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Anytime Tips For a Healthy looking skin
 The old adage "you are what you eat" not only applies to our overall health
and nutrition,
but how our skin looks and feels as well. As the largest organ in the body, our
skin can benefit from the same nutrition we get from foods that have a positive
effect on our
heart
and other major organs. In fact, new research suggests that eating foods rich in
protein and certain
vitamins and minerals might provide valuable
anti-aging
effects. Read on...
Eat a well-balanced diet:
To remain healthy, your
skin needs a regular and well-balanced supply of
nutrients. You may not need any supplements, provided you look after your skin
and you are generally healthy. Try to eat at least five portions of fresh
vegetables or fruits every day: this should be quite easy if you have three
pieces of fruit as
deserts or
snacks, plus a salad or vegetable dish with two meals.
Bad skin is not generally caused by any one food, unless it is an
allergic reaction, but
particular foods can aggravate poor skin.
The myth that chocolate, sweets and other fatty and
sugary foods cause spots is
not entirely unfounded: an eating pattern high in these foods and low in fresh,
vegetables and other constituents of a
healthy diet means that your skin is unlikely
to be getting all the nutrients it needs. Women who would rather eat a bar of
chocolate or a bag of crisps than an orange, for example, may lack
vitamin C.
This can make your
immune system less able
to fight infections, including those on the
skin-spots.
In addition, women often eat more chocolate at times when they are feeling down,
whether emotionally, hormonally or physically, which also has a negative effect
on the skin. If you already have spots, a diet that is high in sugar or fat may
make your system even more susceptible to bacterial infections, which may
further aggravate spots and other
skin conditions.
Drink plenty of water:
 In our society, where many of us have central heating and lead active lives,
one of the commonest causes of tired-looking skin is dehydration, both on the
surface and throughout the body. Aim to
re-hydrate your body by drinking two to three litres (four to five pints)
of water a day. This should ideally be taken as plain or lightly flavoured,
unsweetened water and not tea, coffee or other caffeine-containing or sugary
drinks.
Cut down on tea and coffee
Women who drink a lot of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and cola-type drinks are
more likely to have tired-looking skin and to suffer from conditions such as
greasy skin and spots. This is because these drinks contain caffeine, which
prevents your body from making good use of the
vitamins
and
minerals from your food. Try to drink no more than three cups of coffee, tea
or other caffeine containing drinks a day.
Keep your alcohol intake low
Excessive alcohol intakes may lead to skin problems such as
split veins. Try not to drink more than the recommended 21 units a week
(a unit is the equivalent of a glass of wine, a standard measure of spirits or
half a pint of beer, larger or cider of ordinary strength).
Some women have a skin allergy to some alcoholic drinks, which usually
manifests itself as hives. Hives are little itchy red spots that appear under
the surface of the skin and make it feel hot and sensitive; they are sometimes
known as
nettle rash. The most common allergic reaction is to Salicylates,
substances that occur naturally in some foods, such as grapes, banana, beans,
strawberries and other berry fruits. If you get, a rash after eating some of
these foods, beers may affect you in the same way, since they are often high in
Salicylates. Instead, choose wine, gin, vodka or whisky.
Try to give up smoking
Nicotine does not help you keep a
healthy skin. It attacks the blood vessels that
feed the skin with nutrients and oxygen, as well as those that drain away the
waste products from the skin. Your skin therefore becomes poor at ridding itself
of unwanted substances and in severe cases also starts to lack oxygen.
Other substances produced by smoke can
age the skin
greatly and affect the
nail beds
and
hair follicles,
which nestle in the epidermis. If you want to have a youthful, healthy
appearance, try to give up
smoking.
Count on nutrients for gook skin
Vitamins A and
C and the mineral zinc are all strongly linked with good
skin. They are considered part of a
healthy
balanced
diet, and there is usually no need to take them in
supplement form. Both vitamins should be provided from your regular intake
of fresh
fruits and vegetables. Foods rich in
Vitamin A include carrots, spinach, watercress, broccoli, yellow-fleshed
sweet potato and melons such as cantaloupe. Good sources of
Vitamin C are
peppers, green leafy vegetables, strawberries, kiwi fruit, oranges and
grapefruit.
 Zinc is excellent for problem skin. It helps reduce the inflammatory
processes within the body and aids healing. The body is more efficient at
absorbing the
zinc from foods such as beans and other pulses,
shellfish and fish, wholegrain foods, nuts and dairy foods, rather than from
tablets. If you feel your diet does not include some of these foods most days,
you may wish to take a daily 15 mg supplement. Do not exceed this dose as high
zinc levels make your body more susceptible to bacterial and viral infections.
Another nutrient that seems to be perfect "skin food" is
biotin, a member of the vitamin B complex (although it is also known as
vitamin H). It is mainly synthesized by bacteria in your gut, but is also found
in some foods. Women who are on long-term antibiotics, which adversely affect
the bacteria within the gut, or who suffer from any sort of gut mal-absorption
condition such as
Cohn's disease or severe
irritable bowel syndrome, could be rather low in biotin. A deficiency of
this vitamin causes,
dermatitis
(inflammation of the skin),
loss of hair and, in my experience,
brittle
nails.
Biotin-rich foods include eggs, peanut butter, wholegrain foods (especially
oats) and liver. Note ,that raw eggs bind biotin in the gut and therefore will
not help if you are looking to boost your biotin intake.
Warning: Although some
doctors prescribe Vitamin A based creams for
skin complaints such as acne, there is no benefit to be gained from taking
additional vitamin A in the form of a supplement. It is potentially dangerous
to take a Vitamin A in the form of a supplement without the supervision of your
doctor, as it is stored in the liver and an excess can cause severe liver
damage.
Vitamin A supplements taken while a woman is pregnant may lead to birth
defects.
Supplement your diet with
acidophilus and bifidus
I suggest you eat a small pot of 'live' yogurt containing bifidus and
acidophilus bacteria everyday. These will help to rebalance the bacteria in your
gut, and will particularly help those of you who take antibiotics to control
skin problems. I see many women who have been taking antibiotics for anything
from a few weeks to years. In doing so, their bodies suffer from side effects
such as thrush and
irritable bowels. The antibiotics kill the bacteria that exist within the
healthy gut, which under normal circumstances produce anti-inflammatory
substances, anti-cancer
substances, vitamin K and
energy. A good
balance of bacteria needs to be re-established in order to protect the skin
against inflammation and the body against other problems. The yogurt can be
eaten on its own, flavored with chopped or pureed fruit, poured on to fruit or
cereal, or swirled into soup or casseroles.
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