Diet for Healthy Skin | Everyday Health

If you have dry skin, you know that lotions and moisturizers help. But can certain dietary choices combat dry, itchy, scaly skin?

“The most important part of the skin barrier is lipids, including phospholipids, free fatty acids, cholesterol, and ceramides,” says Amy Newburger, MD, an attending physician in the Dermatology Department at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Medical Center. “Skin without enough fat in it has a protein predominance and is kind of like a mess made just of twigs with no glue between them.” Water easily escapes through a barrier without lipids, allowing skin to become dehydrated.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids are necessary for the production of intercellular lipids — the “glue” between the “twigs” in the stratum corneum, or surface of the skin. They also have an anti-inflammatory effect on irritated skin. Two types of fatty acids that are “essential” — that is, they must be obtained through the diet — are omega-3s, and omega-6s.

Foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids include fatty fish like salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, and sardines, as well as flaxseed oil, some types of eggs, and grass-fed beef. Evening primrose oil and borage seed oil, which are high in omega-6s, help hydrate the skin and prevent water from evaporating, says Leslie Baumann, director of the University of Miami Cosmetic Medicine and Research Institute. “If you don’t like fish or are pregnant and can’t eat it, omega-3 supplements are a good option.” Most Americans get enough omega-6s through their diet because they’re contained in corn and safflower oils.

While anecdotal success of fatty acids for alleviating dry skin has not been conclusively bolstered by research, several studies have shown significant positive effects: In a 2006 study of 50 patients with atopic dermatitis, 96 percent of those given capsules of evening primrose oil for five months showed notable reduction in intensity, itching, and dryness of the skin. In another study, of 29 elderly patients, borage seed oil supplements taken in pill form helped reduce water loss from the skin by 10.8 percent. And in a study of 118 infants with high risk of developing atopic dermatitis, those who were given borage seed oil and went on to develop the condition experienced a lower severity of the disorder than those in a placebo group. On the other hand, a 2006 meta-analysis of 22 studies that tested the effects of essential fatty acid supplementation found that no significant benefit was conferred on people with atopic dematitis by plant and fish oil supplements. More studies must be conducted before conclusions can be reached.

Vitamins and Minerals for Dry Skin

“Vitamin C is necessary for the function of the enzyme that causes collagen to form,” says Dr. Newburger, “and collagen acts as a sponge for moisture.”

Newburger adds that copper and zinc are also necessary. Together, vitamin C, zinc, and copper keep collagen denser, which in turn allows for plump, hydrated skin. “Any good multivitamin with trace minerals in it contains zinc and copper,” says Newburger. Zinc has also been found to have anti-inflammatory effects, which is vital for maintaining smooth skin.

Caffeine, Alcohol, and Dry Skin

While consuming caffeine is unlikely to dehydrate you, it does make the blood vessels constrict, which is why it’s used in eye creams (to reduce puffiness). “Long term, this means a reduced amount of blood flow and nutrients though the tissues,” warns Newburger. “And if you don’t have healthy circulation, you won’t have age-appropriate cell turnover.”

In the case of alcohol, Michele Murphy, a registered dietitian at NewYork Presbyterian–Weill Cornell Medical Center, explains that although it’s a diuretic, you’d need to be severely dehydrated to experience any noticeable changes. “The average person having a glass of wine with dinner every night and maintaining adequate fluid intake is unlikely to see any real difference,” she says. Contrary to popular belief, drinking large amounts of water does not affect skin. “The water we drink that’s processed internally isn’t going to impact the external look or feel of the skin,” Murphy says. Instead, it’s the skin’s outer layer that is essential for keeping moisture in.

Don’t Overdo It

If you’re already eating a balanced diet with sufficient fats, adding more fats or taking supplements is not necessarily a quick fix for dry skin. “If you’re deficient in fat or certain vitamins, it does have the potential to affect the look or feel of your skin,” says Murphy. “But supplementing beyond what the body needs has not been shown to improve skin.”

Dry Skin? 22 Foods To Eat To Soothe and Smooth — Eat This Not That

Washing your hands excessively? Doing the dishes more frequently? Dealing with breezy cold weather? All of these factors (and more) can leave you with dry, itchy skin. If you’ve tried various beauty regimens and still find it difficult to lock in moisture, it might be time to switch things up with your diet. (There’s a reason the trite-but-true saying goes, “You are what you eat.”) What you put into your body affects its appearance, including your skin. So when you eat certain hydrating, moisturizing foods, you can soothe and nourish dry skin.

Here’s what food for dry skin you should stock up on to heal, soothe, and smooth it. Your metabolism and waistline will thank you, too.

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We usually hear about the benefits of applying coconut topically via coconut oil, but eating the fruit can be beneficial as well. “Coconut’s healthy fats and antibacterial nutritional make-up keep acne flare-ups away and help keep your skin moisturized, which is key for looking healthier and younger,” explains Brooke Alpert, MS, RD, CDN registered dietitian and founder of B Nutritious.

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There’s a good reason we can’t stop singing the praises of avocado (even if you’re sick of seeing it on your Instagram feed). The blend of healthy fats, proteins, and vitamins make it a powerhouse for your body inside and out. “The protein helps support the structures of collagen and elastin in your skin, while the fat keeps your skin moisturized,” says Alpert. Check out these avocado recipes for some tasty ways to add the superfood to your diet.

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Oatmeal is rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals but, most importantly, it’s also a fiber-rich food. “Fiber is essential in helping prevent dead skin and alleviating redness,” says Alpert. The indigestible part of a carbohydrate that adds bulk to food, fiber also works to keep you feeling fuller longer (it swells in the stomach), meaning you’re less likely to snack on the sweets and salty foods that are often associated with dry skin and breakouts. For more starchy goodness that can help you slim down don’t miss these 25 Best Carbs for Weight Loss.

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Sweet potatoes help lock in moisture, give your skin a healthy glow, and protect it from damage thanks to their abundance of vitamin A. “Vitamin A can help with skin renewal and decrease dry, flaky skin. Sweet potatoes are a great option in the winter,” says Dr. Jennifer Lee, Board-certified Dermatologist, Medical Director REN Dermatology, and USANA Consultant. Alpert also recommends sweet potatoes to her clients because, aside from their nutritional and aesthetic benefits, their high vitamin C content helps fight off winter colds. Check out these sweet potato recipes for some yummy ways to add more of the root veggie to your weekly diet.

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“Salmon is an amazing food for dry skin as it’s full of omega-3 fats, which strengthen skin cells, can protect against cancer and help reduce inflammation,” says Alpert. “Certain fish like halibut and yellowfin tuna also contain selenium, which preserves elastin in the skin, helping your skin stay supple, smooth and tight.” If you’re not a fish eater, look for other foods that are rich in omega-3 (like chia seeds, walnuts, flaxseeds, egg yolks) to help preserve collagen, fight inflammation, and keep skin firm.

RELATED: 30 Best Anti-Inflammatory Foods

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The vitamin E and good fats of olive oil help moisturize skin, which is why it’s a popular skincare ingredient. Luckily, using the fat in your cooking will reap the same benefits.

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“Carrots are loaded with vitamin C, which is a precursor to collagen production,” explains Alpert. Collagen is essential for skin elasticity. “In addition, the vitamin A found in carrots attacks free radicals and can prevent wrinkles and uneven skin tone.” Vitamin A also stimulates fibroblasts, the cells responsible for developing the tissue that keeps skin firm and healthy.

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“While much of dry skin is affected by environmental factors (cold, dry, windy winter weather, long hot showers), there are foods that can help support your skin health. Foods high in vitamin C help boost immunity as well as collagen production. Look for foods like kale. Foods high in antioxidants, like leafy greens, help fight free radical damage in the skin,” says Dr. Lee.

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Nuts and seeds are power foods that host omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A, B, and E, monounsaturated fats, minerals, and antioxidants. “Foods full of vitamin E … such as nuts help retain moisture and strengthen the skin barrier,” Dr. Rhonda Q. Klein, MD/MPH tells us. Alpert also recommends nuts and seeds because of their nutritional density, ability to hydrate the skin, promotes its elasticity, helps regenerate cells, and protects against pollutants and free radicals. If weight loss is your priority, be mindful of serving sizes, as nuts made our 30 Healthy Foods You Better Eat in Moderation.

