10 Foods To Eat For Healthy Skin
If you are like most of our Ideal Image clients who want to enhance their natural beauty in a healthy way, you are probably invested in a daily routine of exercise and good eating in order to maintain your youthful glow. While working out can give you many great benefits for life, did you know that eating right can also help you feel good inside and out?
Eating good foods for skin health can push your body into healing on its own, making many natural solutions available to you. The best way to maintain good skin health for life is to eat right, use good medical-grade skincare products with growth factors and peptides, and be proactive about reducing blemishes and wrinkles without surgery through one of our innovative treatments.
Today, we are going to focus on the ways in which you can tweak your diet to better support the health of your skin with a list of the 10 best foods to eat for healthy skin.
What Are The Best Foods To Eat For Healthy Skin?
Studies published by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics show that certain foods have skin-strengthening nutrients that support collagen production, increased hydration, and improved elasticity. These nutrients can smooth out wrinkles and even get rid of blemishes so you can restore a bright glow to your appearance.
While there is no one particular category of food to eat for healthy skin, there are plenty of foods that are good for skin that you can easily incorporate into your everyday diet. Take a look at our top 10 favorites below.
1. Avocado
No summer food list would be complete without avocado. This popular green superfood is packed full of nutrients, healthy fats, oils, and other essential ingredients that can work wonders on your skin. It is no secret that avocado is a major ingredient in a number of skin and hair products, proving its power as a food that can help you in any form.
You can put avocado on toast and add a dash of cayenne pepper to boost your immune system – and to add a burst of flavor. Those with a sweet tooth may even want to turn the avocado into a chocolate truffle which will provide a great source of Vitamin E while providing anti-inflammatory properties to your skin.
2. Melons
Another rich, fruity option for healthy skin is a handful of sliced melon. Whether you prefer watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, or something else, you should pick up a few extras next time you are at the supermarket so you can give yourself a great big boost to your health. Melons are a great hydrating snack that provides moisture as well as tons of vitamins A and C. These two vitamins, in particular, can strengthen your body’s ability to fight against free radicals that cause cell damage and can even lead to the early signs of aging.
Melon is also versatile, making it one of the best foods for healthy skin. You can spoon some tangy, unflavored yogurt on top with granola or add a few thin slices to your next spinach salad. You can even toss a few chunks of watermelon into your next cocktail – we won’t tell!
3. Oranges
Can’t get enough fruit? Thankfully, many types of fruit offer incredible health benefits that not only keep your skin hydrated and smooth but also help you prevent the signs of aging as they start to appear. Notably, vitamin C is an antioxidant that strengthens the immune system, wards off illness, and promotes collagen production, improving the skin’s texture and firmness.
Oranges are rich in vitamin C, making them an excellent choice for those looking to improve their skin health. Oranges are a great fruit to have with breakfast or even to keep with you as a snack when you need something full of (healthy) sugar to keep you feeling energized.
4. Bell Peppers
Fruits are clearly essential to skin health, but what about veggies? Certain vegetables are incredibly rich in the proteins needed to build collagen, smooth out wrinkles, and fight the overall signs of aging for as long as possible. Bell peppers, specifically yellow and red bell peppers, have a large amount of beta carotene, the ingredient that becomes vitamin A. Vitamin A strengthens the skin without toughening it.
Bell peppers are also a great source of vitamin C, just like oranges and other citrus fruits. Although a vegetable, bell peppers can be as sweet, as they are rich in antioxidants and other ingredients that promote good health throughout the body. Bell peppers are also known to reduce the risk of dry and wrinkly skin as a result of age.
5. Broccoli
Broccoli is a very divisive vegetable. While some people love the green, bushy vegetable, others can’t stand it. But if you are one of the lucky ones who enjoys this incredibly healthy piece of produce, then you are in luck because broccoli has tons of minerals and vitamins to support good health. Along with vitamins A and C, broccoli also includes zinc and lutein. Lutein protects your skin against UV radiation, mitigating oxidative stress caused by sun exposure.
