What you eat and drink is just as important if not more so, than the products you put on your skin. Consuming these foods will help support a plumper, more youthful looking complexion and glossier hair.
Essential fats
Plant based Omega 3 in our linseed oil will help make your skin feel plumper, improve elasticity and moisturise from a deep level cellular level. Linseed oil also helps make hair glossier and nails stronger. Essential fats are also anti-inflammatory so help calm the skin after sun exposure and help to reduce redness and skin conditions such as eczema.
Avoid the sun!
To avoid sun burn the simple truth is to stay out of the sun between the hours of 12- 3pm. However there has been enough research to prove that sun upon our skin is essential to promote our Vitamin D levels.
Vitamin C and E help to mop up free radicals produced by the sun’s UV rays. Vitamin C rich foods include kiwi, citrus fruit, berries, blackcurrants, watercress, peppers and parsley. Vitamin E foods like avocado, nuts (pecan, hazelnut, cashew, brazil, walnut), seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, linseeds and sesame seeds).
Increase your antioxidants – especially if you live in the city!
Pollution increases free radical damage to our skin so it’s essential to up our antioxidant intake to help protect against them. Superfoods such as chlorella contain huge amounts of antioxidants and essential proteins. Protein is the essential building block of hair and nails as well as collagen. Chlorella also contains zinc and B2, needed for glowing skin and it’s also been shown to help support the liver get rid of toxins. We recommend SunChlorella, which is one of the purest on the market.
Increase highly nourishing antioxidants in brightly coloured fruit and vegetables like carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, apricots, mangoes, peaches, broccoli, spinach and watercress. Researchers have found that cooked tomato boosts levels of pro-collagen, a loss of which leads to wrinkles, skin aging and loss of elasticity. Some lycopene is found in pink grapefruit and watermelon.
Every cell in the body needs water to function properly, including the skin, hair and nails. Hydrated skin will be plumper and more radiant. Aim for 2 litres a day.
Exercise!
Increasing your heart rate helps to pump fresh blood round the body and to the skin, helping it look more radiant.
Karen Newby, BSc Nutritional Medicine, mBANT, CNHC
www.karennewby.com
