Is Poor Nutrition Damaging Your Skin?

Your skin makes a strong first impression. So are you doing the things necessary to keep it healthy? Of course, the things you put on your skin can be good or bad for it, but so can the things you put in your mouth.

Diet and Skin

Studies have long linked the foods we eat to skin health. In fact, there is a link between acne in teens who consume fat-free milk. Another study shows a link between prenatal probiotic supplementation and eczema in infants — the mothers who took the supplement saw healthier skin in their babies. Low glycemic diets are tied to decreased skin problems like boils, psoriasis, acne, and eczema. One more important finding is that a diet low in fat is associated with less precancerous skin conditions.

Best Foods for Healthy Skin

Foods packed with healthy fats are especially beneficial for the skin. So are certain fruits and veggies. Foods that are great for the skin include:

• Fatty fish like salmon, herring, and mackerel
• Avocado
• Nuts and seeds, especially walnuts and sunflower seeds
• Broccoli, red and yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, red grapes, and sweet potatoes
• Dark chocolate (which is high in antioxidants)
• Green tea

Nourish from the Outside

Good nutrition and healthy skin are definitely linked, but the food you eat is not the only way to feed the skin. For optimum skin health, we need to target the skin directly and give it the moisture and nutrients it needs. Topical products that nourish the skin may contain antioxidants, redox signaling molecules, moisturizers, vitamins and minerals, anti-inflammatories, and barriers that protect the skin. But with thousands of skin products on the market, it’s difficult to know which products will truly make a difference.

Everyone is unique, and so is their skin. People with certain skin conditions, like eczema, need to choose products that moisturize well to prevent flare-ups. Acne-prone skin needs daily cleansing and acne-friendly moisturizers. Aging skin with fine lines and sun damage benefits greatly from products that contain redox signaling molecules and antioxidants, as these products target healing at the cellular level.

No matter your skin type, if you start taking proactive steps today to benefit your skin, you will begin to see results that will last the rest of your life. You are worth the time, effort, and cost of being healthy. Feeling good on the inside as well as the outside is priceless.