Watch What You Eat!

The kind of food or diet that you have has an impact of having a beautiful skin. The reason is that the diet for overall health slows down the physiological mechanisms of aging in all tissues including the skin. Having a good diet will result to having a beautiful, radiant skin and healthy body as well. Below are some of the guidelines.

1. Balance and variety- this is usually imply a diet that contains all necessary nutrients within a certain optimal range. It is usually selected in such a way as to prevent protein malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. And the simplest way to achieve this is to follow the following suggested foods.
1. Consume a sufficient amount of fruits and vegetables while staying within the energy needs.
2. Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables each day.
3. Consume 3 or more ounce equivalents of whole grain products per day. At least half of the grains should come from whole grains.
4. Consume 3 cups per day of fat-free or low fat milk.
2. Fruits and Vegetables – Fruits and vegetables are important in preventing premature skin aging because they contain a wide variety of antioxidants. These antioxidants help protect skin from damage by free radicals which are especially rampant in the skin due to environment exposure. Be sure that fruits and vegetables are fresh and minimally cooked since heat inactivates most antioxidants if overly done.
3. Fluids – A well moisturized skin is less prone to developing wrinkles. Drinking plenty of fluids or 6-8 glasses throughout the day ensures proper hydration of the body and helps reduce skin dryness. Remember, coffee and sodas are not a good substitute for water because they contain caffeine which is diuretic- a substance promoting the excretion of water through urine. And also do not drink too much fluid 2-3 hours before bedtime because this may cause morning inflammation and excessively stretch your skin.
4. Calories – The desire to have or retain youthful skin is to watch your calorie intake and avoid weight gain. Always keep in mind that gaining and losing weight may have negative effects not only on the skin but on the overall health as well.
5. Cooking. Watch out in cooking your food! Every time a food is heated up the rate of reactions of degradation and oxidation of nutrients jumps up dramatically. In other words, cooking depletes food of many essential nutrients and antioxidants and increases the content of oxidative by products or free radicals which resulted to consuming less essential nutrients and more aging promoting free radicals. Just a reminder for everybody to reduce cooking time, avoid deep frying, grilling and cooking in large amounts of oil and avoid continuous opening of cover because it will evaporate the nutrients to the air.

To ensure that all essential nutrients are consumed in an adequate amount, it is advisable to consume a wide variety of foods.