Purely Nourished

You are a refec­tion of the foods you feed your body. Whether you like it or not, your diet affects your appear­ance just as much as  your mood and energy.  A healthy diet filled with vit­a­mins, min­er­als, antiox­i­dants and essen­tial fatty acids is cru­cial for your skin’s health and nec­es­sary for main­tain­ing its radi­ance. Read on to deter­mine the best sources.

To begin, Essen­tial Fatty Acids are the build­ing blocks for impor­tant cel­lu­lar func­tions. They help reduce the inflam­ma­tion and are com­monly referred to as omega-6 and omega-3.  These fatty acids are found in fish, oils, nuts, and seeds.

Antiox­i­dants pro­tect us from infec­tion and play a key role in destroy­ing free rad­i­cals which are noto­ri­ous for dam­ag­ing col­la­gen. Col­la­gen keeps our skin look­ing young and vibrant. Eat a hand­ful of berries or pretty much any fruit or veg­etable to get a healthy dose and com­bat those free radicals.

Vit­a­min E is an antiox­i­dant that pro­tects against free rad­i­cals.  It also assists in retain­ing your skins mois­ture. Whole grains, nuts, seeds, avo­ca­dos, and sweet pota­toes are options that boast the super vitamin.

Vit­a­min C, an antiox­i­dant as well, is essen­tial for the pro­duc­tion of col­la­gen. Stress and sun expo­sure quickly deplete it from your body. Replen­ish this pow­er­ful antiox­i­dant with cit­rus fruits, broc­coli, cau­li­flower, straw­ber­ries, and potatoes.

Iron assists in the pro­duc­tion of hemo­glo­bin and ener­gizes the  body and mind. With­out oxy­genated blood (hemo­glo­bin), the bod­ies cells do not get the energy they need and the skins com­plex­ion becomes pale and some­times yel­low­ish. Dark cir­cles under the eyes can also be a symp­tom of non-oxygnated blood. Good sources of iron include red meats, eggs, spinach, and seafood.

Zinc man­u­fac­tures col­la­gen, main­tains proper immune func­tion, and speeds up heal­ing in the body. Add mush­rooms or cheese to any meal and reap the ben­e­fits. Red meats, seafood, and eggs are also great pro­tein sources of the mineral.

Sele­nium pro­tects against free rad­i­cals and dry skin. Foods that con­tain the immune sup­port­ing min­eral are red meats, eggs, cheese, whole grains, and mushrooms.

Beta-carotene, the plant form of Vit­a­min A, pro­tects against aging expe­dited by sun expo­sure. Dark green veg­gies and orange fruits and veg­eta­bles will pro­tect you from the sun’s harm­ful rays.

Vit­a­min A assists with the gen­er­a­tion of new cells and retains your skin’s elas­tic­ity. It is vital for our eyes and hair. Dark green and orange veg­eta­bles as well as eggs and fish will help main­tain your skin’s youth­ful glow.

Vit­a­min B plays a key roll in skin metab­o­lism and main­tains your skin’s over­all health. Eat a healthy amount of fish, poul­try, red meat, nuts, and whole grains to keep your skin supple.

Incor­po­rate these com­po­nents into your diet and your skin will thank you.  The best food sources are dark green and orange veg­eta­bles, berries, nuts, fish, and red meats; make them a part of your daily diet.