A healthy beautiful skin always gives you a sense of confidence when stepping out. It gives you the power to interact with people and catch their attention.
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The beauty and skin care market does not hesitate to play on our insecurities in order to sell its wide range of products with a promise of eternal beauty. Yet, nothing makes you as beautiful on the outside as feeding your inside with a healthy diet. A number of studies have shown the benefits of eating certain foods to enhance a healthy looking skin and overall well being. EHC wants to emphasize the fact that looking good need not cost a fortune, tastes great, does not require painstaking effort, or involve too much time.
Sun exposure, stress, lack of rest, smoking, and environmental pollution can all lead to a dull, dry complexion, but what you eat may actually be one of the biggest determining factors to skin health. Let’s look at the major foods for skin.
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Water
Water flushes the toxins out of the body and maintains the elasticity and suppleness of your skin. Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day. (Water within caffeinated drinks does not count due to the dehydrating effect of caffeine.)
Vitamin A
It maintains and repairs skin cells. This antioxidant fights free radical damage that ages the skin prematurely. Vitamin A reduces the appearance of wrinkles, acne, and other skin conditions. Women who are pregnant should avoid an excess of Vitamin A, as it could have negative consequences.
Vitamin E
The oils in vitamin E moisturize dry skin. This antioxidant protects against skin damage and premature aging. Avocados, mangoes, blackberries and papayas are fruits that are rich in vitamin E. Including fruits that are rich in vitamin E in your daily diet protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun as it filters UV rays.
Lycopene-Rich Fruits
Fruits like watermelon, pink grapefruits, pink guavas, and strawberries have high contents of lycopene. Research shows that fruits that are rich in lycopene help fight against skin aging. Consuming fruits that have high levels of lycopene can safeguard your skin from the damaging UV rays of the sun and keep your complexion healthy. Lycopene-rich fruits may improve the texture of your skin and enhances its ability to produce collagen which contributes to a young looking complexion.
Beta Carotene-Rich Fruits
Beta carotene has antioxidant properties that aid in neutralizing free radicals that are harmful to the skin and complexion. Eating a lot of fruits that contain beta carotene may improve your complexion as it can help reverse skin damaged caused by the sun. Beta carotene-rich fruits also have natural substances that help in the prevention of cell damage caused by excess oxygen in the body.
Fruits like melons, cantaloupe, apricots and cherries are some of the fruits that are rich in beta carotene.
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Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
Riboflavin contributes to tissue maintenance and repair. The body will use large amounts of this vitamin after undergoing surgery or receiving a skin wound. Riboflavin also improves blemishes caused by rosacea. Mushroom is an example.
Vitamin C
Exposure to sun depletes the body of vitamin C. This antioxidant fights skin damage and wrinkles and is crucial to the production of collagen, the skin’s structural protein.
Zinc
Zinc works with vitamin C to increase the skin’s elastin. Zinc is also known to help clear acne.
Omega-Three Fatty Acids
Omega-three fatty acids hydrate skin and help unclog pores to prevent acne. Examples are flaxseed oil and fish.
Tomato
Rejuvenate your skin cells and keep your body in top form with tomatoes. Tomatoes are full of a red pigment known as lycopene. Needless to say anything more.
Kiwis, Blueberries, Sweet Potatoes
These are just a few of the brightly colored foods that are rich in antioxidant vitamins C and E; when taken orally, they can help protect against UV damage. A study published last year found that a diet high in vitamin C was associated with less skin dryness and wrinkling.
Red Meat, White Kidney Beans, Yogurt, and Oysters
They are all high in zinc, which is essential for collagen formation. You need, for example, three ounces of beef, one cup of yogurt, and half a cup of white kidney beans, or just one incredibly zinc-heavy oyster, daily to meet your skin health needs.
Cucumber
Reduce skin inflammation with cucumber. Cucumbers are often used as the base in both commercial and home-prepared beauty products such as face masks, gels, and toners. Cucumbers have soothing and cooling properties as well, and their high water content provides a great source of hydration for skin.
Healthy Skin Diet
Breakfast can be a bowl of oatmeal or porridge with fruit and low fat milk. You can have whole wheat toast with an egg too. You should avoid readymade cereals as they tend to be high in sugar and preservatives.
Lunch can be a light lunch of a salad with one portion of protein. Options in protein are healthy animal protein like lean chicken or fish. You can have cottage cheese, tofu or lentils as a vegetarian substitute to animal protein.
The mid-day meal is also important in case you have a late breakfast and choose to skip lunch. Eat a fruit like an apple or a pear. Such a fruit tends to regulate body sugar and keep you feeling full longer. You can thus avoid a junk food binge before dinner.
Dinner becomes an important meal because the night is the longest stretch without fuel for the body and also the time for the skin to repair and heal itself. Eat lighter at night, with a higher intake of fruits and vegetables.
Do remember to drink plenty of water and fluids as part of this balanced diet plan. Fresh fruit juices are a great way to rehydrate your system. However, remember that this alone will not keep your skin healthy; you need to follow a healthy diet, exercise on a regular basis, and have good hygiene habits to ensure that your skin radiates beauty and health.
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Image courtesy: annabank.wordpress.com , diseasesymptomstreatment.com ,
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