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Fruits are a great way to hydrate and protect your skin because they’re full of water. In fact, eating your water is just as effective — or more so — than drinking water, given the extra nutrient boost you get with fruit. “Most fruits contain high levels of vitamins A and C, and powerful antioxidants that replenish nutrients in the skin, promote collagen production and help keep your skin supple and firm,” says Alpert. While all fruits are a positive addition to most people’s diets, opt for low-sugar fruit like berries (raspberries, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries) and kiwis versus high-sugar ones such as figs, cherries, mangos, and grapes.

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Eggs are high in protein, promote cell regeneration and supply sulfur and lutein, which hydrates skin and elasticity. They’re also low in fat. Studies have found that omitting the healthy fats found in foods like nuts and avocados, high-fat diets increase the chances of developing wrinkles.

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Not only is green tea loaded with skin-nourishing antioxidants, it has anti-inflammatory properties that can heal damaged skin and prevent blemishes. “It may help increase blood flow to the skin since it’s rich in epicatechin, an antioxidant found in red wine,” says registered dietitian Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, creator of BetterThanDieting.com and author of Read It Before You Eat It. Oolong tea is also beneficial. “It has been shown to help eczema sufferers,” says registered dietitian Lauren Slayton, MS, RD, director of Foodtrainers and author of The Little Book of Thin. “It’s also a slight metabolic booster.”

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Tomatoes contain high levels of lycopene, an antioxidant that keeps skin fresh and has anti-aging properties. The nutrients levels are higher in canned and cooked tomatoes. “Lycopene in tomatoes gets absorbed more easily when tomatoes are cooked (as in the canned version), and when eaten with a little oil, meaning that winter is a good time to have pizza or pasta with marinara sauce,” says Taub-Dix.

RELATED: These Are the Best Low-Carb Spaghetti Sauces, Approved by Nutritionists

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Soy may be controversial, but as far as soothing dry skin, it’s a winner. “It might be a good time to try some soy milk in your latte or go for a tofu scramble,” says Taub-Dix. “Soy is rich in isoflavones that may protect against sun exposure and preserve skin-firming collagen to curtail wrinkles and prevent skin dryness.”

RELATED: 20 Protein-Packed Vegetarian Meals

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“Citrus fruits help provide vitamin C, which promotes collagen formation and slows the effects of free radicals, helping to maintain firm and youthful skin,” says Taub-Dix. “Pink grapefruits also provide lycopene, an antioxidant that helps skin stay resilient and smooth. “

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“Collagen peptides contain the same amino acids as gelatin, which are identical to the protein found in skin, nails, hair, bones, cartilage, and joints,” says Slayton. “You can mix it into smoothies but also coffee, scrambled eggs, and more.” It’s versatile, tasteless and effective, according to Slayton, who recommends collagen powder from Vital Proteins.

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Slayton singles out sea buckthorn as her favorite moisturizing food for dry skin. “If you want luminous skin, think of this pretty orange berry that tastes like a Sour Patch Kid.” You can get shots of it at many juice purveyors like Juice Generation, or you can buy unsweetened Sibu puree. “It’s rich in omega-7 oil, beta-carotene and vitamin C, all of which help the skin conditions associated with dry skin.” For even more foods that will help your skin stay beautiful, don’t miss these 25 Healthy Foods That Give You Glowing Skin.

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Vitamin A is considered one of the best anti-agers and skin moisturizers. It’s also been proven to help smooth roughness. Zinc helps vitamin A do its job, which is why Slayton recommends eating shellfish and pumpkin seeds as foods to alleviate dry skin symptoms.

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Don’t underestimate the power of water. Water hydrates the skin and helps prevent wrinkling to keep your skin from cracking and flaking. Hate the flavor of h30? Try making some of these refreshing detox water recipes!

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“Eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids is one of the best choices to combat dry skin and to keep skin well-hydrated. Cold-water fish that are wild-sourced are an excellent source of Omega 3s. Best choices include salmon; eat the skin which is packed full of nutrients; [as well as] sardines, herring, and mackerel. Farm-raised fish are generally fed grain instead of the small fish that normally eat plankton, hence the reason that farm-raised fish are generally not packed with the same nutrients as wild fish,” says Robin Evans, MD

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“Flax oil has nutrients that can combat dry skin,” Dr. Evans tells us, referencing the oil’s high omega-3 content. “Take the pills or get the oil and sprinkle on salads, or mix in yogurt or smoothies.”

Diet For Dry Skin: 15 Best Foods That Lock Moisture Naturally

Chilly winter winds outside and dry hot heaters inside, both are a disaster for skin hydration. Local application of creams and moisturizing lotions work to a limit but for that hydrated, glowing skin in winters we need to nourish it from within. Like any other body organ, the skin needs nutrients to stay healthy. Our skin isn’t just a thing of beauty, it performs many important functions. Skin is the primary organ that acts as a shield against mechanical, thermal and physical injuries. It also prevents excessive loss of moisture while preventing the entry of harmful agents into our body. One of the largest organs of the human body, its health is very important for the overall protection of our body.

(Also Read: Winter Skin Care: 6 Natural Face Packs For A Natural Glow)

_{Diet for dry skin: Skincare is even more important in the winter months.}  

Some of the important nutrients and foods that maintain the integrity of our skin are: 

Healthy Fats

Fat-free diets don’t work for a healthy hydrated skin. Essential fatty acids are a part of the cell membrane and eating adequate healthy fats is important for a healthy skin.

1. Eat Nuts and seeds: Rich in healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, they also contain phytonutrients that protect us against the detrimental effects of oxidative stress. They are calorie dense, so one ounce, aka a handful are enough for a day.

2. Avocados: They are one of the best sources of healthy monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and do also contain small amounts of saturated fats that our body needs. In addition, it contains vitamins that act as antioxidants. Use them as bread spreads or add them to salads.

3. Fatty fish: It is a rich source of omega -3 fats that are not manufactured in our body, but are an essential nutrient for our cell membranes. It is advisable to eat at least three servings a week.

4. Coconut Oil: It is fantastic for topical application. It contains active compounds that work on reducing inflammation and enhances the skin’s protective layer by helping trap moisture. Eating coconut oil may not be healthy as it is a saturated fat, which we know may lead to other health issues.

(Also Read: Post-Lockdown Skin Care: 15 Foods To Include In Your Diet For A Healthy Skin)

_{Diet for dry skin: Coconut oil is fantastic for topical application.} 

Proteins

Proteins are made up of amino acids. When absorbed from our food, these are used as building blocks for the 10,000 odd proteins that our body needs. Each cell and tissue of our body needs protein as a structural element. The skin structure is made up of Collagen and Keratin proteins. A healthy skin needs quality proteins.

5. Eggs: Best quality proteins and an additional supply of Sulphur and Lutein – both of which help the skin lock in the moisture while preserving its elasticity.

6. Soy: It provides the maximum amount of proteins in the vegetarian and vegan food chain. In addition, Soy is a rich source of isoflavones which may help in preventing wrinkles by helping preserve the collagen. Drink up soy milk or eat some tofu.

7. Milk & Yogurt: When ingested, milk and yogurt add quality proteins to your daily diet. In addition, yogurt is great for a healthy digestive system, which means a clean gut and a healthy skin. Our home remedy of raw milk or yogurt as a face pack is also very beneficial. The lactic acid present in yogurt is associated with closing fine pores and preventing wrinkles to having exfoliating properties that will leave your skin feeling softer and glowing.

_{Diet for dry skin: Milk and yogurt does add protein to your diet.} 

Vitamin C

It is critical for helping the collagen hold its shape. It is also a strong antioxidant for our body, helping neutralize free radicals that play havoc with our skin.

8. Citrus fruits are the richest source of Vitamin C. Winter months are the best time to gorge on Oranges, Kinnow and Sweet lime. They are very low in calories and are good sources of rehydration too.

9. Tomatoes make a great face pack. When eaten they provide not just Vitamin C, but also Lycopene, an antioxidant which helps keep the skin fresh and protects against aging. Tomatoes are best eaten pureed and cooked with a little oil – so tank up on those gravies!

(Also Read: Tried Everything To Get Rid Of Acne? Eat These Foods To Finally Beat It)

_{Diet for dry skin: Stock up on tomato gravies for Vitamin C.} 

10. Guavas are also seasonally available which serve as rich sources of Vitamin C. Additionally, they also contain iron, protecting against anemia and anemic looking skin.

