The Healthy Skin Diet

What you put into your body is even more important than what you put on the outside when it comes to beautiful, healthy skin.

Making sure you get the right vitamins, minerals, essential fats and enough water is the key to good nutrition for your skin.  A diet based on whole, fresh, unprocessed food slows the pace of skin degeneration, and increases the skins resilience to sun exposure and environmental toxins.  

Good Fats One of THE most important factors if you want your skin to glow.  Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, found in fish, linseed & walnuts are converted into prostaglandins.  These regulate cellular hydration, and effect circulation, skin smoothness and reduce skin inflammation (important if you suffer from eczema) and roughness.  Evening primrose oil is especially good for extremely dry skin.

Anti-Oxidants Cellular oxidation is a bit like metal corrosion rusting away your system and speeding up the ageing process.  Anti-oxidants are essential to counteract this.  Vitamins A,C,E and Selenium are found in vegies, olive oil, fish, fruit, beans, lentils, seeds & nuts (muesli is a good way to get a daily dose), tomato (lycopene) & carrots (beta-carotene).  

Protein Lack of protein can lead to sallow looking skin and a lack of tone.  Collagen and elastin are responsible for the elasticity of the skin, and when these deteriorate the skin visibly ages.  Collagen is largely made up of amino acids from protein, so high quality protein foods are essential to combat skin-ageing.  Oily fish (eg salmon, trout, sardines), free range eggs, legumes, chicken, seeds & nuts are great sources of protein.  

Vitamin C & Zinc are also needed for collagen formation. Yellow, orange & red fruit & veg are high in vitamin C, and to boost your zinc eat oysters and lean red meat.

Minerals Such as selenium ensure your skin, hair and nails remain strong and healthy.  Organic vegies & nuts (esp. brazil nuts) are higher in minerals as the soil is less depleted than with conventional farming methods.  Seaweed is another great source of minerals.  Sushi anyone?

Probiotics Healthy gut = healthy skin. Poor digestive health means you won’t be absorbing vitamins & minerals properly from your food. This is especially important if you suffer from acne.  Eat organic, full-cream natural yoghurt or take a probiotic supplement, especially if you’ve recently had antibiotics.  

Calcium Calcium balance is important because if your body does not process it properly the excess can get dumped in skin tissue – like chalk – causing dry skin.  Vitamin D from safe sun exposure (15 minutes of direct sun early or late in the day without sunscreen on) is essential for your body to regulate it’s calcium balance.

Alkalinity Acidity in the body can cause poor blood supply and lack of oxygen to the skin, making the cells become ‘sticky’ and clump together.  This can leave the skin looking dull and dry.  Good ways to alkalise your system are to eat plenty of green leafy vegies, and by adding a tsp of chlorophyll liquid (get it at health food stores) to a glass of water each day

Hydration Vital to keep your cells plump and supple.  At least 1.5 litres of filtered tap water & herbal tea a day are a great way to combat dry skin.

Skin enemies!  Anything that depletes the skin of oxygen is going to have a detrimental effect of the appearance of your skin eg smoking, lack of exercise (or excessive exercise!), excessive caffeine & alcohol consumption, and eating deep fried or burnt foods.  These all cause cell & DNA damage, also known as free-radical damage. Studies have shown that people whose diets are high in sugar, saturated fats, margarine, processed meat and refined foods have more wrinkles and visibly age faster.   

In a nutshell (pardon the pun) – a daily dose of muesli, natural yoghurt, different coloured fruit & vegies, wholegrains, lean red meat and lots of fish – and your skin should be glowing!