How does Healthy Eating Impact your Skin?

Some of you might see this article and think, hmm, what does nutrition have to do with my skin? Your diet and what you eat play a huge role in your skin health!

I have to be honest here and say that I don’t diet, I like food and I enjoy what I want to eat when I want to eat it. But I know that health and nutrition play a role in my skin and I want to protect that. The reason I start with this is to tell you to live your life and if you want that cookie, eat it, like seriously who cares, live your life and enjoy every second. But what you eat is important, and I am here to share the science of how your diet affects your skin. Then, the rest is up to you. 

The easiest thing to do for your skin and your health is cutting out processed foods. Processed and fatty foods are prone to clogging your pores. Processed foods and refined carbohydrates can eventually cause inflammation and irritations in your skin, you guessed it, leading to breakouts! Refined sugar and fried foods can also affect your natural collagen, which shows visible signs of aging and wear and tear of the skin. My favorite way to do this is to get the same satisfaction of those fried or processed foods more healthily. Now what in the world do I mean by this? I’ll give a few quick examples and I'll share another blog post about food another time. But you can make “potato chips” out of radishes, or add chickpeas to your cookie dough, or add applesauce to your brownie batter, or make buffalo cauliflower bites instead of eating chicken wings. 

The next thing to do is try to eat as close to the earth as possible. What does this mean? Try eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains. Providing your body with the proper nutrients like proteins, vitamins, and minerals can slow the aging process. My little hack here that I'll let you in on is doing a yogurt parfait in the morning with your favorite fruits on top or another favorite, an acai bowl, and then load your favorite fruits on top of that and I like to feed my sweet tooth with a few chocolate chips or peanut butter. There's also a ton of different nut options that are seasoned and flavored, they can give you some spice, or saltiness for your snacking needs.

Next, let's discuss sugar. I have the biggest sweet tooth like I love all desserts I don't judge. Large intakes of sugar on the regular can make the face appear washed out, which means more sagging skin. Sugar has more effects on the bacteria in your gut, which can cause acne and more breakouts. This is where the wise tail of breaking out more on your menstrual cycle comes from! You crave more sweets than on an average day! I’ve become obsessed with making brownies and substituting with applesauce, it can be a great substitute for oil, butter, and eggs!

When you change your diet, keep in mind that it can take 12 weeks for effects on your skin to kick in! So, if you make this drastic change to your diet don't get discouraged if it takes a little bit for your skin to respond to your changes. I hope this helped understand why nutrition is so important to our skin and a few minor changes you can implement in your daily life. Again, you don't have to give up all of your favorite foods, but maybe you don't need them every day? I love a good cheat day!