Hey Gorgeous! Are you looking for some fantastic (and easy!) tips for glowing skin?
I’ve got you covered.
As a Holistic Nutritionist, there are a few initial recommendations I make to clients when they’re looking for fabulously glowing, clear skin.
Here are the top 3 tips for glowing skin. At the end of this article, you’ll also find a smoothie recipe with skin-nourishing minerals and vitamins.
3 Tips for Glowing Skin:
First: Know that what you eat impacts your skin because what you eat impacts every area of how you feel, and what your body is able to do.
If you want more energy then you’ll have to eat differently.
If you want to lose weight then you’ll have to eat differently.
And if you want clear, glowing skin, you’ll have to eat differently.
Your base diet makes or breaks your ability to feel, look or say, “YES!” to everything you do.
That’s why I’m so passionate about helping you change your diet, in ways that light you up and support your goals!
Tip #1 For Glowing Skin: Drink More Water
Drink more water for glowing skin.
Part of keeping your skin looking youthful and glowing, is making sure it’s hydrated. So make sure to drink enough water each day for your body.
Challenge to put this tip into place:
Drink half of your body weight in pounds, in ounces of water today. That’s how much water your body needs to thrive.
If you weigh 200 pounds, that’s 100 ounces of water. If you weigh 150 pounds, that’s 75 ounces of water per day.
Tip #2 For Glowing Skin: Eat More Fiber
Eating more fiber is one of the best tips for glowing skin.
Eating more fiber (alongside drinking more water) is one of the best, natural, long-term ways to keep your liver clean. When you have a clean liver, your blood is cleaner. And when your blood is cleaner, your skin is out-of-this-world clear and bright.
Challenge to put this tip into place:
Track a day of your regular eating on MyFitnessPal or a similar, free app.
I like to see my clients eat 25 to 35 grams of fiber each day, depending on their unique goals. Are you hitting that goal each day? It’ll make a BIG difference to your skin.
Tip #3 For Glowing Skin: Eat More Pre-Vitamin A
Making sure that you’re eating enough pre-vitamin A is an amazing one of my tips for glowing skin.
Pre-vitamin A is the plant-based version of vitamin A that your body converts into Vitamin A.
The reason I prefer clients loading up with this version of the nutrient, is that you give your body the chance to convert what it needs, and any excess of the vitamin will be used as an antioxidant to protect the cells (which includes the skin cells). When you have more antioxidants in your body, your cells are better protected and you have less signs of aging.
Plus, pre-vitamin A is safe for women even if they’re planning to conceive/are pregnant (whereas high doses of pre-formed (liver-based) Vitamin A are not recommended anywhere near pregnancy/conception).
Vitamin A helps the skin cells turnover. That means newer, fresher skin cells more often, which means mega-glowing skin (naturally).
Challenge to put this tip into place:
Eat pre-vitamin A-dense foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach and kale.
Superfood # 3 in my free handout, “7 Superfoods for Energy” is also an awesome addition to your diet for glowing skin.
(Don’t already have “7 Superfoods for Energy”? You can click here to get it).
Lastly, try this smoothie out for glowing skin!
It might seem weird at first that something so great for your skin isn’t a cream.
This is something I hear all the time.
But what you take in on the inside is used to rebuild all the great stuff you’ve got on the outside.
For example, athletes may focus on taking in protein after workouts to give their body some of the building blocks to repair their muscles. Or pregnant women may take in extra folic acid to build strong nerves (and to prevent against neural tube defects) in their growing child.
This smoothie is created to give you the building blocks to repair and renew your skin, and it’s loaded in antioxidants to prevent oxidative stress [signs of aging]. Happy Glowing!
Glowing Skin Smoothie:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of aloe vera (either the insides of the plant which can be found at some health food stores, or the prepared juice sold in glass bottles in the juice section of health food stores).
2/3 cup of frozen blueberries
1/2 cup of cucumber, with the skin (I used organic english cucumbers this time)
Juice of 1 lemon or lime
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup well-packed spinach (likely closer to 1 cup lightly packed spinach)
Optional superfood additions to power up this smoothie even further:
1/2 tsp. camu camu berry powder or
1/4 tsp. ascorbic acid (vitamin C powder)
1/4 tsp. maca root powder
Method:
Add all ingredients into a blender, and blend on high until it’s smooth. If you don’t have a high-speed blender, then it could take a little longer to blend out the blueberry skins into a creamy texture.
Why is this smoothie SO beneficial to your skin?
Aloe vera is soothing to the skin externally, and to the intestines internally. It’s also anti-inflammatory, which can combat inflammatory symptoms like acne.
