How To Eat Your Way To Better Skin

Whilst using your favourite skin products is always beneficial, great skincare begins from within.

Making sure your skin is receiving the equilibrium of nutrients it needs to stay healthy will ensure that the new fresh skin cells that replace older cells are in good shape to make your skin a world of good.

This is where a good diet comes in. If you’ve not yet fully considered the relationship between your diet and your skin, now is a great time to explore it, as we’re discussing this below!

Hit the ‘5 a day fruit and veg target each day

We hear about the importance of getting our five a day all the time, but rarely is this related to the benefits it can bring to your skin.

Eating a mix of 5 fruits and vegetables a day can help protect skin from damage caused by environmental pollutants, smoking, and sun damage. Choosing fruit and veggies that have a high antioxidant content is particularly important, as antioxidants are the compounds that protect cells from free radicals.

Some examples of foods containing antioxidants include:

  • Blueberries
  • Strawberries
  • Artichokes
  • Goji berries
  • Kale
  • Red cabbage
  • Spinach

Make vitamin C your best friend.

Woman holding orange sliceVitamin C is an absolute gem for your skin. It promotes the growth of new collagen, helping your skin stay radiant and wrinkle-free, encourages faster healing and diminishes the appearance of scars.

Oranges, peppers, broccoli, sprouts and potatoes all contain vitamin C, and if you’re a smoker, you will want to top up on these foods. This is because smoking reduces the absorption of vitamin C, so it’s in the interests of your health to make up for this in your diet.

Many skin care products contain vitamin C, so if you’re looking to change things with your skincare routine, take a look at a few examples of such products here.

Don’t cut out fats –eat the healthy types.

There’s a myth that fat = bad for you. We’re here to tell you that’s not true! Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (like those you find in oily fish, nuts and avocados) work as a natural moisturiser for your skin- they help preserve its laxity and contain vitamin E, another goodie for battling against free radicals.

Enjoy some Omega-3 foods

salmon food dishOmega 3 and Omega-6 are types of fat that your body can’t create for itself, so it’s essential to ensure you’re getting it through your diet. Their anti-inflammatory qualities can help improve skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis and act preventatively against these.

Get watered, not slaughtered!

Even a mild bit of dehydration can show up on your skin, especially after around 30, when skin isn’t as capable of retaining moisture. Try to aim for 2 litres of water a day, and if you’ve had a tipple, make sure you’re drinking extra water to counteract the dehydrating effects of the alcohol. You can also eat melon, cucumber, courgette, and melon to get your skin’s hydration.

Avoid takeaways

If you’re looking to improve your skin, preparing meals yourself is a great way to begin. If you’re someone who loves a takeaway pizza, Indian or Chinese, now and then, you might want to knock this on the head for a while, as you won’t have any control over what goes into these meals.

Learn more about the shocking number of calories and fat in the average takeaway in the U.K. Many takeaway meals in the U.K still contain extreme amounts of processed ingredients, which your skin will not thank you for eating!

The conclusion

Remember, eating a diet rich in these foods won’t cause existing skin problems to vanish overnight. It takes around 8-10 weeks for skin cells to regenerate, so we recommend waiting until this point to assess the benefits your new diet has yielded.

Good luck with eating your way to fabulous skin!

               

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