Foods for Healthy Skin

At age 41, 1 of my top secrets for youthful skin is definitely what I eat! I often get asked about my skin, so I'm listening to your feedback and doing more posts on skin health. 

This week on the Fitness To A Tee pages, it's all about foods which help to make your skin glow; reduce acne; smoothen it out; tighten skin pores; reduce/prevent wrinkles and give you more inner confidence.

Why the skin matters

Your skin is the largest organ of your body and the physical barrier between you and the rest of the world boo. Scientifically, it's there to ensure the survival of your whole body as an organism by protecting you from heat, light, injury, infection, disease etc. In fact, it's the first line of defense against disease.

It regulates body temperature and moisture, along with storing water, fat and other metabolic products needed for your body to function. 

Wow it matters!! Nutrition will make a whopping difference to it.

Why does what you eat matter for the skin? 

Food has the power to affect every cell in your body, including your skin health. 

The food we eat gives our bodies the "information and instructions" they need to function properly. If we don't get the right information, our bodily processes suffer and so does our health. For example, if we get unhealthy food which gives our bodies the "wrong instructions", we can become overweight and/or at risk for the development of diseases/conditions e.g. allergies, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease etc.

Consider this quote from a textbook titled "Perspectives in Nutrition" by Wardlow & Insel: 

"Nutrients are the nourishing substances in food that are essential for the growth, development and maintenance of body functions. 'Essential' meaning that if a nutrient is not present, aspects of function and therefore human health decline. When nutrient intake does not regularly meet the nutrient needs dictated by the cell activity, the metabolic processes slow down or even stop."

7 foods for glowing skin 

I shared 2 other great foods in my reel on Mon 18 July, which you can see here. Here are some extra foods below!

Keep an eye out for even more tips in my #workoutwednesday video tomorrow on Instagram and Facebook. 

It goes without saying that you need to drink lots of water to hydrate the skin. Water is not part of this list, but I couldn't start without mentioning it! Although there are many foods great for skin health - I decided to focus on accessible, simple foods no matter where you are worldwide. I also love these foods in my own nutrition.

Blueberries

These are high in antioxidants, particularly on a compound called anthocyanins - which gives them their purplish-blue colour. Antioxidants help your cells fight damage, help plumpness and firmness of skin, including reducing/preventing wrinkles and reducing sun damage. 

According to Healthline - eating 1 cup (148 grams) of blueberries per day can help improve your body’s ability to send nutrients and oxygen to your skin and other cells, allowing for quicker and more efficient cell turnover, and ultimately, healthier skin. 

If you have eczema, these are known to be a great anti-inflammatory fruit. 

Lemons

I love starting my day by drinking a glass of fresh lemon in hot water. This not only helps digestion, ensuring you get more efficient use of your nutrients but can also increase the amount of collagen in your skin. That means you'll have fewer wrinkles and its vitamin can also fight off toxins that cause breakouts or acne. 

Carrots 

They have beta-carotene which gets converted to vitamin A inside the body. This beta-carotene can protect your skin from sun damage and helps repair skin tissues.  

Squash or pumpkin

These plus sweet potatoes that have that orange colour also have beta-carotene (see carrots). 

They are also great as an anti-ageing food!

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C which helps with cell repair; reducing wrinkles; lightening dark spots and more.

They also have beta carotene, lutein and lycopene which have been shown to protect your skin against sun damage and wrinkling. 

Salmon 

Salmon and other fatty fish such as mackerel are great healthy fish for the skin. This is because of the omega-3 fatty acids in them which help to keep your skin tight, supple and moisturised. Think glow UP! 

Extra virgin olive oil 

I actually put olive oil directly on my skin as a moisturiser. If I do use any lotion, I mix olive oil in it too.

It builds the skin's moisture barrier to keep moisture in. It keeps my skin silky smooth. I also love taking a bath with some olive oil + sea salt in. Be careful not to slip and you don't need much. Thank me later for skin softness to a tee! 

Olive oil, either used directly ok skin or in food, is a great anti-inflammatory; is anti-bacterial and anti-ageing. 

To get in touch with me for any questions, comments or feedback- feel free to message me for a chat. Click here!

For the #fitnesstoatee 12 Weeks Embrace the Skin You're In exercise and nutrition plan which will also give you a GLOW up - click here!