Vitamin A 

Skin is a layered organ, and both the upper and lower layers need Vitamin A to maintain their integrity. Vitamin A may be associated with stopping the breakdown of collagen due to the harmful effects of the sun. It also helps the oil glands in the skin, around the hair follicles. Further, it stimulates the production of fibroblasts- cells that develop tissues keeping the skin supple.

11. Carrots are one of the best sources of Beta carotene and vitamin A. Both these vitamins scavenge free radicals, helping with an even skin tone and preventing ageing,

12. Sweet Potato, especially the one with red skin and roasted, is one of the good sources of beta carotene which is converted to Vitamin A in our body. They also contain Vitamin A. This winter friendly food helps keep dry, flaky skin at bay.

(Also Read: Winter Skin Care: The Healthy Salad Bowl That Will Have Your Skin Glowing)

_{Diet for dry skin: Sweet potato is one good source of beta carotene.} 

13. Green Leafy Vegetables are in abundance in winters. From Saag to methi to Cholai, it’s all there. In addition to Vitamin A, they are rich sources of Vitamin C and are known for their high antioxidant level. So eat up! Very low in calories, they can be consumed in abundance.

Hydration

Hydration is paramount to a healthy supple, wrinkle-free, glowing skin. Winters makes us not feel thirsty, but being in air-warmed offices and using heaters means we lose water. Also, our body needs adequate hydration for working in top form, so drink up! Water is probably the best fluid to hydrate the skin. It prevents flaky and dry skin. If you find it hard to consume plain water add some fruit slices or spices to flavour it.

14. Green tea is another good method of adding to your daily calorie-free fluid intake. In addition to hydration, it adds antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that help heal damaged skin and prevent blemishes.

(Also Read: 6 Natural Ingredients For Soft And Nourished Skin In Winters)

_{Diet for dry skin: Try green tea for hydration.}  

15. Fresh vegetable juices, soups help give you calorie-free hydration while adding all the benefits of the vitamins and minerals and antioxidants.

Eating healthy involves consuming foods in their freshest and natural form. Taking supplements does not add the same benefits as food, so to get your dream skin, eat.

The Naked Truth About Dry Skin and 4 Simple Cures

There’s a reason why dry skin is one of the most common skin concerns. Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and since it’s constantly changing and regenerating, it’s always susceptible to attack. Your skin is your body’s first line of defense when it comes to protecting you from the elements. Both external and internal factors are important to turn dull, cracked skin into a healthy, glowing complexion.

How the skin works

Your skin is made up of two layers: the outer epidermis and the inner dermis. Your epidermis is largely responsible for the health and appearance of your skin. The outermost layer of the epidermis is your stratum corneum, shown to directly contribute to maintaining and sustaining healthy skin. Your stratum corneum is also segmented. Dead, keratin-filled cells have been pushed to the surface by the lower basal layer. [NIH]

This surface level of your skin consists of dead skin cells and oils, cemented together to form a protective layer. They cover the living skin cells underneath to protect them from infection, dehydration, chemicals, and other hazards. These dead skin cells also retain water to keep your skin healthy and hydrated, which helps prevent dry skin.

Cells in the deepest layer of your epidermis are constantly dividing to make new ones. These new cells are pushed toward the surface of your skin, where they rub against and replace surface cells that flake off. This process is constant and ongoing. You have roughly 1.6 trillion skin cells in your body, and 30,000 to 40,000 cells fall off every hour. In a day, you’ll have lost almost one million skin cells. In sum, this means that our bodies produce a new epidermis about every 30 days. [Health]

This rejuvenation process reveals why it takes time from when you first start to implement a skincare regimen to when you start to see results. Dry skin can often improve after four weeks, when you’ll have an entirely rejuvenated epidermis.

What causes dry skin?

Age

As we age, we become more vulnerable to dry skin, dullness, and a loss of firmness. The epidermis thins as we age, so water retention decreases and the skin is more vulnerable to dehydration. Additionally, the skin’s ability to regenerate lipids that make up the stratum corneum declines. This means that essential fatty acids are even more important to support soft skin over time.

Climate

Family medicine and integrative and holistic medicine physician Shilpi Agarwal, MD, says: “The most common causes of dry skin are cold weather exposure and lifestyle habits that remove moisture from the skin by depleting the natural oils our bodies produce. During fall and winter, the body is suddenly exposed to cool air that often lacks humidity and can create dry, irritated skin.” In addition, sun exposure in the summer along with dry, arid climates can damage cells and limit the skin’s ability to hold onto moisture or repair itself. Mia Belle, paramedical aesthetician and CEO of Mia Belle Skin, describes the process: “Your body via the organ of the skin will try to keep itself hydrated by absorbing water from its external environment. If you live in a dry environment, it will have to grab more water internally to keep hydrated, eventually creating epidermal water loss.”

Nutrition AND Lifestyle

Lifestyle and diet habits can also dehydrate and dry out your skin. Fat-free diets, for instance, can deprive the skin of essential fatty acids. HUM Nutritionist Alex Caspero, MA, RD, adds: “The skin barrier is made up of many types of lipids, including phospholipids, cholesterol, and free fatty acids. When the skin doesn’t have enough of these fats, water can easily escape through the barrier, resulting in dehydrated skin.”

In addition, alcohol and caffeine are diuretics that dehydrate the skin. Next, sugary foods break down collagen and elastin, thus dulling the skin. Belle emphasizes the role that collagen plays in helping to hydrate your skin for a plump, healthy appearance. “Think of a baby. We held more water and had more active collagen in our skin when we were young. The older we get, the more collagen support we need to give our system.”

4 Simple steps to stop dull, dry skin in its tracks

1. Adapt a Hydration routine for dry skin

Daily moisturizing is key to prevent dry skin. Avoid long, hot showers that strip your skin of its natural oils. Take shorter, lukewarm showers with unscented soaps instead. (Scented soaps with chemicals can inflame skin.)

Dr. Agarwal recommends applying natural oil like coconut or almond immediately after showering. Then quickly rinse off and pat dry. This timing will help your skin stay moisturized all day.

For people with dry skin, it’s important not to over-exfoliate since skin is vulnerable to irritation. However, this doesn’t mean to forego exfoliating altogether. After you turn 20, your skin cell turnover slows and dead skin cells can pile up, diffuse light, and make skin look dull. [Allure]

2. Eat Foods that make a difference

Studies suggest that citrus fruits, nuts, whole grains, broccoli, and eggs help hydrate the skin. These foods are high in vitamins B2, B6, B12, C, and E that nourish your skin, improve water retention, and repair sun damage. [Health]

According to Belle, balancing your blood-sugar levels is also key for preventing dry skin. “Elevated blood sugar causes osmotic diuresis, where the sugar exits through your kidneys and carries water out with it, creating dehydration.” In addition to choosing fruits and veggies, you’ll want to avoid refined sugars, processed foods, and simple carbs. A vitamin-rich diet will keep your blood more alkaline than acidic, the latter of which leaches minerals from your body and weakens your adrenals.

Of course, drinking enough water—especially in climates where skin is prone to dehydration—can’t be emphasized enough. Take this tip from Dr. Agarwal: “As the weather gets cold, try warm water with lemon or a decaf herbal tea.”

Belle adds that the body can hydrate even more efficiently when we eat our water. “Watermelon, cucumber, apple, and celery slowly hydrate as they make their way through our digestive system,” she says. Thus, these foods amazing choices for rejuvenating dull, dry skin.

3. Ingest more healthy fats AND vitamins

“Healthy fats provide the framework necessary for well-moisturized skin,” Dr. Agarwal notes. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are polyunsaturated fats that help produce the skin’s natural oil barrier, and are critical to keep the skin hydrated and vibrant.

Dr. Agarwal says that if you can’t get omega-3s in your daily diet, a supplement is another great option. High-quality fish-oil supplements are packed with omega-3 fatty acids that can hydrate your skin from within. When choosing a fish oil, make sure you’re paying attention to the milligrams of EPA and DHA, the actual omega-3 content that replenishes dry skin. For a plant-based option, the omegas are listed as ALA, and can be found from oils such as black currant seeds or sunflower seeds. [U.S. News]

4. Take a Hydrating Supplement for Dry skin

“If you have a hard time eating enough omega-3 fatty acids, consider adding HUM’s OMG! Omega the Great to your routine for healthy, hydrated skin. Vegetarian? No problem: HUM’s Red Carpet is also a winning choice,” Alex says.

