Glowing Skin – Eating for Beauty in a Modern World

“You are what you eat.” When it comes to your skin, that’s 100% true.  What you eat has a direct effect on your skin health and paves the way for the aging process. In fact, the effect of diet on skin is almost immediate.  Consuming sugary, processed foods leads to reactive skin that can be puffy, rough and inflamed. Glowing skin is something you can attain with the right foods.

The foundation of a healthy skin diet includes a balance of healthy fats, plant and sustainable animal proteins, nutrients from fruits, vegetables and herbs, and an individualized vitamin routine personalized to help you fill the gaps of nutrient need.

Glowing Skin: Steps to Get Your Glow On

One of the easiest and most simple preventative measures for healthy glowing skin is hydration.  Consuming enough water helps to flush out toxins and keep the skin clear.

• Snacking on cucumber, cantaloupe and leafy greens are a delicious way to up your hydration.
• Vitamins: Collagen and electrolytes are involved in the process of skin hydration. Metagenics Hydrate and Replenish is a well-designed drink that offers a profile of nutrients to keep you hydrated on those summery days.

Load up on Omega3’s to combat dry skin.  These essential fatty acids (EFA’s) keep skin healthy and supple by maintaining the protective barrier in your skin that locks in moisture. Omega3’s can be eaten in foods, taken as a supplement or applied topically.

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil is rich in nourishing omegas that enhance the cellular structure and barrier of your skin. It acts as an emollient that reduces dryness and accelerated aging.
• Salmon provides beneficial essential fatty acids necessary to prevent inflammation and protein to stimulate the growth of new healthy cells in muscles to keep your skin young and radiant.
• Vitamins: Nordic Naturals offers an award winning Omega3 supplement. The ingredients are sustainably sourced and the purity standard is one of the highest on the market.

Blemish free skin is achieved by eating a diet high in leafy vegetables like spinach and kale and green apples.  These vitamin A rich vegetables normalize the production of oil and quercetin in green apples helps reduce inflammation.

• Our Green Goddess Smoothie keeps the doctor away, or at least blemishes.
• Vitamins: Supplementing vitamin A in low doses daily is an easy way to ensure you’re getting what you need. Pure Encapsulations O.N.E. is a hypoallergenic source of vitamin A and other essential nutrients. Klaire Labs has a liquid version that you can drop into your morning water ritual.

Your stomach is at the center of skin health. Eating to increase healthy flora production in your gut improves redness and inflammation in the skin and gives you a lasting glow from the inside out.

• Probiotics, like yogurt, miso and sourdough bread, helps to promote a healthy microbiome.
• Vitamins: THORNE FloraMend provides a wide variety of health benefits, including immune support.

Antioxidants combat free radical damage that can speed up the aging process. Eating a variety of berries, citrus and vegetables will provide a dose of vitamin C for your skin, while also priming your immune system.

• Lemon is a skin powerhouse. It’s packed with vitamin C, which neutralizes free radicals and supports collagen and elastin formation. Nicotinamide, vitamin B3, improves skin hydration and reduces the aging process.
• Vitamins: Klaire Labs offers an exceptionally pure vitamin C powder with no added ingredients. NAD+ Gold is a potent source of nicotinamide involved in cellular energy and age management.

Individualizing your vitamin strategy based on your needs will yield the best results.  Omegas and vitamin D help with dry skin and plump the skin. Vitamin A and quercetin work to reduce inflammation.  As the microbiome is the gateway for absorption, probiotics set the stage for appropriate vitamin absorption.  If your ultimate goal is glowing skin, then together, this approach will help you get your glow on!

Foods for Glowing Skin

Eating your way to radiant, glowing skin is possible with the right combination of nutrients.  Vitamin A, B, C, D, and E and essential minerals all play varying and interconnected roles in optimizing your skin health.  A combination of a plant-focused diet with appropriate supplementation to fill the gaps is ideal.  Personalizing your nutrient strategy to best meet your needs will give you that fresh glow you’ve been seeking.

Shop our Skin Health Vitamins

Ancient Rituals in Modern Practice: A Primer for Glowing Skin

How do I get that glow?  

Youthfulness is the fountain women have been seeking for centuries. Plant-based beauty rituals were common practices among most civilizations across the world. All over the world, women have implemented tested practices and we continue to benefit from their teaching.  These ancient cultures considered nature to be a gift. Ancient beauty rituals have made their way into the modern world of beauty for good reason: they have demonstrated health benefits for thousands of years.

Ancient Greece

Aphrodite, the Olympian goddess of love and beauty, symbolized beauty and grace and influenced their ancient beauty rituals.

Honey and olive oil were sacred ingredients frequently ingested and used topically to reduce dry skin and blemishes and slow the aging process.

Those ancient rituals are used today in modern, natural skin care treatments 

Ancient Rome

Bathing rituals were common practice around 100 AD and were used as therapy to treat illness.  Hot cold immersion was used as a preventatively and followed up with removal of dirt and dead skin cells, steam therapy, body scrubs and massage. 

Herbs and plants, like jasmine, rose petals and saffron, were used as perfumes, but also had positive health benefits for those in the Roman Empire

These practices look very much like our modern-day spas. Herbs are a common healing tool used by many modern integrative nutritionists.

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptians are known for their luxurious and avant-garde lifestyle.  Their beauty rituals were extravagant and implemented to honor their gods and goddesses. 

21 different plant-based oils were frequently used to protect the skin in the very dry desert climate.  Cleopatra’s legendary anti-aging beauty regimens included almond oils, apple cider vinegar, sea salt scrubs, honey and milk baths.

Almond oil is common topical application today during pregnancy.

Ayurveda

Nearly 5000 years ago, the ancient Indian culture developed complex, holistic health care practices based on mind, body and spiritual alignment.

Bathing rituals and oil treatments included only ingredients that you could also eat. Herbs like turmeric and saffron were widely used in masks and creams and dry brushing for their skin for exfoliation and lymphatic health.

Turmeric is again resurfacing as a preventative measure for inflammation.

Our modern society has witnessed the rise in chronic disease and the decline of life expectancy for women after the onset of the Industrial Revolution. This practice made food cheap and widely available, but brought on outcomes that were not anticipated. 

Now, we are seeing a shift back to our roots to focus on healthy, chemical free, plant-based foods and herbs to support healthy aging.

Eating a Clean, Plant-based Diet

Eating a plant-based diet is not a new concept. It’s been around since the beginning of time. 

What we now know is that a whole food, plant-based diet can prevent and even reverse some chronic diseases and slow the aging process.

EatClean30 is a thoughtfully designed self-care program with intentional inclusion of whole, plant-based foods and avoidance of sugary, processed sources.

The challenge was based on substantial research on aging and longevity from the healthiest communities around the world.  These populations implement a plant-based diet (80:20), fitness and mindfulness practices with a strong sense of social connectedness from birth.

You can include fruits and vegetables, and nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, legumes, and beans. It is not exclusively vegan or vegetarian, and can include some sustainable, grass-fed meats and dairy.  Proportionately the focus is on plant-based sources.

We developed EatClean30 to help you implement daily nutrient intake strategies to optimize your health. Incorporating these concepts into your daily self-care routine will help you get your glow from the inside out.