The fact is that the best diet of general health is also the best for the health of the skin. This is because a healthy diet affects all parts of the body as well as slows down the aging process of all tissues including the skin. There are some aspects of diet which are more relevant for the health of your skin than others. The appropriate guidelines regarding this are listed below.
A healthy diet
Healthy Diet
We are always being told to eat a balanced and healthy diet on a regular basis, but we need to understand what that means in reality. Nutritionists define it as a diet that provides all the necessary nutrients at a level which is within an optimal range. The most beneficial range is that which stops protein malnutrition as well as vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Thus, eating a balanced diet means that you will not suffer from any kind of nutrient deficiencies or malnutrition. In case of a lot of people, adopting a normal balanced diet would tend to be a big improvement over their over consumption of fast food. In order to gain a high level of anti aging effects you would need to eat certain nutrients at levels which are much higher than those which are found in a simple balanced diet.
In case of most of us, the easiest and the most practical way to follow a balanced diet is to go with the recommendations found in the Daily Food Guides published by the US Department of Agriculture. The advice for normal adults includes:
- Eating enough vegetables and fruits while staying within your caloric needs. Two and a half cups of vegetables as well as two cups of fruit are the average recommended amounts for a 2,000 calorie per day diet. These amounts may vary depending on your specific calorie consumption per day.
- Eat different fruits and vegetables each day. Make sure that you pick from all five subgroups of vegetables (orange, dark green, legumes, starchy besides other vegetables). Eat from all the categories over the course of the week.
- Eat at least 3 ounces of products made with whole grains each day. The remaining grains that you eat should be either enriched or additional whole grain. At least half your daily intake of grain should be whole grain.
- Eat or drink a minimum of 3 cups of fat free or low fat milk products in a day.
- Eat a wide variety of foods in order to gain all the essential nutrients in high enough concentrations and maintain a healthy diet.
Eat Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
It is true that eating lots of fresh vegetables and fruit is good for you. Fresh produce is extremely important in maintaining healthy and young looking skin as fruit and vegetables contain a large number of antioxidants. The pigments that give fruit and vegetables their colour are strong antioxidants, which work to guard the skin from free radical damage which is caused by environmental factors. In order to keep the antioxidant levels in fruit and vegetables at their most potent, make sure that they are fresh and either raw or only lightly steamed. This is because heat can deactivate most antioxidants. Also, certain vegetables and fruit are much higher in antioxidants than others.
Liquids
Skin containing a high level of moisture is less likely to wrinkle. Hence drink lots of liquid throughout the day in order to make sure that your body is appropriately hydrated. Six to eight glasses of water is recommended for daily consumption. Coffee and carbonated drinks are not valid substitutes for water since caffeine is a diuretic. Also, be careful not to drink excessive amounts of liquid in the two to three hours before you go to sleep, as this can cause morning puffiness as well as stretch the skin.
Weight loss and weight gain cycles
Besides sunbathing in the noon sun, the fastest way to accrue wrinkles is gaining a lot of weight and then losing it again. Rapid weight gain and then loss causes wrinkles because the skin stretches with the extra poundage and then tends to sag and crinkle with the weight loss. The degree to which the skin sags post weight loss tends to get more severe with age. Genetics as well as other factors also play a role in how much the skin will wrinkle post weight loss. In case you want to have youthful skin, keep an eye on how many calories you consume. Cyclical weight gain and loss can have negative effects on other parts of your body too, not just the skin.
Preparation of Food
Cooking is all about treating foods with heat. The higher the temperature, the higher is the rate of chemical reactions. So every time a food is heated or reheated, the number of chemical reactions that take place cause further breakdown of nutrients besides greater oxidation. Simply, cooking drains food of many of its important nutrients as well as antioxidants besides increasing the amount of free radicals. Thus, we eat more age promoting free radicals as well as less healthy nutrients when we over cook food. This does not mean that we should avoid cooked food completely but it is healthier to eat food which is cooked for a shorter period of time besides avoiding foods that are deep fried or grilled.