The skin, being the largest organ of the body, is believed to be one of the factors that determine a person’s beauty. Since it an also be a reflection of a person’s underlying health, it is a must that people take care of it by keeping it well-hydrated, away from harmful UV rays, and by supplying it with nutrients though a religious skin care regimen.
Maintaining Beautiful Skin By Eating Healthy
Aside from having and maintaining good skin care regimen and habits, one of the factors that greatly affect the health of the skin is food. Since the nutrients from a wide variety of foods are ready to be absorbed by the body, it is a must that people are very particular about the type of foods their bodies need.
For healthy skin, experts agree that people should load up on blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, currants, purple grapes, pumpkin, carrots, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes because these are rich in antioxidants that protect cell damage.
Skin experts say that major antioxidants such as vitamin A, C, and E can indeed help decrease damage brought by the harmful rays of the sun. These vitamins can also help in the reduction of possible damages brought by certain factors in the environment. Studies shoe that Vitamin A is quiet essential for healthy blood and skin condition. The major sources of vitamin A are vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and green leafy veggies like spinach. Fruits such as cantaloupe, mangoes, and tomatoes are also major sources of vitamin A.
Vitamin C is also good for the skin. Aside from boosting your immune system against minor and major illnesses; Vitamin C is also a known potent topical antioxidant in its active form. Vitamin-C rich foods include fruits, fruit juices, and vegetables such as orange juice and grapefruit juice, slices of papayas, strawberries, and kiwis as well as red and green peppers, broccoli, and cauliflower. Vitamin E also plays a significant role because it serves as a skin conditioner. Major Vitamin-E food sources include vegetables like spinach and asparagus, vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, and olives.
Smart fats or unsaturated fats like omega-3 fatty acids are good for the skin and heart as well. Omega-3s that can be found from fatty fish can help protect your body against severe sun damage and various heart diseases. Aside from fatty fish, major sources of omega-3s are ground flaxseed, walnuts, and eggs. Other sources of monounsaturated or unsaturated fats are olive oil, canola oil, almond oil, hazelnut oil, avocados, olives, almonds, and hazelnuts.
Since stress also contributes to the person’s overall beauty and health, experts also recommend healthy foods such as beans, green beans, sugar snap peas, green peas, and chickpeas to stress reduction as well as lean proteins such as turkey and skinless chicken breast are best to boost the immune system. And for superior protection for skin care against the harmful rays of the sun, lots of tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit are recommended.