You know beach time is almost upon us and while you may have been keeping in pretty good shape fitness wise can you say the same for your diet? The foods you eat can really play a big part in your skins health so you want to make sure you’re taking care of your nutritional intake sooner rather than later.
When you see someone who has sallow, blemished skin with greasy, lank hair; then there is a very strong chance that they are not nutritionally savvy. This can be avoided by most people simply educating yourself of what foods are good for the skin.
If you want healthy skin instead of a pasty, spotty complexion then you really want to avoid foods high in fat, sugars and salt. Now you already knew that right? Because truthfully we all know that deep down but let’s not focus on the negatives here, there are lots of nutritious foods out there that if eaten regularly will give you healthy, glowing skin.
Increase Your EFA Intake
EFA’s are Essential Fatty Acids and can do wonders for your skin. EFA’s are a type of fat but what’s known as ‘good fats’ because they contain Omega-3 and Omega-6 which helps deliver the vitamins A, D, E and K into your body.
EFA’s can be found in fish such as salmon, sardines and tuna; nuts and seeds, soya beans, eggs and prawns. Always go for line caught sea fresh and organic fish where possible.
Increase You Zinc Intake
Zinc is pretty vital for your skins health and has lots of other benefits for your body too such as immune system support. Some signs that you’re low in zinc include those little white spots you get on your fingernails, flaky scalp and dull looking skin. Zinc helps your body to produce collagen so if you want young looking skin then this is the mineral for you.
Find Zinc in turkey, cheese, eggs, nuts, red meat, seafood and wholegrain foods. Again, go for grass fed, lean, free range, organic wherever possible because you don’t want to add pesticides, chemicals and hormones into the mix!
Increase Your Selenium Intake
Selenium protects your cells from free radical damage and can help with people that experience dry skin conditions. Selenium is also excellent for those who suffer with acne. Now it is fairly rare for people to be low on this trace mineral but if you do have dry skin then it is worth ensuring that you include these foods in your weekly diet.
Very similar to Zinc, you can find Selenium in cheese, eggs, cereal, pulses, Brazil nuts, red meat, seafood and wholegrain foods. Again, go for grass fed, lean, free range, organic wherever possible.
Increase Your Vitamin C Intake
Vitamin C is probably one of the best well known vitamins throughout the world and rightly so; it has so many health benefits which include boosting your immune system, production of collagen and helping to protect against sun exposure.
Vitamin C comes in many different foods all of which are bright in colour and seriously tasty to eat. You can find Vitamin C in kiwi fruit, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, sweet potatoes and citrus fruits.
All these foods are so good for your skin and the best thing about them is they are provided to you by the earth. Always try to go local, organic, free range and in season because this is how nature intended you to eat it. Chemical, coloring, preservative and hormone free are always the best option for your whole body’s health.
You won’t see changes to your skins health overnight but you will notice a big difference in around 4 to 8 weeks.
Stay tuned for the next blog which tells you about the effect pollution has on your skin!