Taking care of your skin goes through the plate! Vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids are essential to have a radiant glow 365 days a year. Here is a short guide to the essential ingredients of your beauty.
To be beautiful, you must first nourish your skin from the inside by choosing the right allies.
Antioxidants: anti-aging allies
Antioxidants are used to neutralize bad free radicals that accelerate skin aging. These harmful compounds result from the normal cellular activity of the skin and all organs. But their production is greatly increased by smoking, physical or psychological stress, and exposure to sunlight. Summer is therefore the time to fill up with beta-carotene, vitamins E and C, selenium, zinc, and polyphenols. Most of these antioxidant nutrients are found in fruits and vegetables. By eating the 5 recommended servings per day, you optimize both your beauty and your health! They are essential in both winter and summer!
Beta-Carotene
It is the orange pigment that colours the carrots. Consumed daily, it eventually brightens the complexion. In the body, it is transformed into vitamin A, which contributes to the hydration of the skin and activates the renewal of dermal cells. Apart from carrots, the rich foods are apricot, fresh or dry, melon, mango, and yellow peach. Beta-carotene shares its antioxidant activity with other carotenoid pigments found in spinach, fennel, kale, and lycopene from tomatoes.
Vitamin E
It contributes to the suppleness of the skin, by protecting the lipids (fats) present in the superficial layer of the epidermis from oxidation. You can find it in fruits and vegetables, in particular, kiwi, mango, avocado, fennel, peas, salsify, spinach, oils and margarines, as well as almonds and hazelnuts (1 handful of 30 g almonds represents 60% of an adult's recommended daily intake).
Vitamin C
Anti-oxidant, it also contributes to the synthesis in the dermis of collagen, a protein essential to the skin's elasticity. It is concentrated in citrus fruits, kiwi, blackcurrant, strawberries, cabbage, spinach, fennel, and pepper. It is a heat-sensitive vitamin, so try to eat these raw foods, or just cook them for as long as necessary.
Selenium and Zinc
These trace elements are mainly of animal origin, selenium in fish and seafood, zinc in red meat and offal. In addition, focus on whole grain foods and dried vegetables.
Polyphenols
There are several hundred of them, distributed among plants, fruits, vegetables, teas, cocoa and chocolates, coffees. Among them, anthocyanins, red pigments from raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, black grapes, promote skin nutrition by strengthening the resistance of the small blood capillaries that irrigate the dermis.
Essential fatty acids: for a good hydration in summer
They are essential for the suppleness and elasticity of the skin. They constitute a kind of lipid cement between the cells of the corneal layer (outer layer) of the epidermis. They thus prevent the skin from drying out, by preventing excessive water evaporation. It is in winter, when the skin is exposed to bad weather conditions, cold, wind, that you must pay particular attention to your intake of essential fatty acids.
To have your daily quota of linoleic acid, from the omega 6 family, you only need 1.5 to 2 tablespoons, walnut oil, soya, sunflower or corn. The other important fatty acid is gamma-linolenic acid. The body is able to make it from linoleic acid, but not from the skin. To find it directly in the diet, it is necessary to use borage, evening primrose, blackcurrant seeds, or kiwi seeds oils. You can find these oils in organic stores; you must reserve them for seasoning. Simpler, the new "yoghurts" enriched with borage oil, or capsules of borage or evening primrose oil to be taken as cures during the changes of season: 500 to 1000 mg per day for 1 month.
Food supplements to keep your skin looking beautiful
Do not hesitate to take cures, depending on the seasons and to fight against oxidative stress. Knowing that antioxidants act in synergy, choose a complete product that combines plant extracts, vitamins, trace elements and fatty acids.