From the publishers of the Official Skin Care Guide…

Welcome to Part 2 of our 5-part Healthy Skin Diet article series. In Part 1, we gave you a general introduction to the importance of following a diet that’s conducive to healthy skin care. In this part, we’ll begin to look at specific skin care diet tips that you can use for healthy, beautiful skin.

When eating fruits and vegetables, you want to eat the whole food when the skin is edible. We tend just to eat the fleshy part of fruits and vegetables, which causes us to miss out on the important nutrients the skins have to offer as well. Silica, which is found in plant based foods, helps keep our skin elastic and in good complexion. We often miss the silica intake due to throwing away the skin peels.


Also, depending on the soil in which it was grown, we want to eat Selenium foods as well. It has been shown that, with high levels of selenium intake, damage from the sun is less likely, and the cells stay healthier than without it. Brazilian nuts, fish, shellfish, red meat, grains, eggs, and chicken are also good sources of selenium.


Anthocyanins is another vitamin found in foods that has antioxidant properties. This helps reduce signs of aging and skin cancer. Anthocyanins are the pigments found in blue, purple, and red fruits such as in berries, pomegranates, grapes, and plums.


Also, you want to go for healthy fats. They are very important for the skin as well as overall health. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) help keep cell membranes healthy. By consuming EFAs, moisture is retained in the cell. The more moisture that is contained within the cell because of a healthy membrane, the more plump and youthful our skin looks. It is suggested to make sure you are getting enough Omega-3 in your food consumption. You should eat one portion of fatty fish a week and also include things like oil or walnuts to your diet for good skin upkeep.


Lean protein sources are advisable and you should control the amount of protein you take from 10 to 35 grams a day unless for specific regimens (for example, if you’re very athletic, you’ll likely need a higher protein intake). Lisa Drayer MA,RD, author of The Beautiful Diet says “when protein intake is high it causes water loss from the body due to the process of the body and protein metabolism.” So she says to hydrate the body for healthy skin.


Preferably, you want to drink at least 8 cups of water a day. It is suggested to include green tea in your liquid intake. In a 2004 study that was published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, it was suggested that the polyphenols in green tea, especially EGCG (the main antioxidant), may help prevent UVB skin damage. It further suggests that to get the optimum benefits of green tea you want to consume 2 to 4 cups daily.


Another tip is that in order to maintain our bacterial flora in our intestines it is recommended that we consume low fat dairy sources with pro biotic bacteria. For example, yogurt contains the good bacteria acidophilus we need for our intestinal tract and our skins.


That concludes Part 2 of our Healty Skin Diet article series. In Part 3 of this series, we’ll look at more of the top foods that help keep our skin looking young and healthy.

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