Healthy, Glowing Skin

Your skin reflects what's going on inside your body. Certain types of food will not only satisfy your hunger and help maintain your health, but can make you and your skin look younger, radiant and more beautiful.

Types of food that help the skin are fresh fruit and vegetables; seafood high in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, mackerel, and tuna; eggs, raw almonds and oils such as flaxseed oil, olive oil and virgin coconut oil.

Sea vegetables such as seaweed and spirulina are also very beneficial for the skin. Also, drinking a lot of water is the key to keeping the skin moisturized.

Include lots of dark green leafy vegetables like spinach and romaine lettuce for vitamin E, and red, orange and yellow vegetables for vitamins A (beta-carotene) and C.

Make an effort to eat your fruit and vegetables raw as much as possible for the most nutrition. One way is to eat at least one raw salad each day. Steam or stir-fry your vegetables to retain vitamins if you want them cooked. This way, you'll get the most antioxidants, vitamins and minerals for healthy skin.

Eat seaweed. There are many varieties of seaweed and all are excellent for your skin. For example, phytessence wakame seaweed is used in Japan to increase the skin's elasticity. Nori, used for sushi, stimulates skin cells and has anti-aging properties.

Fresh juices extracted from vegetables are known to keep the skin blemish-free, especially carrot juice. Drinking too much carrot juice results in orange-looking skin from the beta-carotene and is temporary. 100% carrot juice delays wrinkles and makes your skin glow.

Eat an apple a day to keep the skin clear and fight acne. Pineapple and papaya have enzymes which heal and exfoliate the skin--eat or apply the fruit as a mask for 10 minutes, then rinse.

Flaxseed oil manufacturers recommend taking one tablespoon of flaxseed oil per 100 lbs of weight daily. Put it in a salad dressing or take straight up. Within a week you'll notice your skin is no longer dry but more smooth and supple.

Organic, virgin coconut oil seals moisture into the skin. Make sure it says "virgin" on the label---ordinary coconut oil does not provide the same benefits. It contains many vitamins, especially vitamin E. Applying coconut oil to the skin before going to bed helps to keep the skin flawless.It prevents wrinkling, naturally exfoliates and helps eliminate and heal skin diseases such as eczema. You'll find this type of coconut oil in health food stores or online.

Water moisturizes the skin from the inside out, preventing wrinkles. Drinking enough water each day-- half your weight in ounces of water daily--keeps the bowels moving and clears your system of toxins, preventing pimples. Add fresh lemon to your water if you don't like its taste. Lemon makes the body more alkaline--also important for your health and beauty.