If we are what we eat, then we should be filling our refrigerators with glow-inducing foods. The ultimate food for beautiful skin is also, coincidentally, the ultimate food for your general wellbeing or double goodness.
In our blog below, we've compiled a list of nine foods that make your skin glow with a healthier complexion!
9 Foods That Make Your Skin Glow
1. Passion Fruit
Passion fruit originated in tropical South America, but is now cultivated worldwide. These fruits are purple and yellow with pulpy, seedy flesh. The seeds have phenomenal polyphenols, like piceatannol, which are amazing for the skin.
A single passion fruit provides five milligrams of piceatannol daily, which can help keep the skin hydrated and reduce dry skin, studies show. Polyphenols also increase the elasticity of skin, which can further contribute to good skin health.
2. Almonds
Aside from rosy skin, almonds are an excellent source of alpha-tocopherols, the body’s most abundant form of vitamin E, as well as polyphenols and monounsaturated fats. Our skin oil is packed with vitamin E and it defends cells from damage by locking moisture in.
More than one study found that wrinkles were drastically reduced in women who were postmenopausal and who got about a quarter of their calories from almonds. The women were less hyperpigmented and more evenly pigmented thanks to the almonds’ polyphenols and alpha-tocopherols. Assuming you are eating 2,000 calories each day, ten percent of your daily calories would result in 1.2 ounces of almonds per day.
That sounds pretty much the same as the AHA's recommendation that we get between ten and fifteen percent of our calories from polyunsaturated fat and MUFA.
3. Cacao
Chocolate is incredible and cacao makes the best cocoa, a great way to satisfy your chocolate craving. Cocoa can be found everywhere, and it tastes better, too, with a lot of theobromine and flavanols.
These foods contain a lot of nutrients for glowing skin. A woman who consumed a cacao drink (one cup) of approximately 320 mg of flavanols per day for twenty-four weeks showed a significant increase in skin moisture and firmness. With no increased roughness, wrinkles, or redness.
A different study conducted a similar effect. When women drank a cacao drink, their skin grew thicker and denser. They developed softer and more attractive skin.
4. Green Tea
Since all caffeine isn't created the same, green tea doesn’t leave you feeling the effects of the caffeine kicks. It also offers several skin-friendly flavanols like EGCG.
The consumption of a liter each day for twelve weeks may enhance the texture, hydration, and elasticity of the skin. This dramatic improvement in hydration was all due to the liter or more of water consumed every day, not to mention the 980 mg of EGCG.
The flavanol content varies with the grade and the green tea processing. Usually, it takes about three grams of leaves to make one, eight-ounce cup. The amount of flavonoids in each cup may vary; with some having about five hundred milligrams.
5. Edamame
Edamame is a delicious, vegan, whole-food protein that is filled with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats and isoflavones. A cup of edamame beans gives eighteen grams of protein, labeling it a filling superfood.
Those little green contraptions are great for your skin. Their isoflavones stimulate the elasticity and moisture of the skin. Scientists have documented that isoflavones reduce the appearance of wrinkles and promote elasticity in women’s cheeks for twelve weeks.
Additionally, Isoflavones delay the destruction of collagen that contributes to slender, wrinkle-free skin.
6. Kale
Kale is one of the most nutrient-rich foods on Earth. With its carotenoids, vitamin C, and glucoraphanin it can lower inflammation and oxidative stress. Kale is also an anti-inflammatory super green for your skin.
In one experiment, collagen and elastin were significantly enhanced when mid-aged women consumed a carotenoid-laden extract of curly kale. The researchers even compared kale to olive oil, and discovered kale delivered better collagen and elastin levels after ten months compared with olive oil. This transformed the vegetable into a green dynamic!
7. Tomatoes
Tomatoes are also a Mediterranean staple that will allow you to make your skin look radiant as if you were stowed away on a yacht. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a powerful skin-protecting carotenoid. Since the skin is the most rich in lycopene (when compared with other tissues in the body), eating a tomato can replenish the lycopene.
