Diet For Skin

While lotions and potions can improve your skin from the outside, a healthy diet works from the inside out. A nutritious, balanced diet isn’t only a delicious way to eat – it can work wonders for your skin.

You Are What You Eat:
A diet for a healthy body is the same one as for a healthy, clear complexion. That is, one that contains lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, is high in fibre, low in fat and low in added sugar and salt. This should provide your body and skin with all the vitamins and minerals they need to function at their very best.

Healthy Skin Checklist:
These are the essentials your body needs to keep your skin in tip-top condition.

• The most essential element is water. Although there’s water in the foods you eat, you should drink at least two litres (quarts) of water a day to keep your body healthy and your skin clear.
• Cellulose carbohydrates, better known as fibre foods, have another less direct effect on the skin. Their action in keeping you regular can help to give you a brighter, clearer complexion.
• Vitamin A is essential for growth and repair of certain skin tissues. Lack of it causes dryness, itching and loss of skin elasticity. It’s found in foods such as carrots, spinach, broccoli and apricots.
• Vitamin C is needed for collagen production, to help keep your skin firm. It’s found in foods such as strawberries, citrus fruits, cabbage, tomatoes and watercress.
• Vitamin E is an antioxidant vitamin that neutralizes free radicals – highly reactive molecules that can cause ageing. It occurs in foods such as almonds, hazelnuts and wheat germ.
• Zinc works with vitamin A in the making of collagen and elastin, the fibres that give your skin its strength, elasticity and firmness. It occurs in shellfish, wholegrains, milk, cheese and yogurt.

Crash Dieting:
A constant weight gain and loss can have an adverse effect on your skin. Eating too much and becoming overweight thickens the layer of fat under your skin and consequently stretches. Crash dieting can then result in your skin collapsing, leading to the appearance of lines and wrinkles. What’s more, a crash diet will deprive your skin and body of the essential nutrients they need to stay healthy and look good. If you need to lose weight, do it slowly, sensibly and steadily, to give your skin time to acclimatize. Consult your doctor before starting any weight-loss program.

Daily Diet:
A good typical day’s diet for a clearer complexion could be:
Breakfast: Glass of unsweetened fruit juice; bowl of unsweetened muesli (granola), with a chopped banana and semi-skimmed (low-fat) milk; two slices of wholewheat toast with a scraping of low-fat spread.
Lunch: Baked potato filled with low-fat cottage cheese and plenty of fresh, raw salad; pne low-fat yogurt, any flavor.
Evening Meal: Grilled fish or chicken with boiled brown rice and plenty of steamed vegetables. Fresh fruit salad, topped with natural yogurt and nuts.

Whether Or Not To Have Chocolates:
There isn’t any scientific evidence that links eating chocolate to having break-outs of spots (contrary to the popular myth that eating chocolate causes pimples), but as a healthy low-fat, high-fibre diet is known to be good for the skin, keep snacks such as chocolate to a minimum and eat them only as an occasional treat. If you find yourself craving sweet snacks, try eating a low-fat yogurt or a delicious bowl of strawberries.