Our society has an obsession with healthy skin. We hate wrinkles, acne, & blemishes. Your skin is an outside indicator for your internal health. When we have skin based disorders those are very often outside manifestations of toxicity, mineral imbalances, oxidative stress, and inflammatory processes that are taking place within the body. Many natural food sources rich in anti-oxidants and minerals help to balance this internal stress and promote radiant skin.
The most important nutritional consideration for healthy skin is to eat a diet loaded with raw vegetables and a smaller quantity of raw fruit. The fruit and vegetables will provide the three most important nutrients for healthy skin: water, trace minerals, & antioxidants.
Water is arguably the most important thing we consume everyday. It provides the medium for all chemical reactions in our body. Additionally, it helps to cleanse and purify toxic debris and wash away rancid oils from the skin.
Critical Nutrients for Healthy Skin:
Three critical minerals for healthy skin include silica, zinc, & sulfur. These minerals are found in many plant-based foods. Foods rich in antioxidants are very important for the body to balance the oxidative stress is encounters each day and protect the skin cells from free radical damage. Here are 5 foods that will help you build beautifully radiant skin.
Cucumbers are rich in water, vitamin C, and silica. Silica is a trace mineral that is critical for strong connective tissue and amazing for skin health. Silica is essential for maintaining the health of connective tissues due to its interaction with the formation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), which are structural building blocks of these types of tissue.
One well-known GAG important for skin health is hyaluronic acid, which has been shown to promote skin cell proliferation and increase the presence of retinoic acid, improving the skin’s hydration. Silica deficiency’s lead to reduced skin elasticity which promotes wrinkles & age spots.
Sulfur Containing Amino Acids:
Radishes are loaded with water and the sulfur-containing amino acids cysteine and methionine. Sulfur is known as a beautifying mineral that helps our body detoxify. Radishes are known for their ability to help the liver process toxins and produce bile. Additionally, radishes also contain zinc, vitamin C, phosphorus, and b vitamins that are critical for skin health.
Eggs are one of nature’s most incredible skin enhancing superfoods. They are loaded with sulfur-containing amino acids, zinc, fat-soluble vitamin A & E, biotin, selenium, and methyl donating B vitamins. Zinc helps control the oil content of the skin and reduces the androgenic hormonal effects that produce acne.
Zinc is also critical to the formation of collagen which is a protein molecule that forms connective tissue and skin. Selenium is an antioxidant mineral that helps promote normal tissue elasticity and protects the skin from ultra-violet damage.
Biotin is a B complex vitamin that helps promote healthy skin and vitamin A & E are critical antioxidants that help protect the skin from oxidative stress.
Turmeric is the Best Skin Purifying Herb:
The Indian herb Turmeric is amazing for the skin and body. Turmeric is loaded with powerful polyphenol antioxidant phytochemicals called curcuminoids. Many experts have suggested that curcuminoids have 5-8 times stronger anti-oxidant properties than Vitamin E and other more well-known antioxidants.
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Turmeric also helps to cleanse, purify, & nourish the skin to maintain its elasticity. Additionally, it helps to support the natural flora that protects the skin from dangerous microbes.
Spinach is very rich in water, vitamin C, magnesium, folate, and chlorophyll which help bolster the skin. Additionally, spinach is loaded with the antioxidant carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin which are powerful at scavenging free radicals and protecting the skin from oxidative stress.
Tips for Healthy Skin Nutrition
1. Super Hydrate: Drink at least half your body weight in ounces of pure, clean water.
2. Eat a Big Salad: Eat a big salad with raw spinach and hard/soft boiled eggs
3. Snack on Radishes: Snack on radishes or add them to your salad.
4. Cucumber Salad: Slice up some cucumbers and add apple cider vinegar and herbs
5. Add in More Turmeric: Add turmeric to hummus, brown rice, meat dishes, & shakes. Be sure to use a pinch of black pepper and some good fats/oils with the turmeric to enhance the absorption of the curcuminoids.
6. Vegetable Juice: Juice up cucumber, celery, lemon and turmeric root and drink daily. You can also add more greens and follow my guide to juicing here.
7. Coconut Turmeric Paste: Make a paste with coconut oil and turmeric and apply to regions of the body that display psoriasis, acne and/or eczema. Rub this in and let dry and let sit overnight and then wash off real good in the morning. Warning – this can partially stain the skin with a yellow/orange tint.
8. Healthy Animal Products: Eat wild-caught sockeye salmon 2-3x each week to get more high-quality omega 3 fatty acids and astaxanthin. Add in some grass-fed meats and grass-fed butter for good fats and fat-soluble nutrients.
9. Avoid Sugar: Stay off of sugar and grains, these increase glycation and create more inflammatory damage that affects the skin tissue.
10. Avoid Bad Fats & Consume Lots of Good Fats: Avoid vegetable oils such corn oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil and peanut oil. Use lots of coconut oil, avocados, olives and extra virgin olive oil and grass-fed butter/ghee instead.
Supplements for Amazing Skin:
My three favorite supplements for healthy skin include omega 3 fatty acids in combination with gamma linoleic acid (GLA). These fatty acids play an essential role in the formation of new and healthy skin cells.
Bone Broth Protein:
Bone broth is the world’s best source of gelatin and collagen protein. Research has found that collagen protein found within gelatin strengthens the gut lining, reduces food sensitivities and effectively supports the integrity of the intestinal membrane.
Collagen is rich in the amino acids proline, glutamine, and arginine which help to heal tears in the intestinal lining and support a strong gut lining.
Bone broth is rich in sulfur, selenium, and glycine which help with phase II liver detoxification. The better our liver is cleansing itself, in particular with phase II methods, the fewer toxins and free radicals will damage our skin.
Bone broth is a great mineral source and contains a good amount of potassium, calcium, and magnesium for healthy blood flow to nourish the skin. The collagen protein within the bone broth is the same protein used to make our joints and our skin. Using gelatin and collagen is one of the best ways to keep your joints and skin young and healthy.
I put my clients on Bone Broth protein in order to help them strengthen their joints, bones and improve their skin health.
*Article originally appeared at Dr. Jockers.
