping hydrated.
The next task to jump start your best skin is to introduce these foods into your diet:
Fruits and Vegetables High in Vitamins A and C
These two vitamins are essential to an even skin tone and firm skin. The best place to get them is directly from fruits and vegetables. Carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and squash are all high in Vitamin A. Almost all berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, currants, etc.), papaya, and broccoli are all very high in Vitamin C. Vitamin C is essential to collagen production and a diet with plenty of it will result in firmer skin overall.
All of these fruits and vegetables, as well as spinach and kale and others, also contain high levels of antioxidants like lutein that protect your skin from free-radical damage that often leads to premature aging and cancers.
Carrots are a top food that should be included in your diet
Foods High in Natural Fat and Vitamin E
Everyone knows that greasy fast food makes you break out. But that is no reason for you to fear foods that are naturally high in fat like avocados and nuts. Avocados can actually be used as a facemask because of the high fat content! The wall of our skin cells is made of a lipid (fat) bilayer that protects the cell and gives it its shape. Our body needs to have enough of the healthy fats to build these cells and keep them strong and youthful.
Avocados, fish, seeds, and nuts are all also high in Vitamin E, which our bodies frequently lack and which is a nutrient our body uses not only to fight free radicals, but also to heal blemishes in a way that doesn’t scar.
Omega-3 Rich Foods
Here is another area where it’s important not to shy away from the term ‘fatty acids’. Omega fatty acids are essential nutrients with which our body builds and repairs itself. Omega-3 fatty acids in particular cannot be made in the body and thus need to be consumed in your diet in order for your body to run correctly.
Oily fish and seeds, such as flaxseed and linseed, are high in omega-3s, as are pasture-raised egg yolks. Omega-3s are also anti-inflammatory and work to combat those skin conditions resulting from irritated tissue.
Foods Full of Selenium and Zinc
These two minerals serve different functions but are equally essential to a glowing complexion. Zinc is used to regulate your skin’s oil production, correcting imbalances in either direction— either too much oil or too little! Zinc-rich foods include red meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, and kidney beans.
Selenium is one of the best minerals for your immune system and is a potent antioxidant that protects your skin from damage. Studies show that high levels of selenium can lower your skin cancer risk, as well as the appearance of age spots and defects. Fish, eggs, brazil nuts, mushrooms, tomatoes and broccoli are all high in selenium.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are a great food for skin because they are so high in lycopene, a nutrient that helps the skin with sun exposure. During sunny months, two tablespoons of tomato paste a day can significantly reduce the rates of sunburn and the inflammation that follows.
Some people have a sensitivity to tomatoes that actually results in skin problems, but this can often be mitigated by removing the seeds. The seeds cause skin reactions in some people, but the fleshy part that tomato paste, sauce, and most foods are made with actually helps to give you bright and beautiful skin.
If you keep your diet high in these delicious and nutritious foods, then you should begin to see the results reflected all over your body! It is important though that you eliminate certain foods from your diet in order for the good foods to have the proper effect. In addition to good foods for your skin, here are some bad foods that will cancel out all the good ones’ hard work.
What to Avoid
Don’t let these foods steal your progress! They don’t look good on your skin and they don’t look good on your insides either:
Alcohol
In the same way that the best food for your skin wasn’t a food, the worst one isn’t a food either. Alcohol causes cell damage in your body and steals all of your Vitamin A.
One drink here or there is not going to have an effect on your appearance, but regular alcohol consumption will definitely show in the appearance of your skin.
Sugar
Sugar, sugar substitutes, candy, sugary drinks— all of it is harmful for your skin. Sugar and sugar substitutes cause inflammation in your body that reduces its ability to function properly.
Sugar also damages collagen and elastin, the two main building blocks of your skin, and keeps your body from flushing toxins properly, resulting in an unflattering skin appearance and breakouts.
Try and avoid sugar at all costs!
Polyunsaturated Oils and Trans Fats
The oils used in fast food and deep-fried food are simply not good for human consumption. The extreme heat used in frying causes the oil to partially break down and release free radicals, and the trans fats and hydrogenated oils contained in many convenience foods are easily oxidized and damaged once incorporated into our cells. This leads to premature aging and skin problems because our cells uses these oils as building blocks and they are inherently prone to inflammation and degeneration.
It’s better to keep away from the entire class of factory-produced fats.
Conclusion
The good news is that you don’t have to stick with one specific food every day to try to maintain great skin from the inside out. There are a great variety of healthy foods out there that promote radiant skin. Mix and mingle them in with your regular foods while ditching the toxic ones, and you are bound to see a difference in your beautiful face and skin in no time.
Enjoy the glow!