These foods will help your skin glow from the inside out.

Skin food. We’ve heard the phrase used in the beauty industry. You may have sat and wondered what on earth that means? How do food and skin relate? Well, actually, everything that we put in our mouths affects the condition of our skin. Skin health starts with our gut health. We wanted to find out more, so we spoke to Beauty Expert, Denise Rabor for advice on how we can consciously help our beauty regime by eating properly.

You are what you eat, as the saying goes. But we’re not talking about turning into a noodle after one too many Chinese takeaways (and we’re definitely not judging – pass us the chopsticks every day of the week!). We’re going a little deeper than that, delving into the ins and outs of vitamins and nutrients of foods that help to give our skin the ‘just woke up like this’ glow that it deserves.

What exactly is it we need to be eating in order to achieve the clear, natural shine that we all desire? Denise explained that essential fatty acids are a vital ingredient to look out for, “namely, Omega 3 and 6 are especially good at providing a glow from the inside out. Whether you have dry or oily skin, essential fatty acids are good for balancing natural oils, reducing inflammation and irritation. Good sources of this are oily fish like sardines and salmon.”

Denise also suggested including nuts like walnuts and almonds and seeds like linseeds and chia, as well as greens into your diet. “They are good sources of Vitamin E and zinc. Zinc is great for healing and reducing inflammation. Green vegetables like spinach, kale, and chard are great glow enhancers because of their high levels of antioxidants, vitamins and nutrients which protect against free radical damage.”

Denise’s final piece of advice was to dig a little deeper than just the foods we’re eating in order to improve our skin’s health. “It’s also worth looking to improve your gut health: poor gut health shows in  the skin: conditions like dry skin and eczema can be caused by poor gut health so it might be worth increasing your intake of everything else as well as considering a probiotic supplement whose job it is to increase the good bacteria in your gut.”

So while you’re finding your perfect selection of skincare products to smother all over your face, make sure you’re taking into consideration what you’re feeding your skin on the inside too.

Feature image: Brooke Lark on Unsplash