Beauty and the Beets

Posted by Diane Hoch in Healthy Eating, Newsletters with No Comments

Super Foods For a More Youthful Appearance

Oils, fruits, minerals, and other foods have been used for thousands of years to enhance physical beauty and reverse the signs of dry skin and aging. These super, beauty-enhancing foods are Mother Nature’s predecessors of the expensive skin creams and beauty treatments that we see so widely marketed today. Using foods to make our hair and skin softer and younger looking has all but become a lost art…but, fortunately, this art has not been lost completely.

Radiant Health = Radiant Appearance

Certain foods can be used both in topical application and consumed in deliciously prepared dishes to enhance both physical health and create radiant beauty. Just what are the best foods to eat for healthy, glowing skin? And which foods can be used to create powerful anti-aging skin preparations?

Delicious and nutritious food plays a vital role in radiant health. The link between diet and outward appearance is well established. Signs of premature aging in the lines on a smoker’s face are obvious—not to mention the internal havoc that ingesting toxins plays in the body. And eating the wrong kind of food is equally disastrous for the physical appearance. Too much alcohol consumption leads to puffy eyes and dry skin and hair. Eating a lot of sugary junk food leads to overweight and excess facial baggage too.

When your body is out of whack, one of the first places you’ll notice any imbalance is on your skin. Research shows that there are super, “beauty” foods that can be incorporated into your diet to bring your health into alignment and increase your own, natural radiance. These same foods can even be used on your skin as a moisture mask or scrub to restore elasticity, clear imperfections and encourage new cell growth.

Super “Beauty” Foods

Omega-3 Oils

Fish, nuts, seeds and cold-pressed oils (like olive, flax and grape seed) are rich sources ofomega-3 oils and are super-beneficial for treating dry skin. Omega-3’s can soothe away fine lines, keep skin moist and even help prevent sun damage and skin cancer.

Speaking of oils, one of nature’s most healthful oils comes from the avocado. This monounsaturated fat has a number of powerful health benefits when eaten as a food. Avocados are high in fiber and studies show that they lower cholesterol, are highly alkalinizing and add deliciousness to any salad.

These oils, alone or in combination, can be applied to the face and hair to replenish moisture and increase a more youthful appearance.

Anti-Oxidant Foods

Pollutants, toxins, and other harmful influences can set off a chain reaction in the body leading to the creation of free radicals, damaged molecules that can impair the body’s cellular function, including skin cells.

You can fight free radicals by eating foods high in anti-oxidant such as berries, beans, and leafy greens. Especially dark blue or purple foods like blueberries, raspberries, and purple cabbage as these contain anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant. This particular substance has been shown to increase circulation bringing skin the nutrients it needs to form new cells, collagen, and elastin–this means better, more youthful-looking skin!

Foods that contain beta-carotenes like apricots, carrots, and beets contain powerful antioxidants contribute to greatly enhanced physical health. We change these beta-carotenes into Vitamin A, which helps out with the health, vitality and appearance of skin, eyes, hair and other bodily systems.

Apricot seeds, for example, can be ground and added to oatmeal and used as a facial scrub. This sloughs off dead skin cells to encourage new cell production and boost natural collagen leading to disappearing wrinkles and a dewy-fresh glow.

Eat Your Greens

If we eat too much of the wrong kind of food (greasy, fast-food, sugary snacks, etc.) the body becomes too acidic. Our natural detoxification systems are impaired by an acidic condition, resulting in stored toxins that can show up on your face. Select alkaline producing foods, such as kale, lemons, beet tops, and spinach, and watch your appearance improve in a very short period of time. Because toxins will be more easily flushed from your system, you may notice your waistline shrink. New skins cells will more readily replace old, dead cells and you can witness how quickly your hair and nails will strengthen and improve.

If your skin tends towards acne or breakouts, parsley and peppermint can be made into a great facial astringent that can clear skin imperfections.

Turning Your Kitchen Into Natural Day Spa

These are just some examples of the marvelous, anti-aging and beauty-enhancing foods in Mother Nature’s cornucopia of foods that can improve your health from the outside-in, when applied topically, as well as from the inside out, when eaten in delicious, beautifully prepared dishes.

When you learn to use foods in some of the ways we have suggested here, your kitchen can be your own personal Day Spa, and your greatest weapon against the signs of age, sun damage and environmental pollutants. If you give these super, beauty foods a chance, you may find you can save yourself a bundle on commercial creams and serums–and you’ll be shaving years off your face in the bargain!

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