You are what you eat…it’s something we’ve heard all of our lives, especially when Mom was trying to get us to eat those veggies. But it turns out it wasn’t just propaganda. It is a fact that everything we eat becomes part of our body and affects not only the inside, but the outside as well. We know the benefits of maintaining a healthy, balanced diet but what you might not be aware of is just how much what you eat affects how your skin looks.
The healthier the foods we eat are, the better our skin will look. Unfortunately, the adverse is true too. When we are not paying attention to what we eat and start reaching for the fast food and the sugar, our skin reacts. For some of us that’s breakouts but it also manifests in dry, sallow, and older looking skin. You’ve probably even noticed it yourself! After a day of indulging, you feel lethargic and bloated and your skin just feels rough. A balanced diet isn’t only good for you on the inside, it’s an important tool in supporting the skin as well. What you put in your mouth can be as important as what you put on our skin.
So, what should we be eating? We keep mentioning a balanced diet but that’s because most experts agree it’s really the best way to get the right amount of good food for healthy skin. A varied and balanced diet should give the optimal levels of nutrients vital to beautiful, glowing skin including beta carotene, vitamins C and E, zinc, and selenium. But there are some foods that really give a boost to your complexion. Healthy fats from oily fish and nuts, low fat dairy products which are a great source of Vitamin A, green tea which has multiple skin benefits and antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables.
Fruits and Veggies really are king. They contain powerful antioxidants that help to protect skin from the cellular damage caused by free radicals, the leading cause of skin damage and aging skin. Everyone should aim to eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day. And when picking those fruits and veggies, remember to “eat the rainbow” which means eating a variety of types and colors to receive the full range of their benefits. Think dark leafy greens, bright orange carrots and sweet potatoes, red and yellow peppers and all the colors of beautiful berries. Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and plums are particularly high in antioxidants. In fact, these four fruits weighed in with the highest total antioxidant capacity of any food according to the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry.
Glotrition’s Super Beauty Elixir is another great thing to add to your diet. It’s a great way to supplement what you eat and make sure you are supporting the skin from the inside out. In addition to its patented Bioactive Collagen Peptides, Glotrition leverages fresh dried fruit powders as well as the powerful antioxidants Resveratrol and Vitamin C to form the base of the Super Beauty Elixir. Just mix it with 20 ounces of water each day and you are feeding your body and your skin exactly what it needs!
And remember, next time you are looking for a snack – you really are what you eat!