Healthy Skin Series- Healthy Foods

While it is important to maintain it on the outside, the real work goes beyond the surface and is in fact-skin deep. What we eat is a major factor to helping maintain our skin. Having a balance of nutrition and diet can do wonders and helps keep your whole self healthy as well. Its an all-natural secret to a nourished complexion and good nutrition is the foundation to fresh, glowing, healthy skin.

Fruits

We have all heard it, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but did you know that it helps keep your complexion in top shape too? Fruits gives us an amazing glow and consist of wonderful antioxidants that provide protection against acne, wrinkles and give moisture to our skin (more about moisture in our next article). In fact, antioxidant compounds in apple skin called phenols provide UV-B protection, making your skin more resistant to damage from the sun. Braeburn, Fuji, and Red Delicious apples are all high in phenols. It is important to remember to eat fruits rich in pectin, fiber, vitamin C and other antioxidants. All theses items can help prevent some common skin concerns.

Vegetables

Green foods and different sorts of vegetables are packed with vitamin A and help improve skin’s appearance by helping with blemishes. Having a green food diet rich in Chlorophyll will naturally balance out our bodies. Without it, you may be contributing to skin problems. If you aren't so into leafy green vegetables, carrots are a great alternative. Carrots have vitamin A as well and also benefit your eye site. The point here is that we have alternatives that can give you the nutrients you need.

Healthy Snacks

Do you have any bad habits when it comes to snacking. Snacking throughout the day helps give us energy and re-fuels our bodies. Sometimes it's all too easy to grab a bag of chips over a bag of almonds. Don’t torture yourself. Have some chips once and awhile; like once a week. More importantly, have snacks that benefit your skin as well:

• Almonds
• Yogurt
• Flaxseed chips/crackers
• Berries
• Dark Chocolate

A healthy diet is the best way to maintain and help give your skin the nutrients and nourishment it needs. Beyond your skin, it helps you keep you healthy as well. Balancing your diet is easy. Using your friends practice and consistency, you will see and feel the difference of your skin within a month.

When you design your program, be sure to include things that take care of the body but are equally a treat. Dark Chocolate may seem indulgent but we know that, in moderation, dark chocolate is good for the body. So we have some chocolate. It tastes good and is healthy when you do it right.

In the last article we spoke about how stress can affect the skin. Our next article will cover how water and hydration can help you maintain healthy skin inside of a skin management program.