Our OMG! Omega the Great fish oil supplement contains 800 mg EPA and 400 mg DHA, the ideal clinically studied 2:1 ratio. Red Carpet, a vegetarian alternative with vitamin E and omegas derived from black currant oil, is packed with 120 mg ALA and 150 mg GLA to nourish and hydrate skin cells by providing them with healthy oils.

For those with dry skin over the age of forty, Belle recommends Arctic Repair, a hydrating supplement that helps improve and strengthen the skin barrier. It’ll lock in moisture for a smooth, glowing complexion. Arctic Repair is packed with 657 mg omega-3 ALA, as well as 500 mg of omega-6 and 207 mg omega-9 from the rejuvenating lingonberry seed. Its unique balance of omegas and vitamins boost skin hydration and elasticity to achieve a radiant glow plus smoother, firmer skin.

Additionally, advanced antioxidants and phytonutrients protect against cell damage, promote cellular health, and support skin rejuvenation. HUM’s Turn Back Time supplement contains advanced antioxidants including vitamin C, phytonutrient-rich anti-inflammatory turmeric, and green tea polyphenols to help prevent dry skin and keep your complexion nourished, firm, and glowing.

Nutrition and Your Skin Health: Easton Dermatology Associates: Dermatologists

It’s easy to see how a poor diet can lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, but most people never make the connection between nutrition and skin health. The truth is that a poor diet can alter the structure of your skin and compromise its ability to protect you and heal itself.

Since March is National Nutrition Month®, our team of experienced providers at Easton Dermatology Associates have compiled some dietary guidelines to help you add more skin-friendly foods into your daily meals.

Nutrients the skin needs

To face daily challenges such as sun damage, dryness, wrinkles, aging/thinning, and injuries, your skin needs to be in top shape. And just like the rest of your body, that requires proper nutrition. 

Although a balanced diet is best for your overall health, each body part has specific requirements, including your skin. To maintain healthy skin, you need a wide variety of nutrients, including glucose, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, and minerals. We’ve outlined some of the necessary nutrients and where to get them.

Skin Vitamins

Your skin craves vitamins, and each one supplies essential nutrients to help you skin perform its job day in and day out.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A comes in two types: retinoids, which promote new skin cells, and carotenoids, which prevent cell damage (premature aging). Include these vitamin A packed foods in your daily diet:

• Fish
• Eggs
• Dairy
• Carrots and tomatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Leafy greens

Or you can also take vitamin A supplements.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that fights aging and boosts the production of collagen, which is essential for your skin’s structure and resilience. You can find Vitamin C in:

• Citrus fruits
• Broccoli
• Spinach
• Red peppers

Or you can also take vitamin A supplements.

Vitamin D

Your body relies on your skin and your diet for an adequate supply of vitamin D, which regulates calcium absorption and fuels your immune system. Your skin produces vitamin D when it’s exposed to sunlight. In addition, you can also get this nutrient from:

• Egg yolks
• Fortified yogurt, cereal, orange juice, and milk
• Sardines, shrimp, and salmon

When levels of vitamin D become depleted in your body, you lose energy and put yourself at risk to infections and illness. You can also take vitamin D supplements.

Vitamin E

Your skin needs vitamin E to counteract UV damage and keep it soft and supple. It can even be used as a treatment for psoriasis and acne. You can find vitamin E in:

• Nuts and seeds (especially sunflower seeds and hazelnuts)
• Seafood
• Spinach, broccoli, avocados, and leafy greens
• Some vegetable oils

Vitamin E is beneficial in topical form as well. 

Skin minerals

About 6% of all the zinc in your body resides in your skin, and if you’re deficient, it shows. Zinc clears bacteria and excess oil from your skin, so getting enough zinc can ward off acne. It’s also an anti-inflammatory. Another important mineral, selenium fights skin infections, reduces inflammation, and protects cells from free radicals. To ensure you get enough of these minerals, eat the following:

• Beans
• Poultry
• Nuts
• Whole grains
• Oysters and tuna
• Dairy products

Topically, selenium can calm red, sensitive skin and treat dandruff.

Fatty acids for skin health

Omega-3 fatty acids help you maintain thick, moisturized skin. A lack of these fatty acids can lead to thin, dry skin. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in: salmon, seabass, trout, shrimp, sardines, and oysters. 

You can also get omega-3 fatty acids from a vegetarian diet that includes walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, edamame, kidney beans, and soybean oil.

You might also consider taking a multivitamin that contains each of these vitamins and minerals in the amounts recommended for your daily allowance.

How do I know if I’m starving my skin?

Rashes and other skin conditions occur for a variety of reasons. The best way to know for sure what you’re dealing with is to visit our Easton or Salisbury, Maryland locations, so we can perform a thorough skin exam. Your skin will tell us if your symptoms are due to allergic reactions, nutritional deficiency, or a medical issue. 

If you suspect your diet is affecting your skin, call us today or visit us online at www.eastondermatology.com to make an appointment. 

Nutrition for Dry Skin & Nails

February 11, 2018

Are you seeing new wrinkles in your skin? Or, do you see that your fingernails are cracked and brittle? Our nutritionists explain how eating real food, in balance, can help with dry skin and cracked nails.

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CASSIE: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness, a company providing nutrition therapy and classes for both your body and your brain. I think all of the listeners get it, that the body needs a variety of different nutrients to function well, but how many of you realize that your brain needs a lot of different nutrients each day to function well? In fact, I think of the brain as kind of a greedy organ. The brain demands a lot of nutrients because it needs to perform a lot of important functions each day. So now stop and think for a minute. Are you eating to support your brain function? Alzheimer’s disease is a frightening reality. We are reaching epidemic proportions in this country of Alzheimer’s disease, so now more than ever eating to support your brain should be considered a necessity, not just another option. So I’m sure a lot of the listeners are thinking at this point that the show is going to be all about brain health and maintaining a good memory.  It’s actually not. I just wanted to give that bit of information as sort of a little public service announcement. The brain and the memory have kind of been on my mind lately I think because just a week and a half ago, I think it was now, I taught a great class for a great lunch and learn corporate class for one of our clients in St Paul. It was called Building a Better Brain and boy we hit the nail on the head with that topic. It was a packed the house, so I do think Alzheimer’s disease is top of mind with a lot of people and it’s important to eat in order to support your brain function.

Today’s show though on the other hand, is a bit of a lighter topic and it’s an important topic this time of year. Today’s show is about nutrition remedies for skin and nail health, but I promise that later in the show we’ll share two or three key nutrients that your brain needs for a good working memory.  So stay tuned for that. But for now, let’s get on to our main topic, skin and nails, and let’s start with the skin. You know when it comes to skin health, this time of year, sometimes my hands, my face will get a little dry and the first place my mind goes is, OK, what can I do different nutritionally? What can I eat to remedy this dry skin? Or how about this question I get asked this one a lot from clients, what can I do so that I don’t get wrinkles? Here’s another one. What can I do to avoid getting adult acne? Or what can I do to avoid rosacea? We are going to explore solutions to all of these questions and we’re also going to talk about what to do in order to have strong healthy nails. I’m Cassie Weness, registered and licensed dietitian and joining me today as my co-host is JoAnn Ridout.  Welcome, JoAnn.

JOANN:  Thank you. Good morning. I’m also a registered and licensed dietitian and a common question I hear during our Menopause Survival Seminar is, what can I do about my dry skin? Or women will say, I look in the mirror every day and see more wrinkles. Those wrinkle creams just aren’t helping, so what can I do?

CASSIE: Another question that I just thought of, my aunt asked me this the other day. She said, you know, my nails used to be beautiful and strong, and now look at them. They’re cracking, they’re chipping. I’m sure you’ve had that question in clinical practice too, so a lot of times people want to know what vitamin can I take to help my nails grow and be strong and healthy. These are all great questions and we have some solutions. What do you say? We start with the skin health first.

JOANN: That’s right. That’s a great place to start. So Cassie, you and I both went to dietitian school. Low fat was all the rage during those years, and remember we knew how many fat grams were in every food we ate, our goal was to eat low low fat, which was, I don’t know, 20 to 30 fat grams or less per day. Listeners, do you remember those days? Well, guess what? In order for our skin to stay supple and healthy it needs healthy fat. Fat actually hydrates the skin and keeps it looking youthful.

