Thursday, August 15, 2013

From the Inside Out: Optimal Nutrition for Beauty


Healthy eating is important for overall wellness but a healthy diet has an added bonus to keeping you looking as young as you feel. Eating aside, antioxidant-rich foods and spices can also be used to make DIY beauty products devoid of harsh and toxic chemicals. Follow these 5 tips to look and feel fabulous.

#1 Drink plenty of water. Water keeps your skin lush and soft while allowing nutrients to move efficiently through blood to fuel your body. How much is enough? Divide your body weight in pounds by 2. That is the number of ounces to drink daily. Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages, which cause damaging free-radicals to wreak havoc on your cells (including your skin). Add fresh fruit and herbs like basil or mint to your water for an antioxidant and flavor boost.

#2 Drink green tea. Green tea is known as a high antioxidant drink with weight loss wonders. It burns more fat, yet has less caffeine than coffee. Drink unsweetened or add a smidgen of honey and slice of lemon for flavor. Refrigerate used tea bags and place on eyelids for 10 minutes to decrease under-eye puffiness.

#3 Fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables. The various colors of the rainbow represented in fruits and vegetables are visual indicators of their antioxidant potential. Eating enough, as well as a variety of colors is important. Vitamin C particularly is beneficial for skin health, as it is needed to make collagen, the compound in skin that provides elasticity. Skip the OJ; it is loaded with calories and the longer it is exposed to oxygen the less vitamin C it contains. 1 cup of strawberries provides more vitamin C per serving than an orange. Add to a smoothie or mash with granulated sugar for a vitamin C-rich skin exfoliator.

#4 Spice things up. Spices provide the most potent sources of antioxidants available and they taste delicious to boot! You can add them easily to any drink or meal and use them generously in DIY body scrubs, soaps, and moisturizers. Sprinkle cinnamon on sliced apples or pears to prevent browning, add turmeric to meat dishes, and ground cloves into oatmeal or baked goods.

#5 Eat lean meats and plant proteins. Protein provides the building blocks for every enzyme, cell, and structure in our bodies. With literally thousands of uses in the body, protein is arguably the most important nutrient to life. Protein is found in small quantities in plant foods like beans, lentils, nuts/seeds and whole grains. Higher protein foods include meats, dairy, and eggs. The  types of food and the conditions animals are raised in, impacts the nutrient content in the food you consume. Choose products from organic, pastured animals (grass-fed versus corn-fed), as the content of fat is a healthier variety and contains no harmful pesticides or hormones, which may cause skin breakouts. 

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