A balanced diet may be more effective at keeping your skin looking healthy than many high-priced creams or lotions. Eating healthy foods can keep your skin in its healthiest form, and consuming some types of foods can worsen skin problems, notes Dr. Susan Taylor, Professor of Dermatology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and cited by Science Daily website. Healthy foods are beneficial not only for your overall health, but also for your outward appearance.
Basics
Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and it protects you from outside germs, diseases and infections. What you eat plays a role in how your skin looks and your overall skin health. The appearance of your skin can indicate poor health. Also, over time, your diet will play a role in how your skin ages.
Potential
Including foods that contain high amounts of antioxidants has the potential to keep your skin healthy. Vitamin A-rich foods will protect your skin against damage from the sun, foods high in vitamin C increase the production of collagen, which will help your skin maintain resiliency and shape, and taking in vitamin B will decrease your risk of skin disorders, such as dermatitis, cracked lips, flaky skin, dry skin and lesions, notes CBS News website.
Considerations
Including water in your balanced diet is an essential part of keeping your skin healthy. CBS News reports that proper hydration keeps your skin full of nutrients, and it helps keep toxins out. You sweat more when you are hydrated, and the act of sweating helps keep your skin clean and clear.
Also, eating a diet that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids helps decrease inflammation of your skin, which can keep your skin looking young and healthy, notes CBS News.
Warning
The regular consumption of both alcohol and caffeine can decrease the overall health of your skin and make it age at a faster rate. Both these beverages, and especially alcohol, increase dehydration, which can leave the skin dry, and the toxins in alcohol promote premature aging. Therefore, drinking these beverages as a part of your regular diet causes your skin to begin wrinkling more and at an earlier age.
Tips
There are things you can do to help ensure you eat a skin-healthy, well-balanced diet. Make fruits and vegetables a staple in your meals and snacks. These foods provide you with hydration and the assortment of vitamins and minerals your skin needs. Get at least two to three servings of omega-3-rich foods in your weekly diet; eat omega-3-rich foods such as fatty fish, walnuts, olive oil or tofu. Carry water with you everywhere you go, and drink it regularly. Reduce your intake of alcohol and caffeine. Keep your diet low in unhealthy fat. Try to get most of your fat from unsaturated fats.
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