Achieving fabulous skin, shiny hair, and a bright smile starts with nourishing your body from within. While genetics, age, and hormones play a role, diet and lifestyle significantly impact your appearance. This article explores how to eat your way to glowing skin, healthy hair, and strong teeth, incorporating expert advice and the latest research.
The Foundation: Skin Health
Skin, the body's largest organ, regulates temperature, protects against external factors, and maintains fluid balance. Factors such as genetics, age, hormone levels, and conditions like diabetes, as well as diet and lifestyle choices, influence skin health and appearance.
The Role of Nutrition
Beautiful skin starts with nourishing it from within. Older skin cells are constantly shed and replaced, necessitating a steady supply of nutrients. Eating a balanced diet feeds your skin, helping keep it soft, supple, and blemish-free. Wrinkles and age spots are inevitable, but aging is enhanced by overexposure to the sun, tanning beds, harsh soaps, chemicals, and a poor diet. Fine-tuning your skincare regime, modifying lifestyle factors, and optimizing nutrition by eating a varied, balanced diet that includes antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables, healthy fats from oily fish and nuts, and adequate hydration are key.
Top Tips for Glowing Skin Through Diet
Eat a Minimum of Five Portions of Fruit and Vegetables Every Day: Fruits and vegetables contain powerful antioxidants that protect skin from cellular damage caused by free radicals, triggered by smoking, pollution, and sunlight. A rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables is ideal. Beta-carotene, found in orange fruit and vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins, and lutein, found in kale, papaya, and spinach, are important for normal skin cell development and healthy skin tone.
Get Your Vitamin C: Vitamin C supports the immune system, promotes radiant skin, and helps blemishes heal. Sources include blackcurrants, blueberries, broccoli, guava, kiwi fruits, oranges, papaya, strawberries, and sweet potatoes. Vitamin C is also key for producing collagen, the protein that forms the scaffolding that keeps our skin plump and supported, and strengthens the blood capillaries that supply the blood that nourishes our skin.
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Eat Enough Vitamin E: Vitamin E protects the skin from oxidative (cell) damage and photo-aging. Foods high in vitamin E include almonds, avocados, hazelnuts, pine nuts, and sunflower and pumpkin seed oil.
Stock Up on Selenium: Selenium is a powerful antioxidant that works alongside vitamins C and E. A selenium-rich diet may help protect against skin cancer, sun damage, and age spots. Brazil nuts are a great source. Other sources include fish, shellfish, eggs, wheatgerm, tomatoes, and broccoli.
Eat Plenty of Zinc: Zinc keeps skin supple by supporting the normal functioning of oil-producing glands in the skin. It’s also involved in the healing process and helps repair skin damage. Zinc-rich foods include fish, lean red meat, wholegrains, poultry, nuts, seeds, and shellfish.
Include Healthy Fats: Certain fats act as a natural moisturizer for your skin, keeping it supple from the inside and improving elasticity. These include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in avocados, oily fish, nuts, and seeds. Pay special attention to omega-3 fatty acids, which are anti-inflammatory and may help alleviate skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Sources include salmon, trout, sardines, flaxseed, chia seeds, walnuts, and rapeseed oil.
Eat More Phyto-estrogens: Phyto-estrogens are natural compounds found in plants with a similar structure to the female sex hormone oestrogen. They may help keep our natural hormones in balance, which is important for skin health, especially in supporting skin structure and minimising skin damage. Sources include soya (isoflavones) such as tofu and tempeh, wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, and flaxseed (lignans).
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
Drink Six to Eight Glasses of Water a Day: Skin needs moisture to stay flexible. Even mild dehydration may leave your skin looking dry, tired, and slightly grey. Experts recommend drinking six to eight glasses of water a day. All fluids count towards your daily allowance, but water is best. Some fruit and vegetables, such as watermelon, courgette, and cucumber, also contribute fluids.
Choose Low-GI Carbs: The glycaemic index (GI) ranks carbohydrate-based foods on how slowly or quickly they are broken down in the body to glucose. Eat plenty of beans, pulses, porridge, and other low-GI, slow-releasing carbohydrates. Avoid high-GI carbohydrates such as biscuits and sugary drinks, as they lead to production of insulin, which may damage collagen and accelerate wrinkles.
Don't Crash Diet: Repeatedly losing and regaining weight will take its toll on your skin, causing sagging, wrinkles, and stretch marks. Crash diets are often deficient in essential vitamins and minerals, which will reflect on your skin.
Addressing Specific Skin Problems Through Diet
Acne: Acne is commonly linked to changes in hormone levels. To help minimize acne, cut back on saturated and hydrogenated fats, eliminate junk food and foods high in sugar, and eat more raw vegetables, wholegrains, fresh fruit, and fish. Include foods rich in selenium, such as Brazil nuts, cashew nuts, fresh tuna, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and wholemeal bread. A Mediterranean diet has been linked with reduced acne severity.
Psoriasis: Psoriasis is characterized by red skin patches with silvery scales. Minimize saturated fat, focus on healthy fats including omega-3 fatty acids, and consider including anti-inflammatory herbs and spices such as turmeric, ginger, cumin, fennel, rosemary, and garlic.
