If you want your skin to look youthful and glowing, you must take a good look at your diet to see if you are supporting your beauty regimen from the inside out. Topical creams and ointments can only do so much if you are not eating the right foods.
Here's the best diet for beautiful skin!
Foods to Eat for Beautiful Skin
Choose foods high in water and mineral content, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes, soups, and salads, as well as foods rich in essential fatty acids (EFAs). Fresh fruits and vegetables such as blueberries, cantaloupe, spinach, romaine lettuce, and broccoli are high in vitamins A, C, and E—powerful antioxidants that help support the overall health of your skin. Foods rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, such as flaxseed oil (1–2 tablespoons per day), raw pumpkin seeds (1–2 ounces per serving), and cold-water fish such as salmon, trout, or halibut (three times a week) also help keep your skin soft and moist.
If you have a problem with dry, chapped lips, increase your consumption of fatty acids, flaxseed oil in particular. In fact, because flaxseed oil slows the rate of moisture evaporation from skin, it offers even more lip protection than lipstick. Monounsaturated oils like olive oil and coconut oil should be favored in salad dressings and in cooking.
Drink Water, Water, and More Water for Beautiful Skin
Everything about your body depends on water. In fact, water makes up 82 percent of your blood, 75 percent of your muscle, 25 percent of your bone, 76 percent of your brain tissue, and 90 percent of your lung tissue! Plus, water neutralizes acidity, which can dry out your skin.
Aim to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of filtered water each day to keep your skin soft and supple. Many people, after increasing their water intake, report everything from a decrease in stomach and face bloat to weight loss and clearer skin. Drinking more water is one of the easiest things you can do to improve your overall health and beauty!
Foods to Avoid for Beautiful Skin
In addition to eating the right things, it’s also important to know what to avoid.
Caffeinated beverages, red meat, refined sugar, and alcohol dry out the skin because they are inflammatory and encourage moisture loss. Many women also complain about chocolate causing acne. Though dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants, most chocolate products have added milk and sugar, which increase their skin irritating properties.
Additionally, inflammatory, drying foods impair healthy circulation. Healthy circulation is what gives skin a dewy glow and helps keep away bloat.
Coffee, fatty meat, sugar, alcohol, and milk choclate can even adversely affect mucous membranes in the vagina making sex difficult or less pleasurable. If you are going through a hormonal imbalance due to menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause, it's particularly important that you avoid these foods. Women with hormonal imbalances often have skin that is especially sensitive to poor diet.
Now It's Your Turn: What foods wreak havoc on your skin?
