A Nutritional Expert’s Top 5 Ingredients to Keep Your Skin Alive This Silly Season

Battling an increase of alcohol, sugary foods and time spent in the sun can wreck havoc on our skin. Here are the top 5 ingredients to incorporate into your diet to keep skin healthy and fresh.

Silly season means a lot of things: long lunches, one too many rosés, beach days, BBQs, the list could really go on.

However, a lot of these fun activities include alcohol, UV rays and dehydration from hot summer days.

Cate  Lilja
Cate is passionate about Natural Health, and her ingestible beauty brand Optima Nutricosmetics works to nourish your gut and feed your skin

Cate Lilja, nutritional, herbal, and complementary medicine scientist and co-founder of Optima Nutricosmetics explains how these activities can interfere with our skin and which ingredients to adopt to save our skin this summer.

Pre and probiotics

With so many parties and social affairs we often indulge in far more ‘occasional’ foods (e.g desserts high in sugar, high fat foods and salt laden party snacks), and alcohol, than we would usually eat, which take its toll on your digestion and microbiome. .

This has knock on effects to our skin – which can include congestion, dull skin and sensitivity. To help combat this, try consuming plenty of prebiotic and probiotic foods to feed your microbiome and support the growth of good bacteria. Doing so can help keep your digestion functioning optimally and support your skin.

Optima Nutricosmetics
Optima Nutricosmetics Complete Skin Food Elixir is everything you need for a happy, healthy gut

If you’re looking for something you can consume on the run, try a pre and probiotic supplement such as Optima Nutricosmetics Complete Skin Food Elixir.

Vitamin C

All of these late nights, cocktails and dietary choices can also have an impact on our immune health, which when depleted can lead to skin sensitivity and inflammation.

Support your immune health with plenty of plant-based nutrients – especially vitamin C and B. For this think citrus fruits and dark leafy greens.

Hydrate with collagen

Getting out in the sun for those Sunday afternoon BBQs can leave you, and your skin feeling dehydrated.

Keep hydration levels up with plenty of water and better yet, boost it with marine collagen, this has been proven to not only hold water in your skin, but also enhance skin elasticity and reduce wrinkle volume.

Antioxidants

It’s fair to say that all these festivities can leave our systems feeling stressed and out of sorts.

Waking up to bad hair and dark circles under your eyes is never a good way to start the day. Glow from the inside out with foods that are rich in antioxidants like blueberries, dark chocolate kale, plums and tomatoes.

blueberries and dark chocolate
Blueberries and dark chocolate are great skin foods packed full of antioxidants

Herbal Hydration

Dehydration is a result of too much water out and not enough in. When we’re in the sun our body naturally sweats to keep the body cool, however we need to replenish to prevent against dehydration.

Thirst is often an early warning sign, which means having a water bottle available at all times will help protect your skin as well as your body.

While water may not be as enticing as a carbonated sweet beverage at the beach or a champagne at a lunch, try adding citrus fruits and herbs such as mint and tarragon to enhance the taste of your water and promote consumption.   

Zoe Bradbury

Zoe is a self-confessed health and fitness fanatic. She loves working out and being active, almost as much as she loves going out for brunch and eating avo toast. If she’s not in the gym, you’ll usually find her online shopping, buying something she definitely does not need, or updating her Pinterest board with travel and adventure ideas for the future. Her other loves include dark chocolate, coffee and cats, all enjoyed while watching bad (or really good?) reality TV

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