What is Skin Nutrition?

Skin Nutrition

Our skin is a powerful indicator of health. Wrinkles, dry or oil skin, acne and inflammation all indicate poor internal health. This is often caused by eating unhealthy foods and not eating skin healthy nutrients.

So what do people do?

They use tropical cosmetics including lotions, soaps, scrubs, toners and creams. By doing so they are just addressing the outer skin problems, what about the inside of the skin i.e. the root cause which is poor nutrition and exposure to toxins in dietary and personal care products.

Dr Georgina Donadio, the founder of the National Institute of Whole Health said our skin is the fingerprint of what goes on inside our body and all skin conditions from psoriasis to acne to aging are symptoms of our body's internal nutritional needs.

Research indicates that skin reacts well to certain vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that nourish the skin, giving it a healthy and youthful look. The following are nutrients that you can take for a healthy and young looking skin.

Silica

Silica is important for healthy skin and is a trace mineral that will strengthen the body’s connective tissues-muscles, tendons, hair, ligament, nails, cartilage and bone. Lack of proper silica will reduce skin elasticity and hampers the body’s ability to heal wounds. You can find silica in leeks, green beans, garbano beans, strawberries, cucmber, mango, clery, asparagus and rhubarb.

Zinc

Zinc is an important part of a healthy skin especially for people suffering from acne. Zinc control the production of oil in the skin and could help rein the hormones that create acne. In fact acne is a symptom of zinc deficiency. For the immune system to function properly, you need zinc. Prostate cancer can be reduced if you consume zinc more. You can find zinc in oysters, lean meat and poultry

EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids)

If you have dry skin, prone to inflammation and have a lot of whitehead s and blackheads, it may be because you are lacking the required fatty acids. Fatty acids are nutrients that are important for producing the skin’s oil barier.Without proper EFAs, you skin can become too oily.

• EFAs maintains moisture content, skin repair and overall flexibility. Since the body can’t make its own EFAs, you need to eat certain foods which have fatty acids. Two of the key EFAs are omega-3 and omega-6. The American diet is full of omega-6 fatty acids, which can be found in baked goods, grains. Omega-3 is lacking. Cold water fish like salmon, mackerel as well as flaxseeds and safflower oil have omega-3 fatty acids. There is a need for a balance of both Omega-3 and omega-6. By maintaining that balance you will have a younger looking and healthy skin. You can find EFAs in supplements like fish oil capsules, primrose oil etc.

Selenium

It is believed that Selenium plays an important role in preventing skin cancer. This antioxidant mineral will protect skin from sun damage. You can find selenium in wheat germ, seafood like tuna, salmon, garlic, Brazil nuts, eggs, brown rice etc.

According to the studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association (1996), Researchers found that skin cancer patients who consume 200 mg of selenium daily had:

• 37% less malignancies

• 50% less risk of death fro skin cancer

• 17% decrease in overall mortality

Vitamins A, C

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is important for skin tissue maintenance and repair. Lack of proper vitamin A can give you a dry and flaky skin. Studies have shown that when creams containing vitamins are used, people have fewer lines and wrinkles, little acne and some relief from psoriasis.

Sources of Vitamin A are fruits and vegetables like carrots, chili peppers, apricots, kale, sweet potatoes, spinach and cantaloupe are some. It is healthier to consume vitamins directly from food sources rather then supplements.

Vitamin C

Recent discoveries have concluded that vitamin have great power to counter the effects of sun exposure. According to the Journal of Investigative Dermatology(Feb 2005), people consuming vitamins C and E in the long term have less sunburn from exposure to UVB radiation.

Vitamin C

helps to reduce free radical damage, which has been caused by overexposure to the sun or pollution. Free radicals consume collagen and elastin-the fibers support skin structure. Foods that have high content of vitamin C are green bell peppers, guava, turnips, broccoli etc. By eating such foods, loss of vitamin can be replaced through the skin.