Six Food Groups To Make Your Skin Glow In 2015
For a healthy, vibrant glow as you enter the new year, consider not only the creams and lotions you put on your skin but the vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and antioxidants that you put into your body.
The following 6 food groups will keep you healthy inside and out—and reduce wrinkles, improve skin tone, and restore collagen. Get your grocery list ready!
1. Load up on citrus and berries. Start with oranges and add kiwis, grapefruit, limes, lemons, other fruits, and your favorite berries, especially blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. All are great sources of vitamin C, which can help to improve the texture and color of the skin and restore collagen, which keeps your skin firmer. Having adequate stores of vitamin C is one way to optimize results obtained from your Ulthera skin-tightening treatment, as visible improvement comes from collagen repair and cross-linking.
Citrus is especially helpful in removing the toxins from your body and reducing your risk for disease. Berries also have anti-inflammatory elements that help your skin look even and toned.
2. Remember your greens—Start by including nutritional superstars, spinach, kale, and avocados in your green smoothies, dips, and soups. Spinach is packed with potassium, vitamins B3, B6, and A. Kale is a great source of sulfur, which slows the aging process of the skin. Brussels sprouts and broccoli are also significant sources of vitamin C and B3. Avocados are packed with a bit of everything!
3. Get back to your roots. Root vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, orange and yellow squash are great sources of vitamin A and beta carotene (that turns to vitamin A in the liver). Vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant with significant ability to protect the skin, eyes, and lungs against free radicals that can cause cancer and accelerate the aging process.
4. Go nuts! All nuts (and most seeds) are good sources of vitamin E, an antioxidant that prevents cell damage and aids in the absorption of vitamins A and C. Nuts also contain magnesium and potassium, which help with dry skin and acne.
Especially helpful are brazil nuts, a prime source of selenium (anti-aging); black walnuts and sunflower seeds are great sources of vitamin B6, good for wound healing and reducing inflammation; almonds are an excellent source of calcium; and pecans and pumpkin and sunflower seeds are a good source of zinc. All of these vitamins can help to improve quality of your skin.
But watch your calories—a small handful of nuts a day is good snack size.
5. Add animal protein. For plumped up, firmer skin eat plenty of oily fish, like wild salmon. Oily fish are also rich in omega 3 essential fatty acids that help to prevent the skin and scalp from becoming dry and flaky.
Other types of fish like white fish, tuna, trout and sardines are great sources of vitamin B2 (riboflavin), B6 (Pyridoxine), potassium, sulfur and zinc, all necessary for healthy skin.
Biotin, necessary for cell growth and strong hair and nails, is found in animal proteins such as milk, butter, egg yolk, and liver, so include these too in small doses.
6. Savor seaweed and kelp. Adding mineral dense seaweeds or sea vegetables, such as kelp, to your diet can fight thinning hair and strengthen your nails. These products from the sea are high in iodine and support your thyroid as well as providing calcium.
Your prescription for great skin in 2015 and beyond? Eat a varied diet that includes these nutrient-dense foods, keep hydrated with lots of water, and rely on excellent, nutrient-dense skin products (like the Esana Essential Signature Line) and regular facials to turn the clock back to the healthy, glowing skin you remember from youth.
