Nutrition and skin health

Did you know that skin is the largest organ in your body? Like any organ, it needs nutrients to keep it healthy and in good condition. It is also the external indicator of how your body is doing on the inside. Although important, taking care of it purely from the outside isn’t going to be enough if you want a glowing healthy looking skin.

What you eat and how you digest your foods matter when it comes to keeping your skin radiant. Nutrition is fundamentally involved at every stage of skin development. Just think of the fact that every single cell in the body is made of the raw materials it gets from the foods you eat.

Vitamin C for example is required for the production of collagen, the mesh that keeps the skin together and gives it its strength and structure. No vitamin C, no new collagen produced.

Low levels of zinc in the diet can result in stretch marks and poor healing. Your skin is continuously renewing itself and old skin cells are being replaced. Zinc is needed for efficient production of the new cells.

What about wrinkles then – are there any magic nutrients to combat the laughter lines? The skin’s suppleness is mainly down to two components, collagen and elastin. They can both get damaged over time from pollution, radiation from the sun and from lack of nutrients.

Elastin is a bit like rubber band that helps your skin bounce back when you stretch it. If the rubber wears off, the skin can start sagging and wrinkles will form. The best nutrients that help protect collagen and elastin are vitamins A, C and E and selenium.

So what are the simple steps to healthier and younger looking skin?

Drink more water. Moisturising your skin from the inside is just as important as looking after it from the outside. Aim for at leat 1.5 litres a day.

Increase oily fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, trout, tuna) in your diet. Your skin also needs good fats to keep it supple.

Snack on nuts and seeds, another source of good fats. They are also rish in zinc, a mineral which is often low in people who suffer from acne.

Fresh vegetables - the more the better, in a variety of colours. They will give you an abundance of nutrients that protect your skin from ageing.

Enjoy fresh berries. They are an amazingly rich source of vitamins and minerals relative to their size. Have them as snacks, or mix into yoghurt or porridge to give a real boost to your breakfast.

Avoid excess sugar. Refined sugar can damage the structure of the skin, making it less flexible and more prone to wrinkling. Don't add sugar to drinks and cereals, and avoid or limit sugary foods like soft drinks, sweets, jams, cakes and biscuits.

Nutrition can also help with more serious skin complaints such as eczema, adult acne, and psoriasis. This is where the healthy diet is just the start – often more specific support of different body processes are needed for a sustained solution. In one case of severe adult acne that wasn’t responding to antibiotics we needed to support fat digestion, liver detox and adrenal function. After just a month on the programme there was a visible improvement in the condition of the skin. You can find out more about nutritional therapy on my web-site on www.sannahealth.com.