CASSIE: Right. So if you want to avoid having dry skin, what we recommend at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to eat a variety of good healthy fats every day. So we’re talking about things like butter, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, avocados, even heavy cream, and we recommend that you eat a tablespoon of one of these fats at every meal and a tablespoon at every snack.  Now, for the long-time listeners that know, we are always advocating the magic number three, which means you want to eat protein, carb, fat, those three things every three hours. That means by the end of the day, you should be eating about seven tablespoons of good, healthy fat, and that’s what you want. That is so hydrating and nourishing for your skin.

JOANN: And that sounds very good, doesn’t it? Sounds yummy to add that butter and cream. So would you be willing to add that much good dietary fat to your daily eating plan to have healthy skin? I really want you to think about that. Or do you still have that old thinking and fear that if you eat fat, you will gain weight and get fat? I still have women with that concern coming into the office. We say it over and over in our Nutrition 4 Weight Loss classes that it is the sugar and the bad fats such as soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, and canola oil.  Those are the bad fats that put weight on us. But the good fat like butter helps you lose weight. Unfortunately for some people it’s difficult to let go of those old wrong messages.

CASSIE: It is. And those old wrong messages were drilled into our heads for over a decade. So it is hard to get rid of them, but low fat doesn’t do anything for your skin health and it certainly doesn’t do anything good for your overall health either. So next, I think we want to get into just a little bit of biochemistry, looking at the fats and skin health, and I know some listeners love the biochemistry of it all and some get scared at that word chemistry. Don’t turn the dial if that word chemistry scares you because we’re going to explain this in a way that you will understand. JoAnn and I really want you to leave this discussion saying, OK, I get it now.  I need saturated fat like butter and cream or bacon fat even to hydrate my skin and calm down my wrinkles. And I’m sure that’s a new thought for many, that eating butter can help keep wrinkles away and all this talk of butter and cream makes me think of my grandma. My grandma was born on a farm and then she married her husband who was a farmer so all of her life on a farm and she ate eggs and butter. She made cream of vegetable soup with real heavy whipping cream. Her pie crusts, oh, they were delicious, and they were made with lard. She never used crisco.  It was so good. And my grandma was, is, healthy today and has hydrated skin and her brain. That’s what I want to say is that her brain is as sharp as a tack and I think those healthy fats have something to do with that too.  She is, like I said, still alive today. Brain as sharp as ever, and she doesn’t have dry skin, so I really think there is something to all this saturated fat talk.

JOANN: That’s right. And I bet your grandmother wasn’t overweight either.

CASSIE: No. No, because fat does not make you fat.

JOANN: Exactly. Exactly. So the human body contains almost 40 trillion cells. Each cell is surrounded by a membrane that protects the interior of the cell from the exterior environment. So think of our skin cells and think of that environment that our skin cells are exposed to daily. We are exposed to toxins and chemicals, that harsh Minnesota winter weather. This cell membrane protects the inner part of the cell from the toxins, while at the same time allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide to go in and out, just like breathing.

CASSIE: Good analogy, so that cell membrane is so important to keep strong and I think the next part here that we’re going to talk about is really important for today’s discussion.  Each cell membrane, whether we’re talking about our skin cells, or our lung cells, or our heart cells, each cell membrane contains about 1 trillion fat molecules in that cell membrane. And here’s the kicker of it all, at least half of these fat molecules need to be saturated fatty acids for that cell membrane to be healthy and functioning properly. Each cell membrane needs half of it to be made up of saturated fat or it’s not going to function well, and that could result in dry skin. That could result in wrinkles or even other skin problems like acne and rosacea.

JOANN: That’s right. So you’ve just learned that half of each cell membrane must be composed of saturated fat to work properly. So if you have dry skin, wrinkles or adult acne, now that’s often referred to as rosacea, doesn’t it make sense that half of the fat you eat should be saturated fat to help replenish those cells?  It should be butter, coconut oil, cream, or lard. So just try eating three tablespoons of saturated fat every day and watch your dry skin disappear.

CASSIE: You know and three tablespoons a day, that’s easy for you and I, JoAnn, because it’s delicious.

JOANN: We’re used to it and it’s good.

CASSIE: It is so good. But I just want to give, before we have to go to break, I want to give a quick example to the listeners. An example of a day in the life, let’s say of me and three tablespoons of saturated fat. So my morning cup of coffee, I always start with a small morning cup of coffee and I put one tablespoon of heavy whipping cream in my coffee. It is a treat that I look forward to. At dinnertime I often roast my vegetables that I’m going to feed to my family and that I’m going to eat and I roast them in coconut oil. And then one of the many bedtime snacks that I enjoy is a half of a cup of frozen blueberries with a tablespoon or two of coconut milk, you know the kind from the can, on the top. It’s delicious. It’s delicious, and that’s an easy way to get your saturated fat in. We’re going to take a quick commercial break. If you’re just joining us, you’re listening to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. Before we go to break, I want to let all of the females listening know that if you’re struggling with perimenopause or menopause symptoms, we have a great seminar for you. It’s called the Menopause Survival Seminar and it’s going to be presented on Saturday, February 17 at our Maple Grove location. Come with questions and you will go home with solutions. Dar, the owner of Nutritional Weight and Wellness along with Kris and JoAnn will be teaching this seminar. And JoAnn, I’ve, I’ve heard you teach before you and the girls do a really good job of taking the mystery out of menopause with some pretty simple, yet very effective ways to manage your symptoms. So if you can relate to hot flashes, insomnia, if you’re having some memory problems or irritability, this class is for you and we will even give you some healthy snacks and a delicious lunch while you’re at our office.  I say make it a girls outing. Bring a friend or a sister. It’s a lot of information so it’s great to have another set of ears listening with you. If you want to sign up, you can call the office at 651-699-3438 or you can go online to weightandwellness.com. We’ll be right back.

JOANN: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. Cassie and I are talking everything, skin and nails today. Skin is the largest organ in our bodies and it is also an indicator of our overall health and well-being. Very interesting to know that even our digestive system is linked to the health of our skin.  Oftentimes, poor gut health equals poor skin health. That good bacteria called probiotics can help the gut eliminate toxins and free radicals that can damage skin and cause early signs of aging. A simple solution to support our intestinal health and healthy skin is to take our probiotic Bifido Balance every morning and evening. Bifido Balance also helps to reduce cravings for sugar and processed carbs, which is an added bonus for many of our clients, so it’s a win win.

CASSIE: It really is, and I strongly feel that taking Bifido Balance a couple of times every day during the throes of a terrible cold and flu season, like we’re in right now is a must. A good probiotic like Bifido Balance can increase the strength of your immune system. In fact, I was just reading research last night showing that regular use of probiotics in school age children made colds less frequent and when the colds did hit, they were shorter in duration and the kids missed fewer school days. And this is something I swear by and certainly put into practice in our household.  My two children and I each take a half a teaspoon of the Bifido Powder before school each morning, so we just mix it in an ounce or two of water and then we take another half teaspoon mixed in water when the kids get home from school.

JOANN: Yup. Good practice.

CASSIE: So we were talking about saturated fat and the importance of that saturated fat, at least three tablespoons a day, right? There’s more to this story about the importance of saturated fat for healthy cell membranes that I find really intriguing. So here goes, some of the most sensitive cell membranes that actually require saturated fat to work properly are the tissues of the lungs. This cell membrane, as you know JoAnn, is referred to as lung surfactant. It’s, it’s kind of a soap like substance that allows the passage of air in and out of the lungs, so oxygen goes in and carbon dioxide comes out.  Saturated fats are essential for this lung function to work at its best. Now on the other hand, if you’re eating too many trans fats, and we’ll talk about where you find them in just a minute, if you’re not aware, but if you’re eating too many trans fats, those bad fats, then that’s what becomes part of that cell membrane in the lungs and everywhere else, and the lungs suffer. The lungs tend to shut down when they get trans fats incorporated in the cell membrane, or at least partially shut down. Bottom line trans fats interfere with lung function.

JOANN: They do. So speaking of those lungs, here’s a question for you. Do you think that this low fat eating and our fear of saturated fats could be one of the causes of such an epidemic explosion of those asthma related diseases in children today? And adults.

