Skin is our body’s largest organ—it is 10-15% of our total body weight1 so you can probably imagine that it requires a lot of nourishment from vitamins, minerals and amino acids to look its best. Most people’s beauty regimen consists of topical creams and serums but attaining beautiful skin status is not just an outside job. We can’t ignore the importance of our diet and its effect on our skin’s appearance. The foods that we eat provide the nutrients our skin needs to protect itself from external assaults like pollution and sun damage. It also provides the building blocks of healthy, beautiful skin cells. There are some foods and dietary approaches that have been shown to have a positive impact on the health and appearance of our skin, so here are a few beauty tools that you can keep in your kitchen rather than at your vanity.
Related Reading: COLLAGEN: THE BEAUTIFUL SKIN PROTEIN
Beauty Tools that You Can Keep in Your Kitchen
Go Mediterranean
The Mediterranean diet has been shown to have possible protective effects against acne and skin aging.2,3 This diet is rich in whole grains, lean proteins, legumes, fresh fruits, vegetables and healthy fat sources like olive oil. There are a couple of foods that are cornerstones of the Mediterranean diet that have special benefits for skin health, including olive oil and tomatoes. Let’s take a look at how they help our skin.
Olive oil contains phytonutrients, vitamin E and healthy monounsaturated fats that are nourishing to skin. The monounsaturated fats in olive oil have been found to be protective against photo-aging, which is the cumulative damage that happens to our skin from sun exposure throughout our lives.4 This study found particular benefits from plant-based monounsaturated fats, so use that Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) regularly. Plus, EVOO can also be used topically as a skin moisturizer!
Another skin health star in the Med Diet is lycopene rich tomatoes. Lycopene is a carotenoid nutrient with antioxidant properties. A study in adult men and women found that the subjects who received 40 g tomato paste (a little more than 2 TBSP) per day with 10 g olive oil (providing about 16 mg lycopene, 0.5 mg β-carotene and 0.1 mg lutein) had increased protection from UV-induced skin redness. Normally we seek less processed foods, but tomato paste tends to be a better source of lycopene than fresh tomatoes because it is essentially concentrated tomatoes. Also, cooking increases the lycopene content of tomatoes.6 If you ask us, this sounds like the perfect excuse to cook up a nice pot of marinara sauce.
Low Glycemic Load Eating
The goal of low-glycemic load eating is to minimize the sharp spikes of blood glucose that happen when we eat starchy foods like white bread, pasta, rice, and dessert food. It encourages the consumption of whole grains and the substitution of lean proteins for starchy foods. In a study of males aged 15-25 with mild to moderate acne, some of the subjects were advised to eat a lower glycemic index diet, which means that they ate foods that had less of an impact on their blood glucose. The group who ate the lower glycemic index diet saw improvements to their acne. This really adds to the case for limiting sugar and processed food intake and focusing on fiber-rich foods like whole grains and legumes.
Eat Lots Of Fruits Including Strawberries And Citrus Fruits
Most fruits are great sources of vitamin C, especially citrus fruits and strawberries. They both get their characteristic bright, sour flavors from their high content of vitamin C, which is a skin-nourishing superstar. Vitamin C plays a role in collagen synthesis and functions as a skin protecting antioxidant.8 In a study looking at women’s overall diet patterns and how they impacted skin appearance, those with a lower intake of vitamin C appeared to have significantly more skin dryness and wrinkling.
Hydration: Water And Then Some
In the fight against wrinkles, one of the primary means of defense is through skin hydration. While drinking water is an obvious way to hydrate our body, there are other beverages and water-rich foods that can provide other skin-nourishing nutrients for extra beautifying benefits.
Green tea is an antioxidant-packed beverage that you can look to for skin nourishment and hydration, or consider a soothing cup of bone broth for some natural collagen.10 If you are looking for something more refreshing, watermelon is one of the most water-rich fruits out there and it’s also rich in skin-supporting lycopene. Make sure to stay hydrated, and when you can, capitalize on some of these dual-benefit skin sippers and snack-ers.
READ MORE: 5 Types Of Collagen That Go Skin Deep And Then Some
Go Nuts For Healthy Fats
Nuts and seeds contain omega-3 fats that help maintain normal levels of inflammation in our body, which is key to protecting skin from the visible signs of aging.10,11 Nuts are also a good source of vitamin E and selenium, which are antioxidant, skin-nourishing superstars.12 For more omega-3 fats, we can also look to fatty fish, such as salmon, arctic char, and sardines
Healthy Skin Diet
Healthy, beautiful skin requires a nourishing diet full of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and hydration. It’s not about just one food, but a healthy eating pattern overall. Combine some of these dietary tips and tricks with your usual topical beauty regimen to maximize the benefits. Cheers to nourishing your skin from the inside and the outside!
