Healthy skin is an asset one can have. To have glowing skin, you must get a nutritionally balanced diet by eating various foods.
Minimizing processed foods, unhealthy fats, and refined sugar-containing foods is equally important.
The skin is the largest organ in our body, giving us a pleasant appearance. It is composed of the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. The most outer layer is the epidermis which has a layer of dead cells in the outermost part. Hypodermis has blood vessels that provide nourishment to the skin.
Healthy and glowing skin comes from within. However, the health and the glow of the skin are affected by many factors.
Our diet and lifestyle have a significant impact on it. Prolonged exposure to sunlight and alcohol also impacts the health of the skin.
With ageing, our skin gets less elastic, thinner and becomes wrinkled. Taking the right foods and drinking plenty of water nourishes the skin, improves skin elasticity, and protects it from harmful UV lights.
Foods have profound effects on the health of the skin and glow. What are skin-healthy foods? These are our recommendations for a glowing skin diet.
Eat a rainbow: include a wide range of vegetables and fruits
Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of beta-carotene, lutein, and Vitamins A, C, E, and K, essential nutrients for your skin and overall health. These excellent antioxidants protect your skin from cellular damage caused by sunlight, free radicals, pollution, and smoking. This protection helps to reduce wrinkles and age spots on your skin.
Most of these vegetables and fruits are rich in fibre and water, which helps to detoxify your body, thereby improving your overall health.
We recommend including a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables in your diet. You can combine wisely from the following list for your meals,
- Leafy greens such as spinach, kale and broccoli
- Yellow and orange colour fruits
- Vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, and papaya
- Fruits and vegetables with high water content, such as cucumbers, lettuce, and watermelons.
- Berries such as blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries
Opt for unsaturated fats for healthy skin
All fats are not bad. Mono and polyunsaturated fats are good for your skin, heart and overall health. In addition, these healthy fats can work as excellent natural moisturizers for your skin.
They help generate the natural oil barrier on our skin that helps keep our skin hydrated and curvier. This helps improve the skin’s elasticity and make it look younger.
Omega-3 and Omega-6 are polyunsaturated fats that are good for great skin. Although there are supplements available, health expert recommends that it is best to take these from food sources.
Omega-6 and Omega-3 are rich in,
- Fatty fish – salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, arctic char and trout
- Eggs
- Soybeans and tofu
- Meat and poultry
- Sunflower oil, canola oil & Flaxseeds oil
- Corn
- Seeds – Flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, Hemp seeds
- Nuts – Walnuts, Almond, Cashew nuts
These polyunsaturated fats enhance the production of anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for healthy skin and remedy skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema.
Choose low GI foods
You may have experienced worsened acne after eating French fries, pizzas, burgers, and doughnuts. However, these foods’ processed carbohydrates and added sugars are the real reason.
Simple sugars are easily absorbed and raise the blood sugar level quickly and remarkably. The food that causes rises in blood glucose is known as high glycaemic index foods.
High blood sugar levels, in turn, release insulin and a variety of stress hormones. These can damage the collagens, thereby encouraging wrinkles on your skin.
So the selection of carbs needs to be done carefully. You must choose complex carbs and avoid simple, refined sugars (carbs).
You can opt for whole grains over white bread, rice or pasta. Nuts and seeds have complex carbs. Whole grains are rich in trace minerals which are essential for healthy skin.
Dark chocolate is good food for healthy skin
Dark chocolate is a skin-glowing food because cocoa powder boasts many antioxidants.
These antioxidants hydrate and smoothen your skin, making your skin less sensitive to sunburn and improving your skin’s blood flow.
So make a healthy choice by opting for a bar of dark chocolate with 70% cocoa for more antioxidants, and lesser added sugar.
Drink plenty of fluids
Hydration is a critical factor for healthy skin. Therefore, drinking at least six to eight glasses of water daily is mandatory for healthy skin.
Hydration helps the detox process of the body. It improves your sweating to be more efficient and boosts clean and clear skin. It also helps to move nutrients to your cells more efficiently.
Not drinking enough water will make your skin look dry, withered, and dull due to dehydration. On the other hand, drinking enough water ensures that your skin is adequately moisturized, improving the flexibility of the skin.
Green tea is one of the best detox products that protect the skin against external stressors and ageing. This is because it is antioxidant-rich and contains catechins that protect your skin, reduce redness, increase hydration, and improve elasticity.
It is best to avoid adding milk to green tea as the combination can reduce the effects of the antioxidants present in green tea.
The Bottom Line
Your diet can significantly affect your skin health.
Make sure you are eating a skin-healthy diet and getting enough essential nutrients to protect your skin. The above foods are great options to keep your skin healthy, strong, and attractive. Balancing all these nutrients in your diet is a big challenge, but it is a worthy investment.