CASSIE: And adults. Boy, there’s some good food for thought. Or could it be all of the bad fats and the trans fats? I mean, I think of what a very standard diet for a kid in this country is and I think fast food, frozen pizza, you don’t know the number of kids that have told me that they love Hot Pockets and it just breaks my heart. The potato chips, you know, this is all the typical standard American diet. And you know, when we look at all of the research and combine that with what we know from our clinical experience, it sure appears that the kids who drink whole milk, the kids who eat whip cream on their fruit, not cool whip but real whipped cream. The kids who eat butter and not margarine spreads. They are the ones that experience less asthma versus the kids who drink skim milk and eat margarine. And this just brings a vision into my head of all of the low fat chocolate milk being served in schools today.  Our kids are drinking this low fat chocolate milk. So not only do we remove the healthy fat, but we add in either sugar or high fructose corn syrup to sweeten it, neither one of these things is good for the lungs or any other part of that child’s health. I think it’s really sad.

JOANN: Yeah, I agree. It’s very sad. So now we are going to get back to talking about our skin. And for women, dry skin and dry tissue may lead us to feel like we’re drying up. That dry skin, that dry hair, dry nails, those dry rough cuticles, incontinence and wrinkles. We talk about all these things at the Menopause Seminar by the way. Um, but one thing I wanted to throw in here too is we have not talked about water. We’ve been talking about hydration from fat, but hydration from both fat and water is so important for our skin. I talked to so many women who are only drinking three to four cups of water each day. Yesterday in fact, I talked to two people that were kind of in that range of low water intake. Just struggling to get it in.

CASSIE: Yes. I think a lot of people are only drinking three to four cups and not even realizing because who’s stopping to count their cups of water?

JOANN: Exactly, and they might be drinking coffee or tea throughout the day, but that doesn’t help the water count. We need 8 to 10 glasses of water a day or half our body weight. So figure out your body weight, divide by two and that many ounces is how many ounces of water we need to keep our skin healthy, but also stay hydrated.

CASSIE: Just yeah, for overall health and when I am drinking my 8 to 10 glasses of water a day, I have great energy.  So another reason to get that water in. But JoAnn, I’m glad you mentioned that because water is so important. So I want to challenge the listeners to count up how much water. You know, take a day, take a day and track yourself because it’s very likely that you’re not getting those 8 to 10 glasses that JoAnn is recommending. I want to come back and talk more about the cell membrane and the saturated fat in it and get back onto that topic for a little bit, but first we’re going to take a commercial break. If you’re just tuning in, you’re listening to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. Before we hand it over to commercial, I’d like to remind our listeners that February is Heart Health Month. Now, I think it goes without saying that the nutritionists and dietitians at Nutritional Weight and Wellness all love to teach about real food and how it can support your heart health.  So during this month of February, we are offering our Preventing Heart Disease class. First of all, at our St Paul Location on Wednesday, February 21, and we’re also offering our Preventing Heart Disease class at our Wayzata location on Saturday, February 24. I’m sure many listeners are aware that heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, so this is an important class for you to take and we’re really excited to be able to offer it at half price. We’re doing this half price deal because we want to fill those seats because it is great information, so half price means $12.50 and for that you are going to learn so many preventative measures that you can start applying immediately and I encourage you to call soon because at that price our classrooms will fill up fast. You can call us today at 651-699-3438 or you can sign up online at weightandwellness.com.  You really don’t want to miss this class.

JOANN: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. Next week you’ll surely want to tune in, Dar and Lea are talking about How Safe Is Your Tap Water to Drink with our special guest, Richard Grassie from Richard’s Water.

Right now, during cold and flu season, many of us are adding extra vitamin C to support our immune system, but did you know that diets high in vitamin C are also associated with better skin appearance and less wrinkling? High levels of vitamin C have been correlated with the decrease in dry skin and vitamin C also supports wound healing. We have a great vitamin C product from Ortho Molecular called C-Flav and another one from Metagenics called Ultra Potent-C. Both are great for the immune system and for skin health.

CASSIE: They really are. Yes, and I noticed that if I’m taking more vitamin C, my skin, especially in my face just appears brighter and just healthier looking.  So we were talking still about fat and how it hydrates skin, when we last went to break. This is such important information, so I just want to repeat, 50 percent of each of our cell membranes need saturated fat to function well and to keep our skin hydrated. So I want everybody to take a minute and really think now how are you going to make this change? What is it going to look like in your day to day eating? Do you still have a margarine or fake butter spread in the refrigerator? Maybe it’s time to throw that out and switched to real butter. If you’re still using skim milk or low fat milk in your coffee, it’s time to switch to full fat whipping cream. Or if you’re still eating that light yogurt, stop buying that and go for a full fat plain yogurt.  We need plenty of these healthy fats for healthy skin.

JOANN: I think that sounds great. Adding butter and cream is so good. So give it a try for six weeks and ask yourself, does my skin look better? Are my nails stronger? Are my dry eyes feeling better? It’s basically a test or trial period for six weeks. You can determine the results. You can still eat olive oil, nuts and avocados, we know these are healthy fats too, but you need at least three tablespoons of a saturated fat and the next time you see your esthetician, you can say, my skin is not as dry as a month ago. All I changed is that I’m eating butter and cream. Isn’t that amazing?

CASSIE: Truly, we have given the listeners a fairly easy and certainly delicious improvement that they can make to their diet to improve the health of their skin and that is, like you said, JoAnn, eat butter, eat cream, eat coconut oil every day, but that’s certainly not a magic bullet. There are some other changes you need to implement to hydrate your skin and stave off wrinkles. One of those is to give up or at least cut way back on the amount of sugar or sugary foods that you’re eating. And yes, we know we say it on every show, don’t we? We say it on every show, cut out the sugar, but you know what? We say it on every show because it’s so important for every aspect of your health and because everybody out there needs to be reminded because they fall back into those old habits. So time to cut out the sugar and you know what? It’s not just us at Nutritional Weight and Wellness saying this. I have some information, some results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and this survey looked at over 4,000 women. So this was a large survey, they were middle aged women and they found that those women who avoided a high carbohydrate diet and instead ate a lot of foods that contain vitamin C like strawberries and spinach, oranges, tomatoes, and they also added nuts and seeds, these women had fewer wrinkles, less dry skin, and less thinning of their skin. So foods with vitamin C and foods containing healthy fats are a great wrinkle cure plan. The vitamin C helps boost collagen production and the healthy fats hydrate the skin.

JOANN: That’s right. So if you’re living on a high sugar diet, some people still hang on to those favorite foods, the bagels and the muffins, maybe pasta, coffee mochas. You want to reconsider that because research has found that too much sugar in the diet makes the collagen in your skin become stiff and inflexible. That is part of the cause of wrinkles and your skin doesn’t look healthy anymore. We need that healthy collagen for our skin. Also, we need for our joints, for tendons, for our ligaments, so don’t damage your collagen with sugar.

CASSIE: If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is, right? You know that cutting out the sugar can help to stave off wrinkles, I think it’s worth cutting off the sugar. Yes. You know, as I was researching for the show this past week, I pulled a book off the shelf that’s called The Wrinkle Cure. Some of you may have heard of this, The Wrinkle Cure by Dr. Nicholas Perricone and in this book to prevent wrinkles, Dr. Perricone recommends eating a low sugar diet. Now, if you happen to have the book handy, he doesn’t necessarily call it low sugar, he calls it a low-glycemic index diet, which if you’re familiar with glycemic index, a low-glycemic index diet is basically a low sugar diet. Dr. Perricone and also recommends a nutrient rich eating plan and he steers his readers towards real food, not processed food, and that’s what we do at Nutritional Weight and Wellness. The Weight and Wellness way of eating is and always has been a low sugar nutrient rich eating plan consisting of real food. It works.

JOANN: It does work. Yes it does. And we all eat that way, right?

CASSIE: Yes. And it is delicious and once you start eating this way, those fake processed foods do not taste good anymore.

JOANN: And they don’t even appeal to you. Our skin is the largest organ in our body and it accounts for about 16 percent of our total body weight. It covers about 20 square feet of surface area. That’s amazing when you think about our skin being that large.