Researchers have also discovered that cooked, tinned tomatoes stimulate collagen production and suppress the appearance of erythema, a pale-looking inflammation of the skin. Tomatoes also have vitamin C, which creates collagen.
8. Goji Berries
If you’ve never tried the ancient Chinese goji berry, it’s one fruit you need to eat. Its little ruby-red berries are full of antioxidants, beta-carotene, and other carotenoids, vitamin A and C. Chinese women have been eating goji berries for over 4,000 years because of its antioxidants and carotenoids. These make the berries fight inflammation, oxidative damage, and aging.
Additionally, Vitamin C makes collagen and elastin increases so that your skin stays elastic. These antioxidants, carotenoids, and beta-carotene of goji berries protect the skin from the sun and lighten the skin to prevent and reverse skin pigmentation.
9. Mango
Go to the beach with this sweet treat, rich in vitamin C and carotenoids like beta-carotene for perfect skin. Just 1-1/2 cup of mango contains one hundred and forty-three percent of your daily vitamin C and sixteen percent of your daily beta-carotene.
Postmenopausal women who ate a portion of mango four times a week for sixteen weeks were surprisingly less wrinkled. However, portions do matter. Overeating will increase your blood sugar, and sugar can make your face look puffy.
Don’t overdo it because half a cup of mango is more than enough to get supple skin.
Foods that Make Your Skin Glow: What Foods Not to Eat for Skin Health
Alternatively, some foods appear to be connected with skin damage. For example, studies suggest that diets high in processed or refined sugars, refined carbohydrates, and bad fats lead to skin aging and acne. Additionally, high alcohol consumption can further worsen these symptoms and create other skin problems.
It's essential to eat a good and varied diet in general with fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grain breads, with not very much processed sugar. Trust us, you’ll be glad you did!
How Does What We Eat Impact Our Skin?
As we grow older, our skin’s power to protect our secrets diminishes. It’s no longer possible to munch your way through caffeine, salted snack foods, and naughty treats without damaging your skin. If we’re not getting healthy foods and water, it oozes out of our skin.
Shine and gleam give way to dull, scaly and melancholy skin, none of which are good adjectives. We all know it is difficult to follow a balanced, nutritious diet when you have a busy life. Getting lists out before heading to the store and preparing meals ahead of time are both great ways to ensure your body is getting exactly what it needs.
Generally speaking, eating a balanced diet consisting of diverse foods from each major food group (and drinking enough water) daily will ensure your body has all the nutrients it needs to survive, thrive, and glow. Most foods have skin-sustaining ingredients in them.
These include antioxidants and phytonutrients, as well as protein and healthy fats. When eaten in sufficient amounts, these contribute to the skin’s appearance.
Foods That Make Your Skin Glow: FAQ
1. What vitamin is good for the skin?
Vitamins A, C and E are your skin’s key nutrients. Vitamin A regulates cell turnover, vitamin C builds collagen and vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant that will give you beautiful, healthy skin.
2. What is the fruit that makes your skin glowing?
Berries, citrus, and watermelon are all said to leave you with radiant skin. They contain antioxidants, vitamins, and moisture which will make them your ultimate go-to foods for radiant skin.
3. What foods should I avoid to have healthy skin?
Skin may be benefited by limiting processed foods, snacks, and dairy. These products can also cause bruising and acne, which affects the texture of your skin.
4. How quickly does diet alter my skin?
It depends on individual, but some might notice the change in the skin color after just a few weeks on a balanced diet.
5. Do these skin-friendly foods work for all skin types?
Indeed, the vast majority of skin-friendly foods listed can be consumed by everyone. But if you have certain allergies, you’ll need to make some changes to your diet to keep your skin healthy.
6. Apart from eating, what else can impact skin health?
Hydration, good sleep, exercise and sunblock are some of the main lifestyle variables that affect the skin. Using a whole-body approach and including these habits with a healthy diet helps in promoting optimal skin health.
