WHAT IS NUTRITIONAL SKINCARE?
"I'm a big believer in that if you focus on good skin care, you really won't need a lot of makeup."
Demi Moore
Glowing, radiant, clear skin; that is the goal of every woman in the world. To achieve this goal, women start eating healthier, use supplements, and apply expensive creams that help with different skin issues. One can apply expensive creams and not take care of their diet, which affects not only their metabolism, causing weight gain and damage to the liver and other organs. Not only that, but it also negatively affects your skin.
Research suggests that we are what we eat. If we eat nutritious food, then we look and feel great about ourselves, and if we eat more junk food, then we have less energy, and feel lethargic. Our skin also feels oily, and we might suffer from acne or other skin problems. However, skin aging is a natural process, but our skin ages faster with junk food exposure. Thus, we have compiled a list of nutritious and tasty foods that you can add to your diet to get radiant and smooth skin.
How Different Nutrients Affect Our Skin?
Before discussing nutritious foods, let us take a deep dive into the crucial nutrients for our skin and their effects.
● H2O Or Water:
Skincare does not necessarily have to be hard. The essential thing that a person can do to make their skincare regime more nutritious is to stay hydrated.
Drinking enough water not only is excellent for having supple skin, but it also helps with maintaining weight. It provides an ample supply of moisture and also helps in flushing out toxins. If you use moisturizing creams, then you can maximize the effect by drinking enough water.
● Alpha-Lipoic Acid(ALA):
Alpha-Lipoic Acid(ALA), also known as the "universal antioxidant," is excellent at eliminating free radicals. ALA appears in both the lipid layers of the skin and water-filled skin cells. The primary role of ALA is to protect cells from oxidative damage. It also binds oxidants and diffuses potential damage.
● Glucosamine:
Glucosamine mega molecules work to keep your skin in tip-top shape. As the antecedent of hyaluronic acid, glucosamine is essential for nutritional skincare. Hyaluronic acid is famous for its effects on skin health and glowing complexion by stabilizing and strengthening the skin tissue and healing minor skin scrapes. Glucosamine inhibits the production of melanin, and it helps to reduce the appearance of dark spots that appear with Aging. Dietary sources of glucosamine are scarce, so you can mainly obtain it through nutrient supplementation. Seafood like shellfish contains it, but you can achieve optimum levels through supplementation.
● Lutein and Zeaxanthin:
This powerful pair of nutritional skincare is known to support healthy eyes. Evidence suggests that these two are also equally essential to achieve glowing and radiant skin. Lutein and Zeaxanthin work to filter out blue light and help protect your eyes and skin from the sun's effects as they are carotenoids—plant pigments. These two carotenoids are found mostly in yellow and red foods.
How Our Diet Is Interlinked With Having Good Skin?
After your body digests the food, it breaks it down into amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. Your body uses these nutrients to either make or break your skin. Eating highly processed food or crash dieting will affect your skin adversely. Your skin will lose its elasticity and suppleness. In other words, whatever you eat will eventually show up on your face, neck, back and hands. Skincare packed with the right nutrition will illuminate the natural radiance of your skin.
Did you know that our skin is the largest organ of our body? And its health directly depends on what we eat or do not eat. Every day our skin goes through repair and renewal, and a proper diet is essential to give it with the materials it needs to maintain itself. Make your skin health a priority and take steps to include these nutrients in your diet.
Things To Avoid:
● Sugar:
If an individual's skin is prone to acne, then a low-glycemic diet is best for you. You should cut down sugar in your diet as much as possible and replace sugary and refined foods with fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
● Protein Bars:
Protein bars are candy bars, and they can create havoc on your skin because the sugar makes the insulin levels in your bloodstream shoot up. It can cause rashes, wrinkles, and can even worsen acne. Substitute protein bars with a handful of nuts, some fruits, or a cup of yogurt and snack your way to spotless and glowing skin.
● Dairy Products:
The majority of the milk that consumers use comes from pregnant cows, so the hormone levels in milk (androgens and hormonal mediators) produce excess sebum in humans, which leads to acne. Switch to non-dairy alternatives or use goat's milk.
Food For Glowing Skin
● Different Colored Vegetables And A Green Juice Everyday
Celebrity Esthetician Joanna Vargas recommends eating different colored vegetables for all three meals and a green juice daily for best skin. She assures it works on everyone. Another favorite of hers is avocados. She recommends eating half an avocado in your salad every day or tosses half an avocado in the morning smoothie. Avocados are full of phytonutrients and healthy fats, which are beneficial for your skin.
● Liquid Chlorophyll For Picky Eaters
If someone is a picky eater and not fond of salads or drinking green juices, they must try liquid chlorophyll. It tastes like mint and oxygenates the skin from inside out and gives you healthy and smooth skin.
● Red, Yellow And Green Vegetables
You must eat vegetables in three colors for beautiful and radiant skin:
Red:
Tomatoes work wonders for sun-damaged skin, as they are high in lycopene, an antioxidant that helps fight free radicals. When you cook the tomatoes, they release it from the plant cells, and this antioxidant is easily absorbed in the skin. It is best if you eat tomatoes and avocados or olive oil as these are sources of healthy fats, and your body readily absorbs this combination. The redder the tomato, the more lycopene it has.
Yellow and Green
Yellow and Green vegetables work similarly. The brighter and darker the color of them, the more nature has packed them with nutrients. When making a salad, choose the darker green vegetables like spinach, kale, arugula, or dandelion greens.
These vegetables work wonders in fighting free radicals, which cause the collagen to break down. Collagen helps to support the delicate skin under and around your eyes.
● Carbs And Proteins:
Getting adequate amounts of carbohydrates and protein is essential for a balanced diet that also serves your skincare. Carbs fuel your body during workouts, and protein helps to repair and build muscle in your body. Keeping well-hydrated will help to flush out toxins.
● Omega-3 Fatty Acids:
Foods that contain Omega-3 fatty acids strengthen the skin. Examples are walnuts, flaxseed, chia seeds, and sardines.
● Vitamin C:
Foods rich in vitamin C will boost collagen formation in the body. Collagen gives bounce, elasticity, and structure to your skin. Your body needs vitamin C-rich foods to regulate collagen production to keep your skin firm and healthy. A diet rich in vitamin C will help fight the signs of Aging and the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. Examples are broccoli, kale, citrus fruits, strawberries, apples, spinach, and bell peppers.
● Vitamin A and E:
Vitamins A and E produce antioxidants that fight free radicals. Examples are cantaloupe, carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, wheat germ, Swiss chard, and almond butter.
● Turmeric Supplements:
It's a common myth that only fruits and vegetables are antioxidant sources, but on the contrary, herbs and spices are power-packed with them. Turmeric, an Indian spice, is one of the best sources of antioxidants. If adding it to your daily diet is cumbersome, you can get it in supplement form.
In A Nutshell
Nutritional skincare is not a short term fix. If you want to overcome the signs of Aging, then a proper diet that nourishes your body, skin, and mind is essential. Nutritional skincare is a way of life, because who doesn't want to look and feel young? As Dr. Howard Murad wisely said,
"Aging is a fact of life. Looking your age is not."