CASSIE: It truly is. It is amazing. And like all other organs of our body, the skin requires nutrients from the foods that we’re eating. So certainly it needs sufficient vitamins and minerals to stay healthy if you have really rough dry skin or if you have skin that you feel like it’s prematurely aging, this could be a body sign of a vitamin A deficiency. So you might be thinking now, OK, so what are some good food sources of vitamin A? Well, how many of you remember, maybe your mom did this? Maybe you remember stories about your grandma doing this. Giving cod liver oil every day? I remember stories, my mom talks about how grandma would line them up in the fall and the winter especially and they had to take a teaspoon of cod liver oil and my mom would go hide in the cupboard or in the closet because it tasted really bad. It’s come a long way. It’s deodorized now it’s flavored. It’s come a long way. It’s much better, much better, but you know what? Kudos to my grandma and all those other ladies out there who did that because vitamin A is so nutritious and that, excuse me, cod liver oil is so nutritious and it’s a great source of vitamin A. So it’s great for skin health.

JOANN: That’s right. At Nutritional Weight and Wellness, we recommend one to two teaspoons of cod liver oil daily for healthy skin. You don’t want too much vitamin A but one to two teaspoons of cod liver oil daily is one of the best sources and they now have cod liver oil available, like Cassie said, with a more subtle flavor, a nice taste of lemon, much easier to take than I’m sure it was a few years ago. Also I learned at a conference recently that it cod liver oil also helps us absorb vitamin D, which we’ll be talking about later. So that’s another benefit of cod liver oil.

CASSIE: Yes. I always have cod liver oil in my fridge. I think I took two teaspoonfuls this morning and it does taste good. It tastes like a lemon drop. You know there have been several cases reported of people with severe acne having low levels of vitamin A in their blood. Now I don’t know if this is still the standard treatment, but back when I was a teenager, a standard treatment for severe acne was Accutane and I was actually put on that a couple of different times. Accutane, I didn’t know this back then but now I know, Accutane is actually a synthetic form of vitamin A. And I can tell you while you’re on it, it works. Once you go off it, it stops working. The bad thing about Accutane is it has a lot of nasty side effects. You can get joint pain, you can experience hair loss, low energy, depression and I am still struggling decades later with digestive problems from that Accutane, which is another side effect. Guess what? Plain old cod liver oil has vitamin A and it’s found to be just as effective for treating that acne, but no side effects.

JOANN: That’s right. My daughter actually uses cod liver oil for her skin, found it very helpful. She also was on Accutane.

CASSIE: Yeah, it was, it was what the doctors told you to take if you came in with a complaint of acne. So, um, do you think we should go to our final break?

JOANN:  I think we need to go to our next break.

CASSIE: Our next break. Boy, this hour is flying by us. You’re listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. Before we pause for commercial though, we need to fulfill that promise that I gave at the top of the hour when I said, we would share two or three nutrients that we recommend for good brain support. Now, my first recommendation would be omega-3 fish oil. And because omega-3’s are also great for heart health, and February is Heart Health Month, we’re running a sale during this month of February. Our Nutrikey Omega-3 1000 is 15% off the regular price.  So I suggest you buy a few bottles, stock up while it’s on sale, and if you are needing it for brain support, we recommend taking three to four soft gels every day. I know some of you know this, 60 percent of your brain is made up of omega three fatty acids, so it’s really important to be feeding your brain what it needs. Now, the second nutrient I would recommend is magnesium glycinate and I always suggest that people take this at bedtime for a couple of reasons. Yeah, I always suggest bedtime and I take mine at bedtime, one because magnesium and all of the minerals really are better absorbed in the evening hours, but also because magnesium can help you to get a better night’s sleep and sleep allows your brain to detoxify. Everything is so intertwined, isn’t it? So if you get a good night’s sleep and your brain can detoxify then, the next day you’re going to feel better and have clearer thinking.  And magnesium glycinate helps to relax your muscles and that then allows your body to get into that deep stage of sleep where you will sleep all through the night. And stay with us, we’ll be right back in a moment.

JOANN: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. Finally, all the holiday parties are over, so now you can focus and take Nutrition 4 Weight Loss. Concentrate on you and your health. Some people like to take this 12 class series in person. Some people like to take it online. Whatever works best for you works best for us. You can do your appointments in person, by phone, or via skype. Whatever is most beneficial for you.

CASSIE: Because you get, you get two 1 hour counseling sessions with the class. 

JOANN: It’s great. Nutrition 4 Weight Loss is not a diet. It’s well-thought out, researched way of eating that is designed to keep you healthy while you lose one to one and a half pounds of body fat per week. So check it out online weightandwellness.com or call us at 651-699-3438. You can get your questions answered.  So we’ve been talking about skin.

CASSIE: Yes. And we still have more to tell.

JOANN: We still have a lot more to talk about. And um, we’ve been talking about cod liver oil. Our skin also needs a few other nutrients, about 400 IU or international units of vitamin E and 2000 to 5,000 IU of vitamin D every day. So in addition to food sources of saturated fat, our skin needs, omega-3 fish oil to reduce inflammation. And for skin health, my all time favorite is omega-6 GLA that is in the form of borage oil or evening primrose oil for very dry skin or dry eyes. I just have a little thing to add here and that is the first time I heard of GLA, gamma linolenic acid, I was training with Dar and she was talking about the bumpy skin on the back of the arms and the dry cracked heels and a light bulb went off for me. I was like, oh my gosh, I’ve had those bumpy skin dry spots on the back of my arms since I was a little kid. I remember that as a little kid and I now I have the solution and I don’t have that problem anymore.

CASSIE: Isn’t it amazing? Our body talks to us.

JOANN:  It does. So in addition to these nutrients, I suggest cooking with butter and coconut oil. Then add the one who wanted two teaspoons of cod liver oil and two to four soft gels of omega-3 fish oil plus three or four soft gels of GLA. I actually use six in the winter because my skin is so dry, plus 400 international units of vitamin E, also sufficient vitamin D. They all work together to make a remarkable difference in just three months. Saturated fat and essential fatty acids are vital to your skin health.

CASSIE: They are. They’re so important for skin health and to remedy dry eyes as you mentioned. And I don’t know about you, JoAnn, but I’m hearing more and more people with dry eyes. I think this is becoming, maybe just because we’re so low in healthy fats, it’s becoming a real problem. But you gave some good solutions, especially with that cod liver oil and we have given a lot of great ideas for having healthy skin.  Looking at the time, I think we better move on and talk about what you can do to have strong nails that don’t break, don’t split, don’t peel. The first thing I want to say is, without a doubt, our nails need protein, especially animal protein. And I’m sure that’s a new thought for many, that if your nails are weak or breaking, it could be your body’s way of telling you that you’re not eating enough animal protein.

JOANN: That’s right. We recommend eating two to four ounces of protein at every meal and snack, so what does that look like? I think women often skip eating protein at breakfast and maybe at snack time. Instead they grab a bagel or some fruit, but they forget the importance of protein. Eating two or three eggs at breakfast is one of the easiest ways to get protein at breakfast time. And for a mid morning snack at a scoop of whey protein or paleo protein powder to your smoothie.

CASSIE: That’s a great quick snack. And for any new listeners that don’t have our smoothie recipe, we have a really delicious and balanced recipe for that protein smoothie up on our website at weightandwellness.com. So you gave a breakfast idea, JoAnn, you gave a morning snack idea. Now let’s talk about lunch and let me say first of all, please take time to stop and actually eat lunch.  Don’t work through your lunch. Don’t go running errands over your lunch hour. Stop and eat lunch. One idea I have this time of year when I woke up and the thermometer said minus two degrees, one idea is some leftover beef chili. Or another one that I love this time of year because it warms me up from the inside out, leftover chicken wild rice soup. And I, on a weekend day when I have extra time, and I know you do this to JoAnn, I will make a triple batch at least exactly of the beef chili or of the chicken wild rice soup. And then I freeze lunch size portions. So then you have those grab and goes throughout the week when it gets busy. Both of these recipes, beef chili and chicken wild rice soup are up on our website weightandwellness.com. You can print them off free of charge. So if you need a great recipe, go there. Another idea, I think I mentioned this last week as a lunch idea too, it’s one of my favorites is to make a large entrée salad. So I might open up my fridge and see whatever leftover meat I have. Sometimes it’s steak, sometimes it’s a chicken breast. Slice that up thin, dump some mixed baby Greens. I just buy a big bag of mixed baby greens. Dump that into a bowl, put your meat on top. If you have any other veggies, maybe cherry tomatoes or sugar snap peas, put that on top too. And of course, full fat dressing. Remember you’re doing this for the health of your nails. They’re going to look beautiful.