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Eczema: Eczema often begins as patchy redness. An exclusion diet, under the guidance of a health practitioner, may be helpful to identify potential offending foods such as milk, eggs, fish, cheese, nuts, and food additives. Include foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, and vitamin E.
Foods for Flawless Skin: Expert Recommendations
Dr. Jessica Wu (Dermatologist): Emphasizes that what you eat is as important as the products you apply to your skin. Recommends eating foods that provide vitamins, minerals, and amino acids for healthy skin. She advises against protein bars, which she considers essentially candy bars due to their high sugar content. She suggests lean red meat for glycine and proline, amino acids involved in collagen synthesis, and zinc.
Alex Caspero (Registered Dietitian): Recommends reducing sugar as much as possible and cautions against dairy. She notes that the majority of milk in the US comes from pregnant cows, and the hormone levels in milk may play a role in excess sebum production, which promotes acne.
Joanna Vargas (Celebrity Esthetician): Recommends eating vegetables of different colors for every meal and a green juice every day. She also suggests eating a bit of avocado every day for healthy fats and phytonutrients. If clients don't eat salad or drink green juices, she recommends liquid chlorophyll.
Red, Yellow, and Green Vegetables: Dr. Wu recommends vegetables in these three colors. Tomatoes are good for helping reduce sun damage due to their high lycopene content. Darker and brighter colors in green and yellow vegetables indicate more nutrients.
Additional Foods for Healthy Skin
Fatty Fish: Excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for maintaining skin health. They keep skin thick, supple, and moisturized, reduce inflammation, and may make your skin less sensitive to the sun’s harmful UV rays. Fatty fish is also a source of vitamin E, one of the most important antioxidants for your skin.
Avocados: High in healthy fats and vitamin E, which protect your skin from oxidative damage. Daily avocado consumption may lead to enhanced elasticity and firmness of facial skin.
Walnuts: A good source of essential fatty acids that your body cannot make itself. ALA, omega-3 fats, magnesium, and the amino acid arginine may also decrease inflammation in your body, including your skin.
Sunflower Seeds: Contain high levels of both monounsaturated and omega-6 fats, and may help reduce inflammation and cholesterol levels.
Sweet Potatoes: An excellent source of beta carotene, which your body converts into vitamin A. Carotenoids like beta carotene act as a natural sunblock.
Bell Peppers: Like sweet potatoes, they are an excellent source of beta carotene and vitamin C, which is necessary for creating the protein collagen.
Broccoli: Full of many vitamins and minerals important for skin health, including zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin C. It also contains lutein, a carotenoid that helps protect your skin from oxidative damage. Broccoli florets also pack a special compound called sulforaphane, which may even have anti-cancer effects and is a powerful protective agent against sun damage.
Tomatoes: A great source of vitamin C and contain all of the major carotenoids, including lycopene, which protect your skin against damage from the sun and may also help prevent wrinkling.
Dark Chocolate: Consuming cocoa powder high in antioxidants may lead to thicker, more hydrated skin that is less rough and scaly, less sensitive to sunburn, and has better blood flow. Choose dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa to maximize the benefits and keep added sugar to a minimum.
Green Tea: May help protect your skin from damage and aging. The powerful compounds found in green tea are called catechins and work to improve the health of your skin in several ways, including protecting against sun damage.
Red Grapes: Contain resveratrol, a compound that comes from the grapes’ skin and is credited with a wide range of health benefits, among them is reducing the effects of aging.
Hair Health
Shiny, thick locks aren’t just for looks-your hair helps keep you warm and protects your scalp from the elements. Protein is necessary for hair growth, so be sure to incorporate it into your diet.
Tips for Healthy Hair
Air-dry often. Hair dryers and heat-styling tools can dry out hair and cause it to break or burn.
Focus on your scalp when you wash. Washing the ends of your hair can strip away good oils and give you flyaways.
Get your protein. Protein is great for building a strong, healthy body, and your hair is no exception.
Dental Health
A bright, white smile is a great confidence booster, and it all starts with strengthening your enamel.
Tips for Healthy Teeth
Eat for your teeth. Dairy products are a great source of calcium, which helps remineralize and strengthen your enamel.
Limit drinks that stain. Coffee, tea, and red wine contain color pigments that stick to your enamel and can leave stains.
Comprehensive Lifestyle Tips for Overall Beauty
Beyond diet, several lifestyle choices contribute to healthy skin, hair, and teeth.
Skin Care Secrets
Protect Yourself in the Sun: Use a palm-sized amount of broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30. Wear protective clothing.
Don't Smoke: Smoking makes skin look older and plays a part in wrinkles forming.
Cleanse Gently: Strong soaps and detergents can strip oil from the skin. Shave carefully after bathing, using shaving cream, lotion, or gel and a clean, sharp razor.
Manage Stress: Implement strategies to manage stress, as it can impact skin health.
Additional Tips
Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! Use a moisturizer daily to help keep your skin hydrated, smooth, and soft by preventing water loss.
Brush with Pronamel® Strong & Bright. Pronamel Strong & Bright works to strengthen your enamel, which helps keep it from wearing away and causing teeth to look yellow.