Glowing skin. It’s something a host of beauty products promise. A sunless tanning crème for the spring and summer. Moisturizers with retinol and collagen-boosting ingredients. While these ointments can help you get glowing skin, it also depends on what you eat.
Your skin’s appearance can be impacted by inflammation inside your body. Also known as systemic inflammation, it’s your body’s protective response to everything from environmental toxins to processed foods. When systemic inflammation becomes chronic, it can lead to adverse effects, including conditions such as pancreatitis and high blood pressure. Your skin can also be negatively impacted by acne flare-ups and itchiness.
Small changes in your eating habits help calm and prevent inflammation within, eventually showing up on the outside as glowing skin. While you don’t have to adopt a completely different diet, you may find that the small changes lead to something more. You could, for instance, decide to ditch all sweets except dark chocolate. Sound inviting? Let’s explore those small eating shifts you can start making now.
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Eat More Antioxidants
Antioxidants are prevalent in foods such as berries, certain nuts, and vegetables. What antioxidants do is help your body defend against free radicals, also known as oxidants. Free radicals can damage your cells, including DNA. Too much damage causes premature aging, which can show up on your skin as wrinkles and age spots.
UV light from the sun and tanning beds is one source that can increase the damage from free radicals in your body. Eating more antioxidants, which are considered some of the best anti-inflammatory foods, stops this damage before it takes hold. Antioxidants essentially cancel out free radicals.
It’s like what happens when you have a positive and a negative. They each neutralize the other. Adding fresh blueberries to your cereal or yogurt and swapping iceberg lettuce for spinach in a salad are examples of tiny changes. Instead of snacking on popcorn, you can reach for a handful of almonds. These are foods high in antioxidants with anti-inflammatory benefits for your skin.
Add Collagen-Boosting Foods
Collagen is what plumps up your skin and keeps it looking youthful. While your skin naturally produces collagen, the amount declines with age. Collagen is also behind the formation of scar tissue from moderate to severe acne, burns, and other wounds. A scar forms because the skin uses collagen to grow replacement tissue to close the wound, including any gaps the injury caused.
There are certain types of scars, such as depressed or sunken scars, that increased collagen can help reduce the appearance of. Increased collagen also helps smooth fine lines and reduce wrinkles. Certain skincare treatments, such as retinol and fillers, encourage the skin to ramp up collagen production.
But you can do the same by eating more collagen-rich foods. Instead of encouraging production from the outside with a substance, you’re doing it from within. Foods like bone broth, egg whites, and citrus fruits are ways to add collagen-boosting items to your diet. Chicken and salmon are other examples, while avocados and beans support collagen synthesis.
Hydrate More
Did you know oily skin tends to age differently from normal and dry skin? Oily skin can have 67% less visible severe wrinkling than dry skin. It doesn’t mean having oily skin will prevent you from showing any signs of aging, as other factors like cumulative sun exposure and tobacco use can come into play. However, oily skin tends to age more slowly because excess sebum provides moisture.
Whether you have oily skin or a different skin type, increasing your water intake can improve your glow from within. Getting enough hydration helps prevent premature aging, including extra fine lines and wrinkles. Proper hydration also aids in skin repair and reduces inflammation. You may have noticed you feel better when you drink a glass of water after a sugar-laden dessert.
To get more water, you can stick to the basics. Swap out caffeinated beverages for plain bottled or tap water. But if you want to mix it up, throw in green tea and water-rich fruits like watermelon. Replacing your go-to snack with a bowl of watermelon doesn’t take much effort. As you start to switch out other beverages for hydrating ones, you may notice your skin has an easier time staying clear.
Limit Dairy If You’re Sensitive
Dairy foods aren’t inherently bad for you. Foods like yogurt, cheese, and milk can be good ways to get B12, calcium, or protein. If you’re a vegetarian, dairy products may be your main source of these nutrients. Nonetheless, dairy products can cause inflammatory reactions in sensitive individuals.
If you’re lactose intolerant or have a food sensitivity to dairy products, you’ll want to choose lactose-free versions. In addition, dairy has been linked to acne flare-ups. Skim milk and products with skim milk tend to be more of a culprit than whole or 2%.
Nonetheless, if you already have acne-prone skin, it’s better to limit how much dairy you consume in a day. You can try the recommended two to three servings, but you may notice skin benefits from reducing those servings to one or less. Don’t worry, there are other ways to get your protein, B12, and calcium. Plant-based dairy alternatives have started to add B12. Plus, there are supplements and veggies with calcium and protein.
Improving Your Skin From the Inside Out
Yes, what you eat (and don’t) matters to your skin. It’s the largest organ in your body, after all. Not to mention, it’s the most visible one. Improving your skin’s glow involves more than applying ointments and anti-aging moisturizers. These help, but often, a more effective approach is to change your skin from the inside out.
Small dietary changes, such as increasing your intake of antioxidants and collagen-boosting foods, support your skin’s health. Increased hydration and the limitation of irritating or inflammatory foods do the same. With these incremental, but doable changes, there will be a noticeable difference in your skin’s vigor and appearance.