Sunday, April 5, 2020
Nutrition is important for health. An unhealthy diet can damage your metabolism, cause weight gain, and even damage organs, such as your heart and liver.
But what you eat also affects another organ — your skin.
As scientists learn more about diet and the body, it’s increasingly clear that what you eat can significantly affect the health and aging of your skin.
This article takes a look at 10 of the best foods for keeping your skin healthy.
1. Omega-3 fatty acids.
Omega-3 fatty acids like those found in cold-water fish, fish oil, and fatty fish have been shown in studies to reduce free radical damage through their anti-inflammatory effects. Free radicals act like scavengers that attack the collagen of the skin; antioxidants are the antidote to those free radicals reducing their damaging effect. There are actually studies that show maternal intake of essential fatty acids is inversely associated with risk for childhood eczema. An important point here is to specifically increase omega-3; think fish oil and fish intake (not omega-6, which is found in some seeds and plant sources). Correcting omega-3-to-omega-6 ratios is a direct way to balance skin inflammation.
2. Low histamine foods.
Histamines are natural substances produced by the body and present in many foods. They are responsible for some reactions in our body such as hives, for example. Additionally, they are released by the body during times of stress and in the presence of allergies. The release of histamine can cause flushing, rashes, and itching. If your skin is very reactive to foods high in histamines such as aged foods, alcohol, citrus, and smoked foods, reducing these foods can reduce your skin's reactivity. Eating a low histamine diet for a few weeks can help identify whether skin concerns are related to this group of foods.
3. Walnuts
Walnuts have many characteristics that make them an excellent food for healthy skin.
They’re a good source of essential fatty acids, which are fats that your body cannot make itself.
In fact, they’re richer than most other nuts in both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
A diet too high in omega-6 fats may promote inflammation, including inflammatory conditions of your skin like psoriasis.
On the other hand, omega-3 fats reduce inflammation in your body — including in your skin.
While omega-6 fatty acids are plentiful in the Western diet, sources of omega-3 fatty acids are rare.
Because walnuts contain a good ratio of these fatty acids, they may help fight the potential inflammatory response to excessive omega-6.
What’s more, walnuts contain other nutrients that your skin needs to function properly and stay healthy.
One ounce (28 grams) of walnuts contains 8% of the DV for zinc.
Zinc is essential for your skin to function properly as a barrier. It’s also necessary for wound healing and combating both bacteria and inflammation.
Walnuts also provide small amounts of the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium, in addition to 4–5 grams of protein per ounce (28 grams).
4. Tomatoes
Tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C and contain all of the major carotenoids, including lycopene.
Beta carotene, lutein, and lycopene have been shown to protect your skin against damage from the sun. They may also help prevent wrinkling.
Because tomatoes are rich in carotenoids, they’re an excellent food for maintaining healthy skin.
Consider pairing carotenoid-rich foods like tomatoes with a source of fat, such as cheese or olive oil. Fat increases your absorption of carotenoids.
5. Broccoli.
This powerhouse vegetable not only has antioxidants and cancer-fighting properties; it is also a great source of naturally occurring vitamin C and indole-3-carbinol. Indole-3-carbinol can naturally help balance hormones that, when not balanced, lead to acne, rosacea, and other common skin problems. Vitamin C plays an essential role in the production of collagen, a vital protein in the skin matrix involved in skin repair and skin integrity. Furthermore, vitamin C is now being studied for its role in protecting the skin from UV radiation damage, which is hopeful for helping sun spots and wrinkles fade and promoting youthful-looking skin.
6. Water.
No secret here, dehydration changes the appearance, feel, and function of skin. Remember how important skin is for detox? Well, water is the essential nutrient in this process. Generally, drinking eight glasses or 2 liters of water a day is a good place to start; however, some people may need more with exercise and hot temperatures. Alkaline water and enhanced water (such as detox water and chlorophyll waters) are great ways to give the skin that extra boost from your daily water intake.
For skin health make sure you are not counting your coffee, juices, teas, and the like into your total water intake.
7. Almonds.
Not all nuts are created equal, and when it comes to skin, almonds move to the top of the list. Almonds are a great source of fat-soluble vitamin E. The barrier function of our skin, made up of a layer of healthy lipids (fats) requires vitamin E for function. Therefore, high amounts of foods with vitamin E help to support that bilayer and protect our skin from oxidative stress and UV damage. Because vitamin E is fat soluble and can be easily stored in our body, it is best to meet your needs through foods rather than supplementation when possible. Vitamin E supplements often are synthetic versions of the vitamin and contain unwanted stabilizers and fillers.
8. Berries.
Berries are well-known for their high antioxidant content to combat the damage done by UV rays to our skin. Furthermore, they are also loaded with skin-essential vitamin C for collagen production; however, berries can also play an important role in balancing the good and bad bacteria of the gut by acting as a naturally occurring prebiotic fiber.
9. Prebiotics.
We are now more than ever linking the relationship of our gut flora to healthy skin. Foods that are high in prebiotics such as leeks, onions, garlic, and dandelion greens create a gut environment that is more conducive to growing and sustaining a healthy balance of the probiotics of the gut.
10. Probiotic foods.
Foods high in probiotics such as kimchee, sauerkraut, kombucha, and yogurt (for those not sensitive to dairy) are essential to maintaining a healthy balance of gut bacteria and preventing leaky gut, which is a major cause of skin inflammation. Imbalances in gut bacteria can be the cause of eczema, one of the most common skin disorders in children and adults. Recently there have been a number of studies that conclude that further understanding of the skin microbiome is necessary to gain insight into skin disorders and their management. Taking action to balance gut bacteria includes eating foods high in probiotics and prebiotics and avoiding foods high in sugars, which promote the overgrowth of commensal bacteria to unwanted elevated levels.