By: Laura Peill – (Check out her blog Chronicles of Passion & Facebook)
You already know that if you want to have healthy skin, you need to stay hydrated and watch your sun exposure, remove your makeup at night and exfoliate regularly.
But have you ever heard about what you should eat?
Did you know there are skin friendly foods, that both help improve your skin and act to prevent outbreaks, dry skin and other dermatitis driven problems?
Take a look at this list of foods (and maybe a beverage or two!),that have beneficial impacts on your skin and start adding them to your daily diet:
Pomegranate – These dark red beauties offer their skin enhancing properties through polyphenols. Polyphenols are a class of antioxidants which improve our skin by allowing more oxygen to reach it. More oxygen allows for better cell repair and development and overall healthier organs. They also help skin stay better hydrated so your skin doesn’t get dried out and rough.
Walnuts – The skin benefits from walnuts are courtesy of the Omega 3 content of this delicious nut. These healthy fats strengthen the skin membranes, reducing inflammation and allowing the skin to retain more moisture. Both the increased hydration level of the skin and the strong membranes reduces the occurrence of breakouts. Combined with the great benefits for your brain, walnuts are one nut you won’t want to leave out!
Beans – Beans and legumes are packed with protein and fiber. The latter helps keep our systems regular ensuring healthy digestion and regular release of toxins. The skin not only acts as a medium for this release, but also has toxins that it needs to release itself. Regular consumption of fibrous foods allows regular toxin elimination and keeps your skin and other organs healthy.
Green Tea – Another potent antioxidant contributor, green tea is also responsible for helping protect the skin from sun damage through its high antioxidant level. More importantly though, green tea has been shown to have strong anti-inflammatory properties, which reduce signs of swelling/puffiness and slow down the appearance of aging and wrinkles on the skin. Matcha is particularly high h in antioxidants, so put away the coffee and add some matcha to your daily routine!
Kiwi- This great green fruit from down under is good for more than just it’s tastiness. It also packs a punch of Vitamin C, another important antioxidant in skin care that plays the greatest role in sun protection. Increased levels of Vitamin C have been shown to protect against skin damage caused by the sun’s rays. They act by helping to neutralize the free radicals absorbed by the skin due to sun exposure and thereby create stronger, healthier skin.
Cacao – Now you can eat your chocolate to get healthy skin! Cacao is very high in antioxidants, which act similarly to Vitamin C in their ability to protect the skin from sun damage through neutralization of free radials. Cacao also helps improve blood flow, allowing more blood and thereby more oxygen to be sent to the skin to keep it healthy, oxygenated and hydrated.
Sunflower Seeds – You have probably noticed that a lot of skin care products are enriched with Vitamin E. That’s because this vitamin is the skin vitamin, an antioxidant that acts to neutralize free radicals in the skin and help prevent cellular damage. But instead of relying on your Vitamin E from creams and expensive skin care products, grab a handful of sunflower seeds. These seeds are rich in Vitamin E and will help your skin reach its glowing goodness from the inside out!
Avocado – Perhaps the skin health powerhouse, avocado has lots going for it when it comes to helping out your skin, which may explain why it is often used in face masks for skin improvement. Like walnuts, avocado is high in healthy fats, which help add hydration to the cells, leading to smoother, stronger skin and skin cells respectively. It is loaded with antioxidants and contains both Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Better add avocados to your grocery list!
Need some recipes to use for these healthy ingredients? Try these:
