How To Tell If You Are Eating Your Beauty Food
A good way to see what to eat for beauty is by looking at what manufacturers put into cosmetic and skincare products.
They just love to tell us about the vitamins they have added, or the antioxidants, or the omega-3 oils, or the minerals. It’s as if these are exotic ingredients they have just discovered. For instance, Dr. Perricone’s Concentrated Restorative Treatment “is formulated with high levels of Vitamin C” and his Face Finishing Moisturizer is “formulated with powerful antioxidants.”
Vitamins and antioxidants are found in abundance in everyday foods, of course. But somehow, they become glamorous (and costly) when they are included in skincare products.
One of my favorite beauty foods is cabbage. Nothing particularly glamorous about cabbage, I agree, but it is packed with skin-friendly goodies at a fraction the cost we pay for the same things in skincare formulations. Green leafy vegetables, brightly colored vegetables, and tea, especially white tea and green tea, are all similarly packed with antioxidants known to improve the condition of the skin – whether we eat or drink them, or put them directly onto our skin.
The same goes for olive oil and fish oils. Take sardines, for instance, another humble food, but one that is rich with omega-3 oils vital for healthy, glowing skin. Beans (high in zinc) and eggs, garlic and onions (high in sulfur) all deliver specific benefits for the skin at a fraction the cost of the same ingredients when present in the tiny quantities provided in specially-formulated skincare products.
The foods that are good for our beauty — fresh fruits, a variety of vegetables, oily fish like sardines and salmon, plus staples like beans and eggs — are also basic to being healthy and having abundant energy. There is nothing surprising about that.
The skin has the same needs as the rest of the organs of the body. It needs to be protected from free radicals and inflammation, and to be provided the basic building blocks that enable it to create new, healthy cells.
The rest of the body is nourished via the mouth. The skin can be nourished in just the same way. Once the nutrition is in place, we have a program that builds healthy, beautiful skin from the inside. We then need only simple care for our skin – a good cleanser, moisturizer, toner, and exfoliant are all that it takes.
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