The popular saying, “You are what you eat”, is entirely true, especially when it comes to the quality and health of your skin. Just like having a proper daily diet can affect how you feel physically and emotionally, it can also affect your outer appearance and how your skin looks.
Antioxidant-Rich Diet
Foods that are rich in antioxidants are really great for your skin. Antioxidants like Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A can protect, nourish, and moisturize your skin and give you a youthful look. Include things like almond butter, almonds, hazelnuts, broccoli, spinach, red bell peppers, and mangoes to have a diet full of Vitamin E. To make sure you are getting your Vitamin C, consume a lot of oranges, grapefruit, lemons, pineapple, blackberries, okra, and turnip greens. For Vitamin A, eat things like carrots, cooked sweet potatoes, and dark and leafy greens like kale or collards.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are healthy fats that aid in maintaining your cell membranes so they can let nutrients and water that you need in and keep toxic things out. These healthy fatty acids help protect your skin from sun damage, which keeps your skin quality healthy and fresh. Keeping a diet that is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids like fish oils will prevent squamous cell skin cancer and keep your skin from becoming damaged. Add foods in your diet like wild salmon, sardines, oysters, rainbow trout, soybeans, walnut oil, and chia seeds to protect the quality of your skin. By simply grilling fish a few nights a week, you can enhance the quality of your skin and look younger, even as you age.
Hydration is Key
A great way to tell how your diet is affecting the quality of your skin is to watch how much water you drink daily. If you are dehydrated, it will be obvious, because your skin will lose that natural glow that hydration gives it. Water plays an important role in helping your body flush away toxins and allowing nutrients to flow naturally and smoothly into your cells. Your skin will be firm and clear when you consume enough water. One should drink half of their body weight in ounces of water every single day to stay properly hydrated.
Foods that are High in Water
Although drinking liquids are the best source of water to include in your diet, there are other ways to contribute to overall hydration. There are many foods that are high in water content and should be included in your diet to keep your skin healthy. These foods include: apples, pears, oranges, cherries, cranberries, peaches, papaya, tangerines, and watermelon. All of these foods contain at least 75% water. Although it is important to add these foods into your daily food routine, it is also important to remember that they should never replace your daily intake of water as a liquid, because that is where the majority of your hydration will come from.
It is key to realize that certain foods that one eats can affect their overall physical appearance. Most people are aware of the fact that their diets affect their appearance regarding weight, but many do not know that it can affect the appearance of their skin as well.
