I’m a firm believer that looking good helps you feel better. When your skin is glowing, the rest of your body tends to follow suit. Your outward appearance, of course, isn’t the key to gauging your health, but if proper attention is paid to your insides, your outsides will benefit, too. More on that essential secret in a moment!
But first, let’s face it: skin care is a big industry. Most pharmacies have entire aisles dedicated to moisturizing creams and sprays that claim to hydrate, strengthen, and improve skin. People even go so far as to undergo surgeries and treatments like Botox in an attempt to make their skin look better.
What people tend to forget in this urge to address their outward appearance is that diet plays a key role when it comes to skin care. The food you eat can make your skin look tired, wrinkled, and weathered, or moist, plump, and young. It all depends what you feed it, so to speak.
Your skin, although exposed to the elements of your environment, is the largest organ in the body. What you eat impacts your skin just as much as it does your insides. If you want young, glowing skin, it’s important to stay away from foods that will dry it out.
I’m talking artificial sweeteners, sugar, alcohol, as well as fried, salty, refined, and processed foods; these can all speed up aging—leaving your skin looking weathered.
But don’t worry; you can bring back your skin’s natural glow and reduce the effects of aging by including some essential “miracle” anti-aging foods in your diet.
Green Tea: Is there any problem this stuff doesn’t fix? The key compound in green tea that can lead to improved skin is the polyphenol, EGCG. This potent compound (also sold as extract in supplement form) can reactivate dying skin cells, giving more life to your skin. This could lead to reductions in wrinkles, creating a smoother, more elastic surface. Try rubbing green tea on your skin as an ingredient in a mask, or drink it with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Omega-3s: I’m a big fan of omega-3s. One of the reasons is because they are great for your skin. Ant-aging foods like salmon, mackerel and walnuts and fish oil supplements can really benefit your skin by acting as anti-inflammatory agents.
This is one of my favorite food cures. A few years ago, I developed a pretty severe rash on my hands and fingers and used everything to try to get rid of it. No creams worked. It wasn’t until I started taking a fish oil supplement that I began to see results. Within a few days of use, the rash was gone, my hands were hydrated, and my skin was better than ever!
Spinach: Dark leafy greens like spinach are a great source of vitamin C, in addition to being an antioxidant that is essential for building and maintaining collagen. Collagen is what keeps your skin firm and limits the likelihood of wrinkles. By eating foods that promote it, you can’t go wrong. Spinach is also high in water content, which helps keep skin hydrated and glowing.
Water: Hydration is the key to moist, radiant skin. When you’re adequately hydrated, you look awake, and your skin is elastic and plump. On the other hand, when you’re dehydrated, you can get bags under your eyes, or your skin becomes saggy, or becomes too tight, which makes it more prone to damage. In fact, the reason why so many people look tired and weathered after a flight is that the cabin pressure on a plane dehydrates them!
To bring your skin back to life, try incorporating these foods into your diet and see how they affect your complexion. You don’t have to resort to surgical measures to achieve beautiful skin. A healthy diet is all it takes!
Sources for Today’s Article:
Medical College of Georgia, “Green Tea Linked to Skin Cell Rejuvenation,” Science Daily web site, April 23, 2003; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/04/030425071800.htm last accessed April 13, 2015.
Bouchez, C., “Want Healthy Skin? Feed it Well,” Web MD, 2015; http://www.webmd.com/beauty/skin/want-healthy-skin-feed-well, last accessed April 13, 2015.