Eat (and drink) your way to glowing healthy skin!

Good Morning! This is Ashley, Esthetician with Le Reve Spa. I came across this article about 'skin foods', eating your way to gorgeous skin. I found it very informative and would like to share with all of you the benefits of what a healthy and clean diet can do for your skin! Enjoy :)

   Women tend to believe that with the right surgeon and cosmetic treatments, gorgeous skin can be “made”. Treatments like botox, synthetic fillers, face lifts and drugs for acne tend to have side effects, risks, costs and some face lifts look unnatural. Treatments such as microdermabrasion and acid peels can make the skin appear temporarily younger or smoother but results are short lived and repeat treatments necessary to maintain a refreshed look. 

Skin is truly made from the inside out, but most people cannot understand that what eat will eventually show up on the skin for others to see. Long term, good nutrition out performs cosmetics and treatments. Spend time looking after yourself from the inside out and you’ll be rewarded with a healthy, gorgeous, vibrant complexion. 

The skin foods below are listed because they provide the building blocks for beautiful skin: 

~ BERRIES ~ 
From strawberries to blueberries, mulberries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries, cherries and boysenberries. The reason why berries make such great skin foods has to do with their high antioxidant content. Plus they’re so easy to eat and make a great topping on anything from cereals, smoothies to yogurts. 

Antioxidants combat free radicals (major aging and disease accelerators) and slows down aging by reducing oxidative accusative damage to cells. Protect your cells from damage and your skin’s appearance will improve. Even prolonging a youthful appearance. 

But berries aren't the only sources of antioxidants. Other include green and white tea, fruits such as pomegranate seeds, grapes, plums (or prunes), apples, dark chocolate (low in sugar ones) and vegetables such as dark leaf lettuces, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, artichoke and spices.

~ FRUITS & VEGETABLES ~
When people think about vitamins and minerals, they think about supplements and popping pills. But you can get better vitamins and minerals by eating fresh (and even raw) fruits and vegetables. Don’t have time to eat them? Juice them! Or buy ready made fresh vegetable and fruit juices at juice bars, the supermarket or your local health food store. 

Fruits and vegetables have a trifecta effect: 

1. 1) They provide vitamins and minerals which we need to function - you can put anti-aging vitamins A, C and E on your skin but consuming those vitamins from food will do wonders. But it has to be a long term thing, not a flash in the pan trial. By eating a varied diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, you’ll be able to get the required range of vitamins and minerals. How long does it take to see results? 3 months to be exact. Your blood cells live for 3 months before they’re replaced so the things you eat will be the building blocks for your blood cells. Skin cells take about 30-40 days to replace so what you replace in your diet will reflect in your skin after 30-40 days. By eating more fruits and vegetables, 3 months will be how long it will take to see if vegetables and fruits are working for your skin.


2. 2) They provide fiber for the bowels and good skin reflects a healthy bowel - most people don’t get enough fibre in their diets, causing constipation which can lead to varicose veins, IBS, hemorrhoids, acne and dull skin. Carrying around decaying fecal matter for a week can also be bad for the long term health of surrounding organs near the bowels. By eating fresh fruits and vegetables, not only are you getting your vitamins and minerals but also providing fibre for your colon to pass out stools faster.


3. 3) They make the body alkaline - your body’s pH can determine the health of your skin. The body should be generally alkaline - this is not to say that every organ and part of the body has to be alkaline - I’m saying that your blood should be alkaline. Your stomach should be acidic and same goes for your skin but blood needs to be more alkaline to provide for healthy skin. Fruits and vegetables (yes even citrus fruits) when ingested are alkaline in the body and maintains a good pH level. When folks consume too much coke, fried foods, sweets, burgers, red meat and white bread, when consumed these foods are acidic in the body. Acidic bodies can also produce acidic sweat. When this happens, the sweat mixed with creases in the skin can cause rashes, lumps, itching, redness and inflammation. If your body is overtly acidic, your body will compensate by leaching minerals in the bone or muscles to make the blood more alkaline. For teenagers who are growing, having minerals in the bones leached out is the last thing you’d want. Eat alkalizing foods and keep your bones and teeth healthy and strong.

~ OMEGA 3 OILS & FISH ~ 
If your diet consists of white bread, pastries, fried foods, take away, cookies, dips and salad dressings and other processed foods then odds are you have a higher ratio of omega 6 oils in the system than omega 3. Too much omega 6 causes inflammation which leads to aging of the skin and capillaries. Over time, skin loses its elasticity, firmness, wrinkles easily and broken capillaries become more prominent. Not having adequate amounts of omega 3 oils can also lead to eczema, hair loss, dandruff, depression, lack of concentration and heart disease. Omega 3 oils are essential fatty acids which cannot be made in our bodies. They can only be obtained through our diets, so having adequate levels of this oil is important for skin and health.

Eat at least 2 servings of fish a week. Fatty fish such as salmon is preferred. Sashimi is great as you’re eating the fish in a raw state which preserves the omega 3. 

If you don’t like eating fish, fish oil supplements are the next best thing. Make sure you buy capsules that contain at least 1000 mg of EPA & DHA. Another source of omega 3 is from grass fed, free-range organic or wild animal meat - which contains suitable levels of omega 3. Eggs from free range hens also contain omega 3. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, try a tablespoon of flax seed oil everyday or eat chia seeds. But flax seed and chia seed omega 3 oils has to be converted into EPA & DHA before the body can use it, so the elderly and folks with health problems might have trouble converting vegetarian sources of omega 3. With fish, fish oil supplements, grass fed animal meat and eggs, the omega 3 has already been converted into EPA & DHA which is why they’re considered as superior sources of omega 3 over vegetarian ones. 

~ ZINC ~
The skin contains almost a quarter of the zinc in the body. Think of zinc as a mineral that disinfects the skin and helps wounds heal so it’s great for those suffering from acne and acne scars. It’s also anti-inflammatory and required to make collagen. Lack of adequate zinc can lead to stretch marks during puberty or weight gain. Zinc also improves and boosts our immune system which can help in fighting off infectious bacteria if we get cuts and scrapes. If you’re a teen or an adult suffering from acne and pimples, zinc should be included in your diet. 30mg of zinc gluconate can make a difference in the size and occurrence of acne and can even regulate sebum.

Great natural sources of zinc include shellfish such as oysters, crab, prawns, mussels and meat such as liver, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, chicken, and in nuts, seeds, whole grains and wheat germ. If you’re taking zinc supplements, make sure you don’t take iron supplements at the same time as they compete with each other in the body for absorption. Also, for every 10 milligram of zinc, take 1 milligram of copper. Overall it’s better to get zinc from food (particularly of animal origin) than from supplements as some zinc pills uses cheap supplemental zinc that can upset the stomach (zinc sulfate/sulfate). With any supplement, do not exceed the maximum dosage as recommended on the label. The good thing about natural sources of zinc is you cannot overdose by eating trace amounts of zinc from food. 



~ WATER ~
Water is the most overlooked beverage yet it is the most important element to almost every living thing on this planet. Our bodies can contain anywhere from 50 to 70% water depending on our age and size. It’s also vital to our health and our skin. Keeping the body replenished with clean water is great for our organs, blood, cells and of course, skin.