As you age, sun damage becomes more prominent. While filling up on healthy foods like broccoli can help protect against the harmful rays of the sun, daily use of sunscreen is still essential. If sun damage has already begun to sink in, it is possible to remove years off of your complexion and restore your youthful qualities with treatments like our IPL Photofacial and Clear and Brilliant®, a revolutionary non-surgical treatment designed to even tone and texture, address pigment and restore your skin’s radiant glow.
6. Soy
Soy may not be the first product you think of when trying to gather healthy foods for your skin, but it can provide some unique benefits that you might not want to miss out on. For example, soy contains isoflavones, which relate to the hormone estrogen. This contributes to the softening of the skin and results in reduced wrinkles, protection against UV radiation, and even a reduction in the risk of developing certain skin cancers.
You can eat soybeans in a raw or cooked form or invest in a number of soy products like milk or ice cream as an accompaniment to your regular dairy products. Over time, soy can moisturize your skin to reduce dryness and rejuvenate the parts of your body that need it most.
7. Sweet Potatoes
One of the most popular vegetables on the planet, sweet potatoes, is packed with nutrients that make this sweet and starchy product an incredibly healthy one. Many edible plants, such as fruits and vegetables, contain the same ingredient called beta carotene that we mentioned earlier. Foods with this ingredient are some of the best foods to eat for healthy skin because it converts directly into vitamin A, giving you more than your minimum daily dose of health.
Sweet potatoes are also unique because they contain carotenoids, which are essentially nature’s version of sunscreen. They can create an invisible barrier over your skin that protects it against UV rays, making it less likely to get permanently damaged due to the sun. However, it is still a good idea to avoid standing in the sun for long periods of time without any protection.
8. Chocolate
Although it’s commonly seen as a dessert, chocolate is a great food to eat for healthy skin, as cocoa can be extremely beneficial overall. Particularly, dark chocolate is the healthiest type of chocolate, as dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants, flavanols, and fiber. Antioxidants fight off disease and strengthen the immune system while keeping the skin smooth and beautiful. Flavanols are a powerful ingredient not found in many products, but when consumed in cocoa, they offer a defensive bolster against cell damage and even cancer.
Dark chocolate is known to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and discoloration over time while protecting it against future damage. In fact, some clients who eat up to 20 grams of dark chocolate a day are able to withstand more of the sun’s UV radiation without suffering any damage.
9. Walnuts
Walnuts and chocolate pair well together, which is why they are right next to each other on this list. But more than that, walnuts are included here because they are an essential part of a skin-conscious diet. Walnuts offer a unique cocktail of minerals and nutrients like protein, omega-3, and omega-6 fatty acids, which are typically not found in fruits or vegetables. These are types of fats that the body cannot produce on its own, making it difficult to fight off inflammation.
Omega-3 fats work to reduce swelling and inflammatory conditions in the skin, such as rashes, hives, or psoriasis. Walnuts are high in this ingredient, along with protein, which keeps you feeling energetic and strong throughout the day. Zinc is another mineral found in walnuts that can fight off infection, heal wounds more quickly, and give your skin a great glow.
10. Green Tea
Food isn’t the only part of your diet. What you drink has a huge impact on your overall health, inside and out. If you are focused on improving the health and appearance of your skin, you might want to stock up on natural green tea leaves. Not only do they provide tons of antioxidants that are easy to consume in drink form, but they also contain catechins that may help strengthen the skin’s tolerance to sun exposure.
Give Your Favorite Foods A Try This Season
Nourishing your skin from the inside out is just one step toward achieving a healthy, radiant glow. For even more ways to enhance and protect your skin, Ideal Image offers personalized consultations to help you discover the best treatments for your unique needs. Whether you are looking to refresh, rejuvenate, or maintain your skin’s natural beauty, our experts are here to guide you. Take the next step in your skincare journey—connect with Ideal Image today!
Try out any of these foods this season, and you will be pleasantly surprised about the smooth results. You will look better, feel better, and be better equipped to handle any other health issue that may appear down the road. Your skin is with you for life, so it is important to make decisions that will benefit it today and in the future. Reach out to Ideal Image today to learn more!
