Nourishing Your Skin From Within

Being a teenager is hard enough without having to deal with unpredictable skin blemishes. Puberty unleashes a volatile cocktail of hormones on the body and acne is one of the many issues you may be dealing with.

The good news is that you can work in harmony with your body and support your skin by nourishing it from the inside out, simply by eating the right food. It also helps to limit the foods that feed the acne (ie sugar, fizzy drinks and highly processed foods) think about making some simple switches from juice (laced with sugar) to water or herbal tea/iced tea. Swapping biscuits and sweet snacks for a handful of nuts and a banana (there are some amazing healthy treats you can make at home as well.

Vitamin A improves skin tone by supporting collagen. Fibrous proteins collagen and elastin are important structural parts of the skin, they are responsible for its elasticity and plumpness. Vitamin D's active form (known as calcitriol) helps skin cell growth, repair and function as well as aiding the immune system in fighting free radicals. Free radicals cause damage to DNA and cells, this is known as 'oxidative stress’.

Foods good for skin health include; eggs, spinach, salmon (& other oily fish), mushrooms, sweet potato, seeds, avocado, asparagus and broccoli. This is by no means an exhaustive list but it’s a good start.

I must give a mention to one ingredient in particular. Shiitake mushrooms are a bit of a superhero ingredient for skin health, not only high in vitamins A&D and the mineral selenium, they also contribute to the production of the antioxidant glutathione peroxidase. I know when I was a teenager the thought of eating mushrooms wasn’t appealing at all, so if you’re not a fan of mushrooms there are different ways to get the benefit - check out a good independent health food store for advice on what products they offer with these properties, I’ve even seen hot chocolate made with mushroom powder!

Obviously I would advise you to eat them, chop them up really finely and add them to bolognese or curries etc.

Check out my social feed for more healthy food inspiration @loveskitchenuk