Your skin shows the world your healthy glow or, unfortunately, your unhealthy eating habits. Blemishes, oily skin or dry skin often result from dietary imbalance. While topical remedies may alleviate the surface symptoms of not eating right, the best way to achieve healthy skin is to get at the root of the problem. Following a calorie guide for healthy skin can ensure you ingest the right amounts of foods rich in nutrients for enhancing your epidermal health.
Benefits
Vitamins A, C and E can help keep your skin looking younger by ameliorating the harmful effect of sun exposure. A, C and E have antioxidant properties, fighting free radicals -- unstable atoms that damage cells -- that cause deterioration to the structural collagen and elastin that maintain healthy skin, according to MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. One serving of cantaloupe provides 120 percent of a daily dose dose of vitamin A and 80 percent of vitamin C with only 50 calories. Your full intake of vitamin E in 1 tbsp. of wheat germ oil equals just 119 calories. Based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet, these skin-healthy nutrients contain less than 10 percent of your total calorie allotment.
Function
Biotin is a B vitamin that is instrumental in maintaining skin health. A deficiency can cause skin rashes and hair loss. It may help improve certain skin conditions such as eczema and acne. Cooked liver supplies your 30 mcg daily dose of biotin in less than 200 calories, 10 percent of your daily 2,000-calorie diet.
Considerations
Another nutritional factor that optimizes healthy skin is adequate fat intake. Fat helps maintain healthy skin and hair by helping the body absorb essential nutrients. Monounsaturated fats such as olive and canola oil have fewer negative health effects than saturated fats like butter. However, because fat supplies twice the calories of carbohydrates or proteins, you should limit fat intake to about 25 percent of your daily 2,000-calorie diet, or 500 calories.
Warning
Some foods can worsen skin health already compromised by dry-skin conditions including eczema and psoriasis. Drinking alcohol can cause flare-ups. Rosacea, a chronic condition causing facial ruddiness and swelling, can respond negatively to spicy or acidic foods as well. By replacing the calories from alcohol and other problem foods with nutritional foods including whole grains, fruits and vegetables, meat protein and dairy, you can avoid compromising skin health.
Expert Insight
Evidence suggests that making specific dietary changes can improve an existing skin condition such as acne. A study, "Low-Glycemic-Load Diet May Improve Acne in Young Men," published in the July 2007 issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" found that trading high-glycemic foods -- those high in carbohydrates -- for low-glycemic foods, may improve your skin condition. A low-carb food like an orange, at 80 calories, is lower in calories than a high-carb food like a potato, at 110 calories, so you will also benefit from a leaner diet.
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