The Best Food for Healthy Skin
When it comes to looking your best, every fantastic glow-up starts with healthy skin. After all, you can’t have a glow-up without glowing skin, right?
And because we’re all (moderately) aware of that, we all try to keep an eye on our skin. Oh, is that a new blemish? Time to get a better night cream. A pimple? Better get some lotion for it, then! Some people even have an hour-long, billion-step routine that involves more products than an average pharmacy has in stock.
We go through these elaborate skincare regimens without ever considering if that’s the right approach. Will they maintain our skin health? Can they prevent skin cancer? Is the skincare regime we’ve chosen the best one we could have chosen?
Well, not precisely. It’s also quite vital to eat all your fruits and vegetables, drink plenty of fluids (mainly water and healthy unsweetened teas), and stay away from harsh sunlight to stay one step ahead of that dreaded UV damage. Easy peasy, right?
If we only keep our bodies healthy at a skin-deep level, we’ll never actually have that perfect skin glow we’re after. That’s why our diet is one of the crucial factors in skincare.
The Most Basic of Skin Care Tips — Water
Keeping our bodies (and thus, our skin) hydrated is the number-one rule for good health. Our levels of skin elasticity practically depend on regular and sufficient hydration. However, that’s not all.
Aside from getting fewer wrinkles, if you drink enough water, your skin will have fewer signs of aging. That means fewer spots, blemishes, and all those other imperfections you dread to see every morning in the mirror. Hydrated skin looks glowy, supple, and plump, while dehydrated skin looks parched and wrinkly.
Aside from keeping yourself hydrated, sufficient water intake can also help you battle free radical damage caused by sunlight, toxins, and pesticides. What’s more, this battle will prove easier to win if you add some lemon or berries to your water. The antioxidants in these fruits will help you along your path to healthier skin. See the 7 ways your body benefits from lemon water.
Level Up to Green Tea
Green tea is another beverage that has health benefits up the wazoo and can protect your skin against sunlight damage. It not only removes the redness the sun causes but also improves the skin’s moisture and elasticity.
Furthermore, green tea is full of antioxidants. As mentioned, antioxidants help battle skin damage. Therefore, if you simply aren’t a big water drinker, you can always make yourself a pot of green tea for the day.
Gotta Get Those Omega-3 Fatty Acids — Fatty Fish
Some people think that fatty foods and healthy lifestyles don’t mix well. However, they are wrong. Our bodies need moderate to high levels of healthy fats to produce energy.
If you’re one of those people who whine about their dry skin all the time, try enriching your weekly menu with fatty fish such as salmon. If you aren’t a fan of salmon, you can also go for herring or mackerel. All three are rich in Omega-3 acids that keep the skin saturated and thick.
But that’s not all. Fatty fish also has plenty of vitamin E, zinc, and natural antioxidants that help your skin fight cell death. These anti-inflammatory compounds are vital for the regenerative processes, which means they boost the skin’s natural new cell and collagen production.
The Healthy Skin Benefits of Berries (Yes, That Includes Bananas)
Berries are a weird bunch. This particular food category calls bananas and watermelons its own but leaves the poor, confused raspberries out. But we’re not here to discuss botany terms.
All berries are excellent for your skin. However, if you’re looking for those that steal the show, look no further than blackberries and blueberries. They are chock-full of antioxidants, which means they will keep those pesky free radicals in check. Thus, they’ll maintain a healthy appearance of your skin and slow down the aging process.
Resveratrol, anthocyanins, and ellagic acid are some of the compounds that call berries their home. They work together to protect all skin cells and produce new ones. However, they also play a part in protection against specific diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Sunflower Seeds and All Their Cousins
Every balanced diet should include its fair share of nuts and seeds. Walnuts and all their cousins, such as the sweet almonds, the yummy cashews, and the green pistachios, are vitamin-rich foods. They protect our skin (thanks to vitamin E), fight acne (thanks to selenium and antioxidants), and have anti-inflammatory properties.
However, it’s crucial to keep in mind that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Nuts are rich in fats and fiber, so one should never go overboard and overeat. Yes, they are delicious and have a ton of health benefits. But no, you shouldn’t eat them by the bucket every day.
The same goes for seeds. Throwing in some sunflower seeds in your morning meal is always an excellent idea, given that they have a lot of linoleic acid in them. This particular acid keeps the skin cells’ membrane healthy and robust. That, in turn, can reduce inflammation and slow down the aging process. See the 12 amazing benefits of sunflower seeds.
Of course, sunflowers don’t have a monopoly when it comes to skin health. Chia seeds will also keep your skin wrinkle-free. But they do it with much fewer fats than sunflower seeds. Therefore, they are an excellent option for those who need to watch how much fat they eat every day (due to medical conditions or specific weight-loss regimes).
Adding pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds to your diet will also show positive results, given that they have plenty of vitamins and zinc.
Never Skip an Oatmeal Breakfast
Oatmeal is a well-known superfood. It comes with myriad health benefits for the entire body. However, when it comes to skin, oatmeal might prove to be the thing we’ve been waiting for (at least those of us with oily skin). Because oatmeal has absorbing properties, it can soak up excess oil. No more shiny foreheads!
Furthermore, the same properties make oats excellent at preventing water retention. So oats can help us look less puffy in the morning as well!
Aside from making us look less dewy, oats can reduce skin irritation, itchiness, and inflammation.
A Few Parting Words
Do you know that saying that a person is what they eat? Well, it’s true. The way we eat and the overall way we treat our bodies will reflect on our skin. To keep our skin as healthy as possible and looking gorgeous, we need to modify our diets. The best food for the skin is the one that helps it thrive. So give your skin what it craves and make a change today!