5 Nutrients for Glowing Skin
While I’m a huge lover of skincare, beautiful products and rituals - I know that glowing skin starts from within. The foods we eat play a huge role in this, and ensuring we get all the vitamins and nutrients we can from food is an amazing place to start when it comes to skin health. This post delves into 5 nutrients, their mechanisms that make them useful for skin health - and what foods you can find them in.
If you think you are lacking in one or more of these nutrients, you can book a naturopathy appointment where we can have testing done to determine your exact nutrient status. It’s also important not to self prescribe, or just purchase any brand of supplements - as they often aren’t the correct therapeutic dose when over the counter, or they contain fillers and unnecessary additives.
With that being said, here are 5 of the nutrients you need for healthy, glowing skin.
Vitamin A
Is required for cell differentiation (that is, cells becoming more 'specialised' kinds of cells), growth and development of the epithelium (tissue that can be found lining inside (lungs, digestive tract etc) and outside of our body - our skin), as well as keratin formation (keratin is a fibrous protein that helps our skins cells to adhere to each other and also provides protection). Vitamin A is also an antioxidant, immuno protective and photoprotective.
Food Sources:
cod liver oil, beef liver, yellow / orange fruits and vegetables (sweet potato, capsicum, carrots, mango, cantaloupe, pumpkin, apricots etc ) as well as some of your dark leafy greens like spinach, broccoli, kale.
Vitamin C
Is an antioxidant, and combines with iron hydroxylate, lysine and proline to form collagen. Collagen as you probably know is integral to skin structure. It aids skin strength and elasticity, and loss of collagen is associated with wrinkles and skin ageing.
Food Sources:
Kiwi fruit, strawberries, capsicum, broccoli, tomatoes, orange, grapefruit, and even brussels sprouts, broccoli and spinach.
Omega 3
Without enough omega 3 in your diet, you skin will experience scaling, and the cell membrane integrity may also be lost - resulting in water loss and dehydrated skin. Omega 3 is also another antioxidant; and if you didn't already know antioxidants are needed to 'remove' free radicals. Free radicals cause oxidative stress within the body, which can damage cells and organs and also lead to ageing.
Food Sources:
avocado, oil fish like salmon, trout, herring, walnuts, flaxseeds, and chia seeds.
Zinc
Zinc is needed in order for the body to utilise essential fatty acids (such as the omega 3 mentioned above). Zinc also helps modulate the immune system, and inhibits lipid peroxidation ( process in which free radicals 'steal' an electron from lipids (fats) within the cell membrane, resulting in damage - this is especially relevant for our skin and is definitely something you want to prevent )
Food Sources:
Meat ( particularly red ), Shellfish ( Oysters, shrimp, mussels etc ), legumes, nuts, seeds and dairy products ( milk and cheese ).
The B Vitamins
Deficiency in the B vitamins will have you feeling not so great, and skin wise you may see lesions, peeling, rashes, acne and any wounds not healing properly. They are essential for cell growth, development and general functioning.
Food Sources:
Whole grains, eggs, meat and dairy, legumes, seeds and nuts, and dark leafy vegetables - along with some fruits.
Please note this is not an extensive list, and again if you are having skin issues please book and appointment with me in order to have a plan tailored to your needs. This list is for people wanting to optimise their skin health, promote youthful and glowing skin - rather than 'fix' specific issues.
As always I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and if you found it useful be sure to leave a comment below
kindest,
Sarah
