Your skin is the largest organ of your body. One great way to take care of it is by investing in the best foods for healthy skin. as its health is majorly determined by the foods we eat. At Ink Doubt, we understand that to see the best of your skin after your laser tattoo treatment or laser hair removal treatment, you need to have and maintain healthy skin. Therefore, in this article, we’ll be answering the question, what foods should we eat to maintain healthy skin?
Water and foods rich in vitamins, protein, zinc, healthy fat, selenium, are best for healthy skin. These essential nutrients for healthy skin can be gotten from certain fruits and vegetables such as oranges, blueberries, guava, broccoli, nuts, avocados, legumes, etc.
There’s this flex truly healthy, flawless skin gives you. It can’t be gotten by just applying moisturizers, sunscreens and taking supplements every day. Healthy eating gives it. In this blog post, we discuss essential nutrients needed for your skin, foods that supply those nutrients, and recommended serving per day as recommended by nutritionists and dermatologists.
8 Essential Nutrients for Healthy Skin
Vitamin A
Here’s what Vit A does to our skin:
- Accelerates the healing process of injured skin
- It prevents/ reduces oily skin by normalizing oil production
- Promotes the formation of healthy collagen and elastin. Collagen and elastin improve skin elasticity, reduce visible wrinkles, and promote healthy blood flow to the skin, thus making you look young
- Stimulates the production of new skin cells, prevents cell damage and premature skin aging, etc.
The department of Health and Human Services recommends that women and men respectively get 700mcg and 900mcg of Vit A daily, while children and adolescents should be given 300 – 600 mcg of Vit A daily.
Vitamin A is contained in broccoli, spinach, eggs, carrots, sweet potatoes, red pepper, mango, apricots, liver, papaya, cheese, milk, yogurt, etc.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, boosts collagen production and helps your wounds heal quickly. Tomatoes, citrus fruits, peppers, kiwis, strawberries, brussels sprouts, potatoes, blackcurrants, etc. are wonderful sources of Vit C.
The experts at NHS recommend that adults aged 19 -64 should take 40 mg of Vit. C daily. This vitamin cannot be stored in the body, so we need to consume it daily.
Vitamin E
This vitamin is popular for its anti-aging and skin-conditioning effects because it helps us shed dead skin cells and generate new ones. It also keeps the skin moisturized.
Vegetable oil, olive oil, sunflower seeds and oil, soya oil, almonds, hazelnut, peanuts, Brazil nuts, kiwifruit, mango, etc., nourish the body with Vit E.
Unlike Vit C, the body can store Vit E. So, we don’t need to consume much daily. 3-4 mg of Vit E/ day is OK.
Zinc
This mineral helps in the production of new skin cells, protects the skin from UV damage, and has anti-inflammatory properties. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, zinc is used in the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases such as rosacea, acne, eczema, and related scarring.
Sources of zinc include legumes, fish, beans, nuts, seafood, whole grain cereals, dairy products.
Protein
The famous protein!
Protein is one of our body’s major building blocks. It is part of every cell in our body which helps the skin look young by replacing dead cells.
Quinoa, beans, nuts, seeds, dairy and soy products, eggs, legumes, etc., are excellent sources of protein.
Selenium
This nutrient is surely a firm believer in the saying, prevention is better than cure.
Amongst other things, Selenium protects our cell membranes (so they are not affected by UV light), impedes the production of molecules that build up and affect healthy skin, and empowers your skin to fight infections.
Brazil nuts, seafood, brown rice, wheat germ, are great sources of selenium.
Healthy fat
Yes, there’s good fat and there’s bad fat.
Good fat/ healthy fat produces energy which the body uses to absorb vitamins, protect our heart and brain. They help to lower blood pressure and lower the risks of heart diseases and stroke.
It’s the bad fat, like saturated fat and artificial trans-fats, that does bad things like clog the arteries (increasing the risk of a heart attack), cause weight gain, high blood pressure, depression, etc.
Sources of healthy fat: Tofu, soybean, soymilk, flaxseed, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, safflower oil, peanut butter, avocados, nuts, etc.
How does healthy fat help the skin? By producing the skin’s natural oil barrier. Without this barrier, water will escape your body, leaving you dehydrated and looking shriveled.
Water
Drinking enough water does the following to the skin:
– It increases blood flow to the skin which helps the skin achieve an even skin tone
– Prevents acne and itchy skin
– Slows down aging
– Prevents heat-related skin discomforts such as rashes.