Beauty, Skin Care, and Beautiful Smiles

By La Plata Physical Therapy, Inc.

La Plata Physical Therapy, Inc.

. http://www.laplatapt.com/

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Beauty, Skin Care, and Beautiful Smiles

With the end of winter approaching us, it’s time to start preparing for warmer weather and showing a little more skin. It’s important to make sure your skin is as healthy as it can be leading into the season and that goes beyond just making sure to apply sunscreen and other lotions to improve skin care. You can also help improve the health and appearance of your skin by what you eat in your daily diet. Luckily for all of us, there are many common foods that are already loaded with vitamins and nutrients that can help our skin look its best.

When choosing foods this time of the year you want to focus on those high in Omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, carotenoids, sulforaphane, and vitamins A, C, and E. Omega-3 fatty acids help keep skin moisturized, reduce inflammation, and help combat side effects and redness of skin conditions like psoriasis. 

Omega-3 can be found in high quantities in walnuts, avocados, and fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and herring. These kinds of fish are also dense with vitamin E, which is an important antioxidant, and zinc which helps regulate new skin cell growth, promotes wound healing, as well as combats bacteria. Carotenoids keep skin healthy by acting as a natural sunblock from UV rays, which can cause sunburn, cell death, and exacerbate dry wrinkled skin. Carotenoids, specifically beta-carotene, can be found in tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, sweet potatoes, oranges, carrots, and spinach to name a few. 

Many foods containing carotenoids also have vitamin C which is helpful in not only fighting colds this time of year, but creating collagen in our skin that acts as a structural protein in keeping skin strong and healthy. Sulforaphane is popular in broccoli and other leafy greens and has been found in some studies to help protect against skin cancers. 

If you’re looking for a treat within your diet, dark chocolate (particularly 70% cocoa and above) and red wine is rich in antioxidants and resveratrol that improve blood flow, skin texture, and reduces the effect of aging.

Thankfully for us foods that are good for our skin also taste good too. Adding these foods and focusing on increasing these vitamins and nutrients in your diet will have many positive impacts on the health and appearance of your skin. So, when the first nice day of spring comes around remember these tips and enjoy the skin you’re in.