There’s no better way to say it: beautiful skin comes from within. Your digestive system and liver have a direct influence on how your skin looks. Here are the best foods to combat dry skin.
Food and Healthy Skin
Did you know that the food you eat can either harm or repair your skin? If we want to dedicate every day to looking and feeling great, that means making sure our food choices are working for us, not against us. We can use food to hydrate our skin. Healthy foods like fruit and vegetables provide our bodies with antioxidants and vitamins, which help with natural collagen production.
Foods that Boost Collagen Production
Collagen injections are a popular way to fight wrinkles these days, but collagen can also be found in what we eat. Collagen helps to rid you of saggy skin and wrinkles, and certain foods contain collagen-boosting properties. The protein found in bone broth, meat, fish, dairy, and eggs help the body to make that important structural protein your skin requires to stay looking young and healthy.
Hydrating Foods for Skin
When your skin is dehydrated and compromised, the moisture escapes. Skin becomes dry and irritated when it is dehydrated. Drinking water helps to boost your beauty and keep your skin hydrated. Water-dense foods do the same thing for your skin, so don’t forget to hydrate!
What to Eat for Dry Skin
Snack on fresh fruit and raw vegetables throughout the day, while sipping water, and you are one step closer to hydrated and healthy-looking skin.
Ideal Foods for Dry Skin
- Watermelon
- Peaches
- Cucumbers
- Plums
- Celery
- Peppers
- Lettuce
Vitamin-Rich Food for Healthier-Looking Skin
Leafy greens and raw cacao are packed full of vitamins and antioxidants that promote blood flow and cellular healing. That is exactly what your skin needs to produce a youthful glow.
How to Prepare Hydrating Food
The best way to prepare food that hydrates your skin is to leave it alone. That means the best way to eat fruits and vegetables is in their raw form. By eating raw fruits and vegetables, you ensure that you get a higher vitamin and water content. When vegetables are boiled, the vitamins are boiled out with them, and much of the water content is lost. You want to try to keep all of the water in as you can. Steam your veggies instead.
Steaming Vegetables
When you steam vegetables, they not only taste better, but you keep those vitamin-packed nutrients in. Steaming vegetables is also quicker than boiling them.
Dehydrating Foods
Fast food and deep-fried foods are not good for any part of your body—including your skin. Fried food affects blood pressure, clogs arteries, and dries out your skin. Try using an air fryer to eliminate unnecessary oils and skin-damaging chemicals while still getting the full flavor.
Foods to Avoid
There are certain foods to avoid that work against your body and dry out or negatively affect your skin.
Refined Carbs
Refined carbs increase oil and clog your pores, making for uneven and unhealthy skin. The processed sugar in refined carbs actually ages your skin, breaking down collagen molecules.
Dairy
Dairy is a pro-inflammatory food that aggravates rashes and eczema by interfering with your body’s hormones. If you have skin flare-ups, dairy may be a trigger.
Wheat
The wheat we eat nowadays is nothing like the natural wheat that was harvested in years past. Nowadays, wheat is genetically modified and higher in gluten and phytic acid, which are hard for our bodies to digest.
Alcohol
You may not want to hear it, but alcohol dries out our skin. Alcohol contains high levels of sugar, which deplete collagen. We know how important collagen is, so try to limit or replace alcohol with healthier options.
Processed Meat
Most processed meats contain a lot of salt, which makes our skin both puffy and dehydrated. Sodium nitrate breaks down collagen and actually causes premature ageing. Let’s not go there!
Replacements for the Foods that Dry Out Your Skin
Most of us have some guilty pleasures when it comes to food, and it is hard to fight them. I have a sweet tooth, and I just love baked goods, but I know it is not good for me or my skin. Thankfully, there are alternatives to the unhealthy, skin-damaging foods we love. Replacements make for a simple yet manageable change to your regular diet.
Replacing Refined Sugar
Replace refined sugar, to support skin health, with raw honey or natural sweeteners. Maple syrup, coconut nectar, and green leaf stevia are replacement options that lead to healthier and more hydrated skin.
Replacing Dairy
Unsweetened nut milk and soy milk are potential replacements that nourish your body and skin.
Replacing Wheat
Replace genetically modified wheat with wheat-free grain. Spelt, brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, Kamut, and buckwheat are all wheat-free options. These options are easier to digest and better for your overall skin and body health.
Replacing Alcohol
Now, this one is hard. Really, there is no close replacement to alcohol; however, there are some options that seem close, such as kombucha or even coconut water. These replacement options leave you feeling like you are still indulging while making your skin healthy and beautiful.
Replacing Processed Meats
Organic, grass-fed meat is a much healthier option and contains Omega 3, helping to hydrate skin and keep irritants out.
Take Care
We all want to look beautiful and youthful, and you can accomplish that not only by using over-the-counter products but by simply making better food choices. Processed foods and food that the body has difficulty digesting should be avoided if you want your skin to stay hydrated. Make good choices for your overall well-being and pick water-dense and vitamin-enriched foods to give you that beautiful glow.
