How To Avoid Skin Problems By Changing Your Eating Habits
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As you eat, so shall your skin be! Not many people realize that what you eat can have a direct impact on the largest organ in your body – your skin. In fact, this impact is so strong that the quality and condition of your skin can serve as a giveaway of the diet you follow on a daily basis! Even food allergies first manifest themselves on your skin, don’t they? Well, most of them at least!
The deep connection between the food you eat and the kind of skin you have shows that the secret to beautiful skin is not some ‘wonder beauty product’. It’s all about what you eat! Hence, if you want to avoid 7 major skin problems, you should seriously consider altering your diet.
Here’s a list of the skin problems you can avoid by changing the food on your plate-
1. Premature Aging
Foods Responsible: Any low-calorie item such as bread or crackers
Foods with a low-calorie content might make sense to you if you’re on a weight loss plan but you shouldn’t stick to them as your usuals (1). Such foods can cause rapid spikes in your blood sugar levels. Fluctuations like these can cause signs of premature aging such as dull and dry skin. This can mess up your body’s ability to correctly process the food you consume.
Solution: Replace every single low-fat or low-calorie food item with their real counterparts as not all diet foods are healthy. They’re actually bad for your body.
2. Dry Skin And Forehead Wrinkles
Foods Responsible: Sweeteners and refined sugar
As mentioned in the point above, excess sugar in your blood can lead to the appearance of aging skin. Sugar also destroys elastin and collagen in your skin, which is responsible for skin elasticity and youthfulness (2). Sweeteners with fructose in them harm your skin in the same way. But the only difference is that the damage caused by sweeteners is greater.
Solution: Collagen-rich foods such as turkey, salmon, parsley and seaweed can help.
3. Redness And Acne
Foods Responsible: Dairy products such as cow’s milk, etc.
Cow’s milk is great for calves but not for full-grown humans, including those who are not lactose intolerant! Drinking cow’s milk can cause micro-inflammations on the surface of your skin, which in turn, not only cause redness but also breakouts (3). Scientists attribute this to the hormones in cow’s milk, which they believe clash with the hormones in humans.
Solution: Reducing the amount of milk in your diet can help if you’re not allergic. Otherwise, you should have inflammation-reducing foods such as fish oil and other seafood.
4. Visible Eyelid And Nostril Capillaries
Foods Responsible: Spicy foods
The effects of spicy food extend beyond the taste buds. Foods with a high spice quotient accelerate the rate at which different processes take place in your bodies such as faster metabolism, high body temperature, and rapid blood flow. Since blood flows so quickly in your capillaries, they become visible under your skin (4).
Solution: In addition to reducing the consumption of spicy food, broken and visible capillaries need to be treated with care. They may be suggestive of internal problems. Hence, you should try to make positive lifestyle changes – stress less, sleep better, work out, etc.
5. Skin That Feels Dirty
Foods Responsible: Smoothies and juices
Rich sources of fiber include veggies and fruits such as berries, bananas, etc. When consumed raw, these foods can give your body the fiber it needs. However, when had in the form of juices or smoothies, they lose their fiber content. Which means that your body starts lacking in fiber and is subjected to digestive issues and you get that dirty skin feel (5).
Solution: Fiber-rich foods like beans, dry fruits, and whole wheat bread can help.
6. Puffy, Dull, Inelastic Skin
Foods Responsible: Diet rich in animal protein
Animal protein can alter the pH level of your blood when consumed in excess. The high acidity can slow down your bodily processes including skin regeneration (6).
Solution: Vegetarian sources of protein such as soy, avocado, broccoli should do the trick.
7. Dehydrated Skin
Foods Responsible: Tea and coffee
Tea and coffee, the liquids that satisfy your thirst, lead you to drink lesser quantities of water than you should. Both the beverages are also diuretics, meaning they trick your brain into thinking you’ve had enough water when you haven’t. That results in dehydrated skin.
Solution: Increasing your water intake is crucial. The ratio should be 1 cup of tea for 1 glass of water or 1 cup of coffee for 2 glasses of water. You can also have water-rich foods such as cucumber, salads, and tomatoes to increase your water intake.
Sometimes, the solutions to skin problems are as easy as these. Who needs to spend on a ton of cosmetics when simple dietary changes can cure skin problems? Eat right and you won’t have to worry about common skin issues.
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