Cucumber contains a mineral called silica, which is an important part of collagen. Collagen is like the elastics in your skin that keep you wrinkle-free. When you eat cucumbers, though, it’s important to remember that the highest concentration of silica is right under the skin. So it’s best not to peel them.
The lemon or lime not only flavours the smoothie, but also adds vitamin C to the smoothie, another important component of collagen formation. This is the same reason for the optional superfood addition: camu camu powder – it’s one of the highest food sources of vitamin C on the planet!
The blueberries are also a source of vitamin C, but they’re put into the smoothie for taste and their anti-inflammatory phytonutrients (plant nutrients). They’re also an excellent source of antioxidants, to prevent against disease, and in this case, skin damage related to aging.
The spinach is a POWERHOUSE of nutrition, providing antioxidants, vitamin C and provitamin A to promote faster skin-cell turnover.
Happy Blending!
Nathalie
Holistic Nutritionist
Sources:
Book: Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by: Michael Murray, ND, and Joseph Pizzorno, ND
Book: The World’s Healthiest Foods by: George Mateljan
Website: www.nuskin.com
Website: www.livestrong.com
Hey there,
Is it safe to have this smoothie on an every-other-day basis?
Also, can I add in extra ‘flavour boosters’ such as greek yogurt, cinnamon, honey, etc?
Hello,
I’m sorry it took me some time to respond. It took me a little while to figure out the questions section of this website. I’m all set up now for future questions, mind you! 🙂
As with starting anything new that’s healthy, absolutely! If you have any symptoms that arise that are severe, stop, and if you have any mild symptoms that last over a week, stop and seek advise from a healthcare practitioner.
Otherwise, enjoy it! Add whatever you’d like to it! I find it best to try a recipe exactly as it says the first time, and then to start experimenting once you know the flavours.
Every other day sounds great, and be sure to include lots of other great smoothies, too, to ensure you don’t get bored of one repetitive smoothie!
Thanks for your question!
In health and happiness,
Nathalie
Hey Nathalie, just transferring my question onto this thread so that others could benefit from any similar experiences.
Firstly, I’ve started drinking this smoothie just 7 – 8 days ago and I already noticed an improvement in the complexion of my skin and how it enhances my overall skin tone, sort of like a radiating glow. The berries and the spinach will do that for ya it seems.
Another question that is related to skin care and nutrition:
I am currently suffering from mild to moderate acne (specifically blemishes, no pimples such as blackheads or white heads). The dark spots are not too noticeable but up close they are somewhat visible. I have a fairly clean diet rich in protein, fruits and vegetables, and intake slow digesting carbs such as pasta and brown rice. My current skin regiment is water-based toner + all natural Aveeno facewash + Vichi non-comodogenic oil-free moisturizer on a daily basis and Vichi tri-active mask twice a week to regenerate new skin cells. Prior to this skin care regiment, I was put on a prescription called ‘Clindoxyl’ from my family doctor, and after 6 weeks of use, I did not see any significant improvements in my skin, rather I saw redness and experienced dry skin, but these side-effects are gone since I’ve stopped using the product. I’ve decided to let my skin heal naturally through time and nutrition, and that leads to my question, is there any particular food or fruit, a change to my diet, or a change to my current skin care regime that you would make to speed up the process of clearing up these blemishes/dark spots. I have never experienced acne problems up to this point, I’ve always been blessed with clear skin and I am a 21 year old male.
Any help is sincerely appreciated.
Thanks in advance 🙂
Hello,
So great to hear you’ve been using this recipe! And even better that you’ve started noticing results! Congratulations to you on your journey towards health!!
As for your question, it’s hard to answer. Our bodies are amazing. And they’re so much more complicated than acne and facewash. I can definitely send you towards some of the resources I would use if I had a client with acne, although since I don’t know your history (as I would with a client who’s completed the proper intake with me) I can’t recommend that you make the changes. I’d recommend looking through my ideas, and having a conversation with the healthcare practitioner that you trust.
The story of cosmetics is an amazing short movie explaining some of the ways the cosmetics industry (which would include face washes, toners, etc.) may not be as clean as you’d hope – even in products labelled “all natural”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfq000AF1i8
The other resource I use with clients is: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
You can search ingredients in search bar, and find out what The Environmental Working Group thinks of the ingredient, and whether or not it’s toxic/inflammatory to your skin (which can have a slew of side effects including acne).
Lastly, since you’re a male, I’d focus on eating raw pumpkin seeds. They’re a great source of zinc, which can help your hormones take a non-acne-causing pathway, and essential fats, which can reduce inflammation.
Happy health!
Nathalie