Nourish your skin with nutrition
Your skin is your largest organ but it’s also the part of your body that has the most contact with the outside world.
It works round the clock each day to protect your body from water loss and provide a barrier against external factors like sunlight and chemical pollution.
As a result it constantly needs to repair itself and build new cells quickly.
Processes that age and damages skin?
Skin aging is caused by a combination of these external exposures (toxins, sunlight, and infections) accumulating over the years and internal changes like your hormone levels.
As you age three processes accelerate the deterioration of your skin these are:
1. Oxidation: this is when your cells are damaged by the production of reactive compounds commonly referred to as free radicals. The presence of antioxidants reduces this damage.
2. Inflammation: this is when your immune system kicks into action, in small amounts it’s perfectly healthy, if it gets out of control it’s associated with ageing and tissue damage.
3. Glycation: this is a process that occurs when sugar molecules interact with the proteins structure that make up your skin tissues alters your skins integrity and firmness.
What your skin needs
When looking to improve your skin health it’s natural to think of creams and topical treatments as the best option, however, your diet is one the main ways your skin obtains the nutrients it needs to renew cells and protect them from damage.
Your nutrition can have a modifying effect on the degenerative forces that lead to skin aging by including
Adequate nutrients especially vitamin A, zinc and antioxidants
Essential fatty acids omega 3:6 to help regulate inflammation
Macronutrients that help blood sugar control, high blood sugars levels causes glycation and actively damages tissues
Skin health hijackers
Whilst your diet can nourish your skin, certain nutrition and lifestyle habits can also radically age and damage your skin, these include:
Excess sugar intake
Deep fried and burnt food
Junk food consumption
Smoking
Alcohol
Sun damage
Studies show frequency and length of exposure is relevant too, especially with tobacco and alcohol.
Smoking thickens your skin, causes pigmentation and can accelerate cell death, whilst alcohol destroys the skins barrier function and alters the balance of skin oils which can drive up skin inflammation.
Skin nutrition essentials
1. Stay hydrated
Studies show consuming around 2 litres of water per day promotes both superficial and deep hydration of the skin. Consuming plenty of fruits, vegetables (especially in the form of soups and smoothies) and herbal teas can also contribute towards hydration.
2. Limit processed and baked and burnt foods
Avoid excessively high blood sugar levels as this accelerates the ‘glycation’ process associated with skin aging.
3. Turn down cooking temperatures
Another source of glycation in your diet is via the consumption of charred, deep fried or baked foods. These contain advanced glycation end products, conveniently referred to as dietary AGE’s, which speeds up ageing processes in the body.
If using oils for cooking, stick at a lower temperature and use olive oil which is high in antioxidants. Water based cooking methods like steaming, slow cooking, stewing and boiling have significantly less AGE’s. Whereas dry heat methods such as grilling, roasting, barbecuing and frying can increase AGE levels by 10 to 100 times.
4. Add some anti-ageing ingredients
Adding plenty of herbs, spices and vegetables to meals can neutralise AGE’s.
Specific ingredients like cinnamon, garlic, rosemary, and tomato puree are especially beneficial at reducing AGEs.
Keep your inflammation levels balanced by consuming anti-inflammatory foods, like omega 3 fatty acids (from oily fish, algae and walnuts), turmeric, chilli and ginger.
Flaxseed is especially beneficial as it provides omega 3 fats and lignans (a type of fibre) which can bind to excess hormones and support elimination from the body which can also improve skin health.
5. Pack in protein and minerals
Skin cells are renewed every 28 days, your daily diet needs to provide all the nutrients necessary to rebuild your skin’s structure.
Dietary protein provides the building blocks of your skin known as amino acids. Vitamins and minerals act as co-factors supporting skin cells to replicate and perform any repair processes, zinc and copper are particularly important.
Conveniently zinc is found in protein rich foods like meat, fish, seafood, poultry, eggs and dairy.
Copper also stabilises skin proteins and studies also show it improves skin elasticity, reducing fine lines and wrinkles. Dark chocolate, mushrooms, liver, spinach and nuts are good sources.
6. Load up on antioxidants
The top layer of your skin, known as the epidermis, is packed with antioxidants like vitamin A, vitamin E, carotenoids and vitamin C to protect against sunlight, pollution and inflammatory infections.1
Consuming a rainbow of fruits and vegetables across your week along with olive oil, herbs, nuts, seeds and dairy foods provides a great assortment of antioxidants needed to keep your skin youthful.
The mineral selenium also plays a vital role in your antioxidants system and is important for skin protection, a lack of selenium can cause skin to become more sensitive to sun damage from UV rays. It’s found in seafood, fish, turkey and Brazil nuts
Increasing dietary polyphenols (a type of antioxidant) is a super convenient step that also offers brilliant benefits by protecting your cells and improving the balance of bacteria on your skin and in your gut.
Herbs and olive oil are all worthy of mention as these provide high amounts.
7. Consume more collagen
Collagen is an integral part of your skins structure and helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines, however levels decline as hormones like estragon decrease.
Dietary collagen can be sourced from animal or fish skin, bones and other tissues.
Both collagen and protein together can relieve skin aging by supporting your skin cells own production of collagen. Consuming more collagen may also increase levels of hyaluronic acid which helps to lubricate skin, relieving dryness.
Eating salmon, sardines and anchovies with their bones and skin is an easy way to increase your collagen consumption. You can also incorporate into your meals by using fish, beef or chicken stock prepared using leftover bones.
You can also supplement with collagen in hydrolysed form (bovine or marine) to get a bigger, more convenient dose.
For more information on collagen, check out Collagen: all you need to know
Easy skin food swaps
Here’s some simple swaps that can help you get some skin food into your daily menu:
Swap a croissant for eggs, salmon and avocado
Swap toast for a protein smoothie with almond butter, blueberries, cinnamon and collagen
Swap your regular brew to green tea
Swap milk chocolate to dark chocolate (>70% cocoa)
Swap sugary snacks for natural yogurt topped with berries, nuts and cinnamon
Swap biscuits for oatcakes topped with almond butter and sprinkle of sunflower seeds
Swap cereal for oats with stewed apple, almonds and ground flaxseeds
Swap your sandwich for a chicken, avocado, red pepper and sweet potato salad
Swap a plant based ready meals for homemade dhal with pan fried tofu
Swap fast food for homemade burgers with roasted vegetables and oven baked sweet potato wedges
Swap ready meals for a prawn or tofu stir fry
Swap your Indian takeaway for a homemade chickpea and spinach curry
Work with me
If you like a personalised nutrition plan to help resolve any issues or improve the appearance of your skin, book a free 15 minute consultation call to discuss how we could work together.
