Food for Thought

The top beauty secret amongst all experts is that great makeup starts with great skin care. Implementing a balanced and functional skin care routine is just half the battle. The other key component of great skin is your diet. It's clear that what you put into your body is going to have an impact on how your body looks and feels. Simply put, people who want to have skin with a healthy natural glow need to pay closer attention to what types of foods they are putting into their bodies.
Antioxidants prevent your skin from aging by fighting off free radical damage. Examples of common antioxidants include glutathione, beta-carotene, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Selenium, alpha lipoic acid, melatonin and Vitamin E. The United Stated Department of Agriculture has put together a list of the 20 foods with the highest concentration of antioxidants.


The USDA's list:
1. Small red beans
2. Wild blueberries
3. Red Kidney beans
4. Pinto beans
5. Cultivated Blueberries
6. Cranberries
7. Artichokes
8. Blackberries
9. Prunes
10. Raspberries
11. Strawberries
12. Red Delicious & Granny Smith apples
13. Pecans
14. Sweet cherries
15. Black plums
16. Russet potatoes
17. Black beans
18. Plums
19. Gala apples
20. Walnuts

All of the above foods are excellent choices so think about which ones you can easily add to your diet to get closer to a flawless complexion. Another way pack in antioxidants in one sitting is through a delicious salad. People think of salads as lettuce and tomato, but you can make so many interesting salads with so many personalities by mixing all sorts of healthy foods together. I love fresh greens with grilled chicken, fresh veggies, diced boiled eggs and berries.

Incorporating these foods to your diet should go a long way towards improving the youthfulness of your skin. However, it’s just as important to cut out foods from your diet as it is to add foods if you do want healthy skin. Personally this will be a challenge for me because salt is my best friend but like most I also desire more supple skin. Pretty In The City with Nelvy readers let's work together and slowly reduce intake of caffeine, bad fats, salt, sugar, etc. to maximize the healthy benefits our skin. Last but not least, do yourself a favor and drink more water! The most essential thing that you can consume is you want great-looking skin is water. Truly the more water you drink, the more you flush out all the other toxins and the healthier your skin is going to appear.


Smooches,
Pretty In The City with Nelvy