With people all over the globe spending billions of
dollars on skin-care products every year, you'd think cosmetics companies had
replicated the fountain of youth in the laboratory. In fact, skin creams have
gotten more and more expensive and less and less based on real science.
According to most experts who aren't
As with most health benefits, it comes down to
lifestyle, rather than how much you can afford to spend on products. The things
you can do to beautify your skin are remarkably similar to what you can do to
strengthen your heart, control
your weight,
lift your mood and live longer and better: Get
regular exercise, sleep enough and
eat well. Of course, what you can eat to improve your skin tone, texture,
evenness and clarity might be different from what you eat to avoid, say, heart
disease.
So what are we looking at when it comes to a
beautiful-skin diet? In this article, we'll find out what you want to throw in
your shopping cart to improve your skin, why those foods work on traits like
smoothness and tone, and whether skin-healthy foods are, in fact, different from
the foods you'd eat to promote overall health.
5. Seafood
Active components: Omega-3 fatty acids,
zinc
Benefits: Smooth, clear and
glowing skin
Most of us have heard that fish can be really good
for your overall health -- it's a primary component in what's known as the
"Mediterranean diet." Many types of fish and shellfish can also work
wonders for the skin, especially oysters and fatty fish like salmon.
The primary nutrients that make fish so good for
your complexion are zinc and, especially,
omega-3 fatty acids. Increasing omega-3 intake can reduce dryness and
inflammation. Inflammation can cause skin to age faster, and research shows
that getting too little omega-3 may contribute to inflammatory disorders like
eczema and psoriasis [source: UMMC]. Omega-3 fatty
acids can also help keep the heart's arteries clear and so improve circulation.
Good circulation is crucial to skin health.
Zinc can help fight acne because it's involved in
metabolizing testosterone, which affects the production of an oily substance
caused sebum, a primary cause of acne. Zinc also
assists in new-cell production and the
sloughing off of dead skin, which gives the skin a nice glow [source: Self].
You'll also find these benefits in flaxseed oil and
walnuts.
Next
up: Peel some of these for tighter skin.
4. Citrus Fruits
Active component: Vitamin C
Benefits: Smooth and taut skin
Vitamin C is a prime skin-care
ingredient in tons of beauty creams. This vitamin aids in the body's production
of collagen, a protein that
forms the basic structure of your skin [source: Discovery
Health].
Collagen breakdown, which starts speeding up significantly around the age of
35, can leave your skin saggy [source: Real Age]. Consuming extra
vitamin C in foods like oranges, grapefruits, Acerola
cherries (a single Acerola has 100 percent of your vitamin C for the day) and tomatoes can help tighten the
skin and prevent wrinkles.
Vitamin C also may fight inflammation, and its
antioxidant properties can neutralize the free radicals (highly reactive
oxygen molecules) that damage cells and can prematurely age your face.
In case you get tired of eating all that fruit, hot
peppers, bell peppers and sprouts also have good amounts of vitamin C.
Next
up: Veggies are good for way more than weight control.
3. Red and Green Vegetables
Active components: Vitamin
A,
beta-carotene
Benefits: Bright and smooth
skin
Skin is the body's largest organ. It makes sense,
then, that what's good for your whole body is also good for your skin -- and as
far as food goes, it doesn't get much better than vegetables. You'll especially
want to look for red-orange and green vegetables like carrots, sweet and spinach.
Orange-red vegetables are full of beta-carotene.
Our bodies convert beta-carotene into vitamin A, which acts as an antioxidant,
preventing cell damage and premature aging. In the case of
vitamin A, you also get anti-acne benefits -- vitamin A has been used in acne
medications (think Retin-A) for many years.
Spinach and other green, leafy foods provide tons
of vitamin A, too, which helps your skin produce more fresh new cells and get
rid of the old ones, reducing dryness and keeping your face looking bright and
young.
Mangoes are also a great
source of vitamin A. It's best to get this vitamin from food and not from supplements, though, since too
much vitamin A can cause health problems [source: iV].
Next:
You'll probably be happy to find out that what's good for your skin can also be
really good for your taste buds…
2. Nuts
Not with a 10-foot
Pole
To keep your skin looking its best, avoid foods
with lots of saturated fatand/or refined sugar.
Active component: Vitamin
E
Benefits: Young and soft skin
As with many of the skin-healthy foods on our list,
the good stuff in nuts -- especially almonds -- has to do with
antioxidant activity. Vitamin E combats skin-aging free radicals, especially
protecting skin from sun damage due to UV-sunlight-generated free radicals
[source: Self]. Vitamin E also
tends to help skin hold in moisture, relieving dryness and making skin look
younger.
Pairing vitamin E with selenium can enhance its
antioxidant abilities, so go ahead and throw some almonds into your cottage
cheese (great source of selenium) for a skin-revitalizing snack [source: Life Script].
Almonds, pistachios and walnuts also provide a nice
supply of omega-3 fatty acids, another great skin nutrient.
Our
last beauty food: Keep it whole to get fantastic overall results…
1. Whole Grains
Active components: Rutin and B-vitamins
Benefits: Clear and moisturized
skin
The "whole food" movement has whole-body
advantages, not the least of which is great-looking skin.
Whole foods are basically unprocessed -- whole
wheat bread instead of white bread, for instance. The whole grain buckwheat is
a good source for the antioxidant rutin, which helps combat
inflammation-related skin damage. Wheat germ provides the B-vitamin biotin, which assists cells in processing fats. If you don't have
enough biotin in your body, your skin can become dry and scaly.
In general, whole grains instead of processed
carbohydrates can improve your complexion. Processed (or refined) flours can
cause an insulin spike, which in turn can encourage acne. Replacing your
refined-flour pancakes with pancakes is a good acne-reducing move.
Incidentally, this would also help reduce your risk of developing diabetes [source: Medicine Net].
Not into buckwheat? Avocadoes and mushrooms can provide similar
benefits.
Now,
while oranges, buckwheat, oysters, spinach and almonds are great foods for your
skin, achieving great-looking skin through dietary changes doesn't have to be
so specific. A healthy body means healthy skin. Just feed your body good,
healthy foods, get some exercise and keep your stress low, and
your skin will reap the benefits.
