There are a lot of products in the market now that promise clear and glowing skin, and some products are actually a good idea. However, if you are serious about getting that glowing skin, products are not where you want to start; healthy eating is where you want to start because, regardless of how good the skin care products you use are, they can not compensate for unhealthy eating. So in this article, we’ll be looking at 10 foods, in no particular order, that will get your skin glowing.
Number One: Avocados
The reason avocados are so great for your skin is because they are fatty. Now, take a breath! I know that you are probably wondering how something that is fatty can be good for the skin, and you are right to wonder. That said, you should know that avocados contain the healthy kind of fat and in a healthy amount, and that healthy fat will help keep your skin supple, flexible and moisturized.
Healthy fat is not all that avocados have to offer, though. They also contain vitamins E and C, the combination of which helps to keep your skin healthy and hydrated. Additionally, avocados contain a decent amount of antioxidants like beta carotene that help to soften the skin, especially if applied topically. So now you understand why people use avocados as face masks.
Number Two: Sweet Potatoes
One of the most important components of sweet potatoes are carotenoids. Carotenoids are compounds that give vegetables like sweet potatoes their orange colour and can give you a really healthy looking skin. Those compounds kinda act like some sort of natural sun block, protecting your skin from sun damage and the resultant issues like dry skin and wrinkles.
Eating sweet potatoes, or basically any food that contains carotenoids, does not cancel out your need for ‘artificial’ sunblock, though, it just might reduce your need for it. That said, of all the different ways that you can eat sweet potatoes, eating them cooked is best because it allows you to get most of the nutrients from the sweet potatoes.
Number Three: Tomatoes
Tomatoes are just awesome; they contain a variety of vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, C and a couple of Bs, which all contribute to a healthy skin. But more importantly, they contain lycopene; lycopene is an antioxidant that contains excellent anti-aging properties. So, eating tomatoes could help prevent and/or reduce the appearance of wrinkles and keep your skin moisturized.
That said, basically any tomato-based food will afford you all those benefits that were just mentioned. But if you will be cooking yours or adding it to a salad, consider pairing it with something fatty like an oil or cheese, and that is because fat makes it easier for your body to absorb the lycopene.
Number Four: Dark Chocolate
First off, eating dark chocolate will allow for better blood flow in your skin, which means that your skin will be getting all the nutrients it needs. But in addition to that, dark chocolate contains an antioxidant called flavonoid that is great at smoothening out your skin and also acting as a form of sunblock. In fact, some experts say that eating dark chocolate with a high antioxidant content will make your skin able to withstand twice as much UV radiation than eating dark chocolate with a low antioxidant content will. Also, the antioxidants in dark chocolate, or cocoa specifically, can protect the skin from oxidative stress which usually leads to premature aging.
Number Five: Fatty Fish
Mackerel, salmon and other fatty fish like that are really great for your skin. I started out this list with the benefits of the fat content in avocados and that holds true for fatty fish too. The healthy fat that you will find in fatty fish is omega 3 fatty acids and they are beneficial to your health in general. However, for your skin specifically, omega 3 fatty acids help to keep your skin supple and moisturized, so much so that a deficiency of omega 3s could cause dry skin.
In addition to all of that, fatty fish are great sources of protein which improves the strength and integrity of your skin. They also contain vitamin E which helps to prevent your skin from inflammation.
Number Six: Eggs
Eggs, the whites actually, are rich in lysine and proline which turn to collagen. Now, your body already produces collagen, but it can definitely do better with the help of egg white, especially considering how necessary collagen is to improving the stength, look and overall health of your skin.
However, it isn’t just the egg white that is beneficial to the health of your skin, the yolk also contains biotin which helps to prevent acne and dryness, in addition to strengthening fingernails and growing healthy hair.
Number Seven: Walnuts
Walnuts are another food that contains the good kind of fat, and I have extolled the good kind of fat so much that there’s no need hammering that point again. Thankfully, that’s not all that walnuts have to offer; they also contain a significant amount of zinc which is a mineral that helps to improve the integrity of your skin and also makes it possible for your skin to heal quicker and better. Walnuts also contain protein and vitamin E in small amounts; those amounts are enough to do your skin some good, though.
Number Eight: Green Tea
Green tea contains catechins called EGCG, which is a compound that helps the skin to basically repair itself after sun exposure. What this means is that drinking green tea could prevent your skin from succumbing to sun damage and resultant issues like premature aging. Some experts have even said that drinking green tea could help to prevent skin cancer because it helps the body to rapidly repair DNA.
That said, you want to be careful not to drink too much of it because green tea contains caffeine, and too much caffeine could dry out your skin. Also, experts say to not add milk to your green tea because milk would reduce the effects of the antioxidants contained in the tea.
Number Nine: Chia Seeds
First off, chia seeds are arguably the richest source of omega 3 fatty acids, and we’ve already talked about all the goodness of omega 3s. In addition to that, chia seeds have components that help to improve the barrier function of the skin. Basically, what this means is that eating chia seeds will help improve the strength of your skin, helping it to better perform the function of protecting your internal organs. Thankfully, chia seeds can be added to basically any meal if that’s something you’re interested in; so, go ahead and sprinkle them on your smoothie, yoghurt or salad and get your skin popping.
Number Ten: Carrots
Another food that is rich in beta carotene, carrots are a great help for a healthy skin. Because they contain beta carotene, eating carrots would help to improve the glow of your skin and slow down its degeneration. Carrots are also quite rich in vitamin C which is great at preventing and/or clearing up acne and dark spots. Vitamin A is another nutrient that you’ll get plenty of from carrots, which is great because vitamin A will help to prevent the overproduction of cells on your skin, thereby reducing the appearance of dead cells. So, go ahead and chop up carrots into your salad or blend them into a juice and watch your skin pop.
