Eat your way to healthy skin

In a recent interview our in house nutritionist Vidhi Patel explained how nutrition influences the appearance of our skin and also had some tips on easy dietary changes to improve skin health. See the interview with Vidhi below and start eating your way to healthy skin.

Why is nutrition important for beautiful and healthy skin? 

Skin is the largest organ of the human body and acts as a barrier between the internal and external environment. Your skin reflects what is going on inside your body as a whole, and all skin conditions, ranging from Acne and Eczema to ageing, are manifestations of your body’s internal status, reflecting your body’s nutritional needs and even stress. So if you feed your skin from the inside with the right foods and supplements  you can see long lasting beneficial effects to your skin’s appearance.

Nutrition also has a critical impact on strengthening the skin’s capabilities to fight against multiple stressors and aggressors, generated both internally and externally. A diet low in essential nutrients, or even excessively rich food can impair skin physiology. In other words poor diet and nutrition will slowly start to manifest itself in the appearance of your skin. Therefore a healthy diet is crucial to create and maintain beautiful, healthy skin.

What key nutritional changes should I make to my diet for beautiful and healthy skin?

I have always believed and lived by the fact that “you are what you eat and drink! What I mean by that is, your inner functions and outer appearance are influenced by your diet. Many skin conditions, including dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema, rosacea, and acne, are a reaction to either your environment or a cry for help from within.

Some of us either ignore skin problems, try to treat them with creams and lotions or cover them up with make-up. I find that a more effective long-term solution is to treat skin disorders from within, addressing the root of the problem. The simple way to do this is to make some positive changes to your diet.

Of course everyone’s skin concerns are different, but there are a few simple changes everyone can easily make to their daily diet to improve their skin health. Below I have listed a few tips.

In the morning:

• Start your day with 300ml of warm water with fresh lemon and a teaspoon of Manuka honey
• Where possible replace tea or coffee with green tea or herbal tea with Tulsi
• Replace croissant with organic porridge with some cinnamon powder, organic honey and some blueberries. This will leave you feeling just as satisfied.
• Avoid drinking pre-packed fruit juices as these contain high amounts of sugar

At lunch time:

• When you need to pick up a sandwich always choose rye or wholemeal bread if possible
• Replace sandwich toppings like processed ham and cheese with toppings like boiled egg, hummus, avocado or cherry tomatoes
• Always a good choice are organic sushi and miso soup

Midday Snack:

• Replace biscuits with organic rice cakes with hummus or nut butter (preferable almond or pistachio)
• Replace chocolates with 3 dates, 2 figs  and a kiwi
• One banana any time of day makes for a good snack and energy boost

Evening Dinner:

• Try to swap red meat for lean white meat or fish
• When having fish choose omega-rich salmon over white fish like cod
• Replace sugary desserts with plain Greek pro-biotic yoghurt with strawberries, honey and roasted nuts or a slice of spelt and gluten free banana cake

Question 3: Can my diet give me all nutritional elements I need for healthy skin? 

A healthy diet can provide you with vitamins and minerals essential for beautiful skin, but in our hectic and stressful daily lives it can be difficult to reach our optimal nutritional needs and goals. Although we know that we should eat a healthy and balanced diet, many of us are still lagging behind in our efforts towards optimum health status. This is why I recommend adding liquid supplements to your daily diet. Liquid formulations are more effective than tablet formulations, because they have a much higher absorption rate and bio-availability.

Supplements like GOLD COLLAGEN FORTE and the rest of the GOLD COLLAGEN range have been formulated with some of the best, high quality ingredients, which are rapidly absorbed by the cells of the body. The active ingredients work from within to restore skin hydration and suppleness and after a few weeks you will even notice a reduction of fine lines and wrinkles.

Vidhi Patel, Nutritionist and Research and Development Consultant at Minerva Research Labs