We receive many questions about skin and skin problems. To address skin problems, it's important to identify the cause. It's not enough to just relieve symptoms on the surface of the skin. Common symptoms can include acne, eczema, rosacea, redness, inflammation, dry skin, or premature aging. These symptoms may indicate an imbalance in the body that needs to be adjusted. To achieve younger, firmer, better, and more radiant skin, there are things you can incorporate into your lifestyle.
4 things to consider for younger skin
How is your digestive health? In nutritional medicine, skin is often related to gut and intestinal health.
2. How do you handle stress? Stress affects your general health, including both digestion and skin.
3. What do you eat daily? Most of us need to review our dietary choices to keep our skin happy. This doesn't mean you need to be super strict, but rather that the daily, consistent choices are most important.
4. Do you use natural skincare without harmful ingredients?
For the healthiest possible skin, we need to minimize harmful additives.
7 foods, supplements, and superfoods that support healthy skin
Healthy gut bacteria
...because health begins in the gut!
We get many beneficial gut bacteria from the right diet and fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso soup, tempeh, kefir, and some from yogurt.
But this isn't always enough. If you have a significant imbalance or have taken antibiotics for an extended period, it's recommended to take a probiotic supplement (lactic acid bacteria), which can be one of the most important supplements you can choose.
2. Omega fatty acids
Eat plenty of good fats such as avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, algae oil, avocado oil, hemp oil, flaxseed oil, borage oil, sea buckthorn oil, black cumin oil, and other oils you enjoy daily. Omega-3 fatty acids can help combat red, dry, or itchy skin. Omega-3 appears to improve the skin's barrier function and reduce inflammation, which is a common problem with acne and psoriasis. Many swear that Omega 3 helps with eczema, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis.
3. B vitamins
We've all probably heard that B vitamins are good for both skin and hair. AFA blue-green algae and spirulina are rich in B vitamins, as well as spinach, parsley, peas, broccoli, asparagus, avocado, legumes, yogurt, eggs, and seafood. You can also take a B-complex supplement.
Several B vitamins are used therapeutically for various skin conditions, which you can read more about in Cecilia's (Morotsliv) blog here.
4. Zinc
Zinc is required for collagen production, a connective tissue essential for skin repair and regeneration. Zinc is a powerful mineral in preventing wrinkles, sun damage, inflammation (acne, rosacea) and pigmentation disorders (melasma).
Try to eat zinc-rich foods such as pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds, various nuts, chickpeas, kidney beans, cocoa powder, spinach and spirulina. Alternatively, you can take zinc supplements.
Remember:
Eczema and acne can be caused by a deficiency of zinc and B vitamins in the body.
5. Sulfur
Sulfur gives skin luster and glow. Many use sulfur to combat acne. Where do we find sulfur? In healthy greens like arugula, kale, watercress, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi, as well as in maca. Alternatively, you can take a sulfur supplement such as MSM which is often referred to as the beauty mineral. MSM is not sulfur itself, but it is an organic compound that contains sulfur. It's the same sulfur that occurs naturally in the body and in vegetables. MSM is said to support healthy bones and promote skin, hair, and nails.
6. Silica
Silica is a crucial mineral that keeps your skin happy. Silica-rich foods include green beans, nettles, oats, millet, artichokes, asparagus, beetroots, romaine lettuce, baby spinach, herbs like horsetail and mineral water. We can also take mineral supplements or mineral drops. Mineral drops contain both silica and sulfur. Other mineral-rich products are AFA algae, spirulina, and seaweed.
7. Antioxidants
We've all heard that antioxidants equal "anti-aging" and that they counteract skin aging. Important antioxidants include Carotenoids, Q10, Resveratrol, Astaxanthin, vitamin E and C. How do you get plenty of antioxidants? We can eat carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, cabbage, and dandelion greens for vitamin A. Yellow bell peppers, kale, papaya, pineapple, berries, acai, camu camu, kiwi, goji berries, and broccoli for vitamin C. Hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, spinach, avocado, and vegetable oils for vitamin E. Yes, choose everything colorful! We can also add these nutrients through supplements to get larger amounts. Astaxanthin can be found, for example, in the fantastic Biosuperfood.
Beverages that support healthy skin
Consider drinking organic green tea, horsetail tea or Spring Dragon tea, 1-2 cups per day. Green tea protects the skin from sun damage and has been shown in studies to reduce redness – but it's important to choose a high-quality organic green tea without sugar. And don't forget, clean water is also very important for skin hydration and detoxification!
