Eat these foods and look better – yes, it’s true. Super foods for a super face
Forget expensive face creams, eating the right food like these super foods can give you better skin. From grass-fed beef to pomegranate, we tell you what to eat to look great.
Coconut Oil
Coconut is certainly the food of the moment, and the oil helps keep skin smooth and lifted. Coconut oil has natural anti-fungal properties that help balance skin. Great if your skin is dehydrated or needs a pep-up.
Eat as a snack, pop in salad dressing or use to cook in as an alternative to olive oil.
Almond Milk
Dairy is highly inflammatory, so can aggravate acne, wrinkles, and even cause skin problems. Almond milk is rich in fatty acids and also makes you feel full. An excellent alternative to dairy, and full of skin smoothing, anti-oxidant rich oils.
Try it in your daily coffee or tea to adjust to the taste.
Grass Fed Beef
Grass fed beef contains a higher ratio of Omega 3-6 acids than regular beef, to reduce inflammation and flood skin with moisture. Packed with protein, the best grass-fed beef is the leanest, so choose cuts with less fat. Carnivore Style has a long list of places where you can get grass fed beef. Protein is the building block of collagen and elastin tissue.
Protein is the building block of collagen and elastin tissue. A steak dinner or lunch is an obvious choice or try strips of beef on a salad or in a sandwich.
Kiwi Fruit
If you eat a medium sized kiwi, you will be taking in 120% if your daily vitamin C intake, a key ingredient for smooth, glowing skin. Vitamin c helps reduce dehydration, stimulate cells and inturn give you less wrinkles.
On it’s own kiwi is clean and fresh, or try it on a cracker with cream cheese.
Rosemary & Other Herbs
Nutritionists are saying eating four herbs regularly significantly reduces the skin’s risk of melanoma. A startingly study by the International Journal of Epidemiology claimed consuming herbs can reduce the risk up to 60%.
Herbs can be mixed into almost any meal from casseroles to sandwiches, salads and soups.
Pomegranate
The seeds of this exotic fruit are full of punicic acid which has anti-oxidant properties to promote cell regeneration and renewal. Helps tighten and brighten skin.
Pomegranate is great on any salad, with olives, as a dip or on bruschetta.
Pumpkin
Cooked pumpkin contains beta-carotene which the body concerts to vitamin A, essential for the growth of skin cells. Forty grams of cooked pumpkin contains 100% of your daily vitamin A intake.
Roasted pumpkin with nuts or a dollop of sour cream is a great snack.
Yellow Capsicum
A study in the British journal of nutrition found people eating more green and yellow vegetables had less wrinkles. Sounds extreme, but it’s a good reason to up your intake. The ideal amount according to the study is 250 grams a day.
Try adding capsicum to your stir fry roasting it in the oven with olive oil or raw in salads.
Berries
Berries are packed with anti-oxidants, which boost the immune system, and help fight free radical damage, helping skin’s firmness, and tone, and keep skin super supple and bright.
Try any fresh berries, or pop a handful of the frozen variety into a smoothie.
Nuts
Nuts are full of fibre and essential fatty acids as well as protein. The acids can help reduce swelling and inflammation, so are excellent for a range of skin conditions including eczema and acne. Boosting fatty acids can also help boost your mood, and reduce wrinkles.
Keep a packed of nuts at your office desk to nibble on throughout the day, or grind them and pop over a salad.
Eggs
Eggs provide a huge protein hit with little fat, and they’re super clean. High fat diets are associated with premature aging, According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a 17-gram increase in fat intake increased your odds of developing wrinkles by 28%. So eggs are a sure-fire way to keep skin looking young. Packed with protein, the building blocks of collagen and elastin.
An omelette or boiled egg works well in the morning, otherwise cold boiled eggs over salad are an easy way to eat more eggs.
Carrots
After a UK 2011 study found people who eat a lot of carrots have more tanned looking skin, a rash of “carrot capsules” was released, especially in France. Simply eat the real thing for healthier skin, and it may look slightly more tanned in the long-run.
Carrot sticks are a great 3pm snack, otherwise they work well in salads and juices.
Omega 3 Oil
Found Chia Seeds and in fish including salmon and tuna, omega 3 stimulate collagen production, improves blood flow and moisturises from the inside out. Great for every aspect of your skin, but especially if you skin is very dry and if you use fake tan which dehydrates skin.
You can take omega 3 as a capsule daily, or increase your fish and Chia Seed intake.
Olive Oil
The facts just keep rolling in about the benefits of olive oil to skin. When researchers in a 2012 study In a 2012 PLOS ONE study, 1264 diets of women were analysed, and a higher consumption of olive oil (more than 8.4 grams or 2 teaspoons a day) was associated with 31% fewer signs of ageing compared to people who ate less than 3.8 grams (about 1 teaspoon).
A spoon a day or dressing on a salad will give you’re your daly allowance.
Cocoa
Rich in anti-oxidants, and flavanols, cocoa can help increase blood flow, improve hydration and help reduce stress hormones, and inturn prevent the breakdown of collagen.
The trick is to have natural cocoa without added sugar in drinks, or sweets.
Water
Obviously water keeps your skin hydrated, but the real value is in replacing your fruit juice or soft drink with water to reduce your processed sugar intake. There’s a bucket of evidence on the negative effects of sugar on your skin.
Try keeping a jug of fresh water on your desk with slices of fruit or cucumber to refresh it.
