Foods to Avoid & Foods to Add to Improve Your Skin

Hello my joyous readers!

In this video, I share the top foods to limit if you want beautiful, glowing skin. Remember that the benefit of cutting out these foods goes beyond simply improving your skin health. There are limitless benefits including improved energy from better digestion and so on.

After watching the video, you now know some of the foods that increase inflammation and thereby prevent you from having beautiful skin, let's talk about foods to add to your diet that are anti-inflammatory.

1. Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries. All three of these dark berries contain anti-inflammatory vitamin C. This beauty vitamin is the goddess when it comes to skin's beauty. Not only does it aid in reducing inflammation but it also acts as an antioxidant to actually protect the skin and prevent free radicals from promoting premature wrinkling. It keeps your blood vessels healthy too. I prefer vitamin C in the whole form rather than a straight up ascorbic acid because of the accessory nutrients that increase the uptake at a cellular level. What I mean by that is... eat the whole food as opposed to megadosing with supplements.

2. Dark Leafy Greens: Kale, arugula, spinach, dark green or purple leafy lettuce. Leafy greens are bursting with alkaline nutrients such as calcium and magnesium. These nutrients have an alkalinizing effect on the body. These greens are also full of anti-inflammatory carotenoids too. Whether you juice them, eat them raw or toss them in a smoothie or stir-fry, after just a few short weeks of eating more leafy greens you may notice a remarkable difference in your skin's moisture, glow and colour (reduced redness).

3. Fermented foods: Kefir, miso, kombucha, fermented vegetables like pickles (not the typical pickles you buy at the grocery store), sauerkraut and more. This is where you can make 1 exception if no dairy sensitivities are present because kefir (fermented cow's milk dairy) is extremely high in good bacteria. However, I only recommend this if you have no sensitivities, you only eat organic and plain flavoured to avoid excess sugar. Fermented foods are a great source of good bacteria which help build immunity and control infections that are often an underlying cause of inflammation and skin problems.

4. Hemp seeds (shelled) and hemp oil. A Canadian superfood! Hemp products are not only delicious but they are nutritious. Full of anti-inflammatory skin-loving nutrients: omega-3 fatty acids (ALA) and gamma-linoleic acid (GLA). Remember to look for unrefined organic oils. My favourite way to eat hemp seeds are to simply sprinkle on a salad or sprinkle on crackers or toast. They are also lovely mixed into guacamole. Hemp oil is best used as a salad dressing. This is not an oil you cook with.