The foods we put in our bodies, nourish our skin from the inside. The wrong foods can dull skin, promote acne and even deplete skin of nourishment, increasing the appearance of aging.
Keep in mind, our skin is a the largest organ of our body. Just as we need to focus on proper diet for a healthy heart, we should consider how the things we eat affect the health and appearance of our skin.
Clean eating is key to beautiful, healthy skin!
You have heard the term "clean eating" over and over in regards to weight loss and reducing the symptoms of inflammation in the body. Let's refresh on what it means to "eat clean":
- Focus on eating whole foods that are consumed as they occur in nature (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and other legumes).
- Avoid processed foods which are made or altered in a factory and packaged for you to open and consume or heat-and-serve.
- Avoid any canned items
- Remove processed sugar from your diet, replace with natural forms of sweetener such as honey or stevia (hint: keep the use of sweeteners to very small amounts as to not trigger that sugar craving pleasure switch in your brain)
- Eat only naturally occurring carbs such as fruits, vegetables, beans, oats, and nuts while avoiding things like pasta, bread and sweets
- Eat hormone and antibiotic free meats only
It is helpful to purchase organic versions of your foods whenever possible especially with meats. Most of the meat we purchase in the local grocery store contains hormones and antibiotics which have very adverse affects on our bodies over the long-term. The hormones injected into animals to make them grow faster or help them reproduce,will alter the hormones in your body.
As we all know, when our hormones are not balanced, our skin shows it. That acne that pops up during a woman's monthly cycle is a result of hormones. The sagging skin of aging is due to reduced estrogen. Science suggests that synthetic hormones are one of the factors causing an increase in erectile dysfunction in men at earlier ages than ever. Hormones matter, and the do not belong in our foods!
Eat Clean!
Searching for organic foods will at first, bring some sticker-shock. Keep in mind that most whole foods are cheap compared to the processed, ready-to-eat foods you've been buying. Things like dry beans and fresh produce go a long way and are inexpensive. When you switch to buying whole foods and organic items you are not spending more at the grocery, you are reallocating grocery funds to cleaner choices.
Benefits of clean eating:
- Reduce incidents of disease and inflammatory illnesses
- Lose weight
- Sleep better
- Reduce anxiety
- Better quality of life (more energy, enhanced mental clarity, less depression)
Clean eating will enhance the effectiveness of your all natural skin care products by working from the inside while your natural products are working on the outside. By starting on a journey of clean eating, you will boost your skin's ability to renew, rejuvenate and be amazing!
