Food, Diet & Skincare

The real “skinny” on eating habits for healthy skin

We are constantly surrounded by unhealthy food choices. Advertisements continually tempt us with high-fat, low nutritional value options and then, paradoxically, we are presented with an endless array of “miraculous” diets. Fad diets abound and many diet books are immediate best sellers.

Eating in a healthy and productive manner is often difficult, inconvenient and sometimes, plain boring! Here are some tips for healthy eating that will radiate through your skin to boost your complexion and give your skin that extra glow.

• Aviod Fast-foods

“Fast food” can mean a multitude of sins! Mostly it refers to choices that originate from McDonalds, Burger King or numerous other famously poor options. Fast food can also refer to the fact that we may not be bothered to prepare a nutritional meal for our families.

One of the reasons people select fast food is because it is convenient and it generally tastes good! Who hasn’t enjoyed a burger, or processed chicken from one of the chains at some point in time? Many people believe that really healthy food requires a lot of time to prepare. Not so! Grilled meat with fresh vegetables takes just minutes to prepare and cook, and this low carbohydrate option is perfect for boosting your metabolism and dulling annoying hunger pangs.

• The Glycemic Index

Let’s think about refined carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates are foodstuffs like:

• biscuits, pastries and cakes
• pizzas
• sugary processed breakfast cereals
• white bread
• white flour
• white pasta
• white rice

basically the “sweet stuff” and food that has had the bran and germ stripped from the whole grain. Refined carbohydrates cause insulin levels to rise very quickly (spike).This in turn, triggers your body to store more food as fat instead of burning away the calories. These foods also trigger inflammatory reactions.

Ageing is largely an inflammatory based process and inflammatory food triggers accelerate this process. As a result, you are more prone to Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and many other health issues. Inflammatory triggers cause your skin to age much more rapidly. For example, sun exposure triggers inflammation, which we all know is an undisputed primary cause of skin wrinkling, brown spots, loss of elasticity and coarse skin texture. Foods can be inflammatory as well and also result in premature skin ageing.

The “low down” on carbs;

• Refined carbs take up minimal stomach space.
• Refined carbs are digested faster and the stomach empties sooner.
• Refined carbs are a more immediate source of glucose.
• The brain gets a quick shot of glucose, but blood levels are not sustained and the brain demands more carbs.
• Your body can’t burn all these high calorie refined carbs quickly enough.
• You put on weight and, because your glucose levels (your body’s fuel) are not consistent, your energy levels fluctuate, and your moods may be erratic.
• You also put on water weight. For every gram of refined carbs that we consume, our bodies retain approximately 2.7 grams of water.
• Refined carbs don’t have the nutrition necessary for a healthy vibrant skin because refined carbs contain no moisturizing fatty acids or beneficial antioxidants.
• Refined carbs setup an inflammatory response throughout your body and inflammation equals ageing.
• When your body isn’t receiving the nutrition it needs for optimum maintenance and rebuilding, you are far more vulnerable, for example, to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, joint problems, and Alzheimer’s disease.

However, not all carbohydrates are bad! Complex carbohydrates are excellent foods for energy as their nutritional value is released moer slowly into our system, so we feel fuller for longer, don’t get so hungry and don’t get the sugar rush. Complex carbohydrates are often referred to as starch or starchy foods. They are found naturally in foods and also refined in processed foods.

Complex carbohydrates as natural starches are found in:

• bananas
• barley
• beans
• brown rice
• chickpeas
• lentils
• nuts
• oats
• parsnips
• potatoes
• root vegetables
• sweet corn
• wholegrain cereals
• wholemeal breads
• wholemeal cereals
• wholemeal flour
• wholemeal pasta
• yams

Tips:

• Large carbohydrate meals will make you slow and sleepy so save your big pasta meal for the evening.
• Cut down on the amount of refined white flour products in your diet such as white bread, pizza and white pasta and rice. The refining process produces simple carbohydrates and many vitamins and minerals are lost.
• Use high fibre wholegrain cereals as part of your breakfast, and use wholemeal bread for your toast.

• Skin Care

Does your diet affect your skin? Absolutely! The right nutrients give you a vibrancy and youthful well-being. You just look healthy and fit. It impacts on your life and your ability to function free of illness and disease.

But even if you eat well, you still have to contend with the ravages of sun exposure and the cumulative damage your skin has experienced. Even the best nutritional program can’t erase textural changes, rosacea, acne, lines and wrinkles, and brown spots. The good news is that we have topical agents that can produce nearly miraculous results.

New technologies are abundant, and we can rebuild the epidermis, signal specific responses and to some extent we can even reset your skin’s ageing clock. You can spend obscene amounts of money on products that don’t produce measurable results or you can spend reasonable sums on products that have medical validation. Today, there are products that can visibly transform your skin.