JOANN:That’s right for my afternoon snack, I keep it really simple in a large coffee mug, I can put in a scoop of Chocolate Mint Fruits and Greens, add a scoop of chocolate or vanilla protein powder, add eight ounces of hot water and stir until it’s smooth. It is so good. You can even add heavy cream or coconut milk. And I have a healthy and tasty hot chocolate drink, which is wonderful and full of antioxidants. So good in the winter.

CASSIE: I love that line of Fruits and Greens by Nutridyn. It is delicious and there’s so many different flavors. You mentioned the chocolate mint. We have the strawberry kiwi at our house right now, which my kids love and it makes them drink more water. So that really is a great line of products.

JOANN: I just want to make sure we get to our high points. Our nails need three key minerals to stay strong. We talked about protein solutions. One of them is zinc, also calcium and magnesium. So if you’re deficient in zinc, your nails may be slow to grow. A good source of zinc is red meat, right?

CASSIE: A great source of zinc and a very bio-available form. You could also supplement with zinc. I would recommend somewhere between 30 to 50 milligrams. So, uh, let’s see what any other high points that we wanted to mention. You know, with calcium, you have to stop and remember that 70 percent of the world’s population cannot digest milk. So that’s not always a great source of calcium for, for a lot of people, we recommend eating a variety of leafy green vegetables and a variety of nuts for your calcium. And it’s also to them important to understand that in order to absorb that calcium, you need to have adequate vitamin D. So if you don’t know your vitamin D level, I recommend that you get tested. Most people in the midwest need to supplement with vitamin D.

JOANN:  That’s right. Also, and the other key mineral you hear us talking about magnesium a lot, I use mixed magnesium, but magnesium glycinate is also a great source. We recommend at least 400 milligrams each day.

CASSIE: Right. And remember, take that at bedtime, it’ll help you to sleep as well. And as our show draws to a close, I just want to remind everyone that our goal at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to help each and every person experienced better health through eating real food. Yes, we know it’s a simple message, but it’s a powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. Thank you for tuning in and have a healthy day.

8 Best Food Options for Dry Skin

Food not only provides us with nutrition, but it also keeps various ailments and health conditions at bay. When there is a dearth of nutrition in the body, you can suffer from various health issues or conditions, and one of the most common issues is dry skin. What goes inside you can have a significant effect on how your skin behaves and looks. Therefore, if you are battling this skin condition, you can try incorporating certain food items in your diet to soothe your dry skin. If you wish to learn about all these foods in detail, we recommend that you go through this article!

Best Foods to Cure Dry Skin

Let us take a look at some best foods that can help you have beautiful and healthy skin:

1. Pomegranates

Pomegranate is one of the best fruits for dry skin as it provides hydration to the skin cells and also helps in flushing out toxins from the body. Being rich in vitamin A and C, pomegranate contains a high amount of water and other essential vitamins and minerals. It also helps in reducing itching and inflammation and it also aids in improving the elasticity of the skin. This fruit is also loaded with anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties, which help in maintaining good skin health.

How to Use It 

• Include half a cup of pomegranate in your daily breakfast meals.
• Alternatively, you can mix pomegranate oil with olive oil and apply it on your skin. Leave it on for 15-20 minutes and wash it off with warm water.

2. Eggs

One of the most effective foods to prevent dry skin is eggs. Eggs are loaded with fat-soluble vitamins that are beneficial in maintaining the membrane integrity of the skin cells. Eggs are also power-packed with vitamin A, D and E, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, protein, folate and other such vital nutrients which benefit the skin. Never discard the egg yolks when you are having eggs because the yolk contains the maximum nutritional content your skin requires.

How to Use It 

• You can consume one or two eggs for breakfast every day. Have them in boiled, poached, single-fired, scrambled or in any other form.
• Apply egg yolk directly on the skin for 10 to 15 minutes, and wash it off with lukewarm water.

3. Leafy Green Vegetables

If you wish to alter your diet for dry skin, then you must make sure to add ample amounts of green leafy vegetables in it. Such vegetables include cabbage, broccoli, spinach, kale, etc. These kinds of veggies contain calcium, magnesium, folic acid, iron, vitamin A, B, C and K, dietary fibre and many such essential nutrients. The presence of all such nutrients help in improving blood circulation, healing itchy and dry skin, soothing the skin and also removing toxins from the body.

How to Use It 

• You can stir-fry, blanch, boil, steam or cook these vegetables in any way you like.
• You can also have them in a main dish, salads, soup, or even in your sandwiches.

4. Sweet Potato

If you are looking for vegetables to heal your dry skin condition, well, one of the most effective veggie options is sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are power-packed with phosphorus, biotin, potassium, copper, carotenoids, vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, B6 and also a good amount of dietary fibre. All these nutrients lend this vegetable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which not only help in soothing the skin from within, but also in flushing out the harmful toxins from the body.

How to Use It 

• You can eat a sweet potato in boiled, sautéed, grilled and various other forms.
•  You can grate and squeeze the juice and mix it with honey to make a face pack to soothe dry skin.

5. Nuts

Cashew nuts, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts and other kinds of nuts are laden with EFAs, or essential fatty acids such omega 3 and omega 6 along with other vital nutrients such as calcium, potassium, zinc, iron, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin B and E, etc. All these nutrients help in hydrating, improving the blood circulation and maintaining the integrity of skin cells.

How to Use It 

• Soak a handful of mixed nuts in water overnight and have them with your breakfast.
• Make a paste with some soaked almonds and milk, and apply this to your face for 15-20 minutes. Wash it off with lukewarm water for healthy skin.

6. Chamomile Tea

Looking to combat dry skin issues? Try sipping fragrant chamomile tea. This tea contains chamazulene and alpha-bisabolol, two anti-inflammatory compounds that help in soothing dry skin. Also loaded with vitamin A, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium and other such nutrients, it offers antioxidant properties to this tea which help in getting rid of toxins from the body and in the proper functioning of the cells of the body. Because there is a good amount of water in this tea, it helps in providing hydration to the cells too.

How to Use It 

• Sip a warm cup of chamomile tea instead of your regular tea or coffee. You can add honey, lemon or ginger to make the tea more flavourful.
• Use soaked tea bags over your skin by rubbing them in. You can also add a few tea bags along with some honey and coconut oil in your bath water for smooth and soft skin.

7. Cucumber

Cucumbers contain high amounts of water, which makes them one of the best foods for fighting the dry skin condition. Cucumbers also contain silica, which is an important part of muscles, ligaments, cartilages, tendons and bones. Cucumbers are also loaded with vitamin A, C and K, potassium, calcium, folate, etc., which make it an ideal food for dry and parched skin.

How to Use It 

• Eat cucumber in its raw form by adding some lemon juice, salt and pepper.
• Grate and extract the juice of cucumber. Add honey and aloe gel in it to make a face pack. Apply it on the face and neck for 20 minutes, and rinse with cold water.

8. Fish

If consuming a non-vegetarian diet is not an issue, adding fish to your regular diet is a great way to ward off dry skin. Fish is loaded with EFAs, or essential fatty acids that help in removing toxins from the system, reducing inflammation and also locking moisture in the body. Fish are also a great source of vitamins, minerals and protein that aid the proper functioning of the cells, thus protecting the skin from flaking and drying.

How to Use It 

• Steam, sauté, grill or stir-fry fish. Include them in your salad, pasta, main course or eat them as appetisers.
• Consuming fish oil capsules is also a good option, especially for people who cannot eat fish.

Things to Remember

Here are some tips that you should remember to battle the dry skin condition:

• Drink an ample amount of water.
• Do not consume large amounts of alcohol as it can lead to dehydration, and thus, dry skin.
• Get good sleep on a regular basis.
• Avoid stress as much as possible.
• Use a good moisturiser to provide moisture to the skin. Use a cream-based moisturiser instead of a water-based one.
• Consult a doctor if you are not able to manage your condition.

Try including some of these food items to hydrate and nourish your skin from within. A diet rich in these food items is a great way of having skin that is not only radiant, but also soft and supple!

Also Read:

Best Foods to Eat for Healthy Skin
Amazing Benefits of Tomatoes for Skin
Fruit and Vegetable Juices for Glowing Skin

Nutrition for dry skin of the face and body: list of products

What foods can help improve dry skin?

© Getty Images

1 | Flaxseed oil – the record holder for the content of omega-3 fatty acids among all vegetable oils. Its positive effect on the skin is also associated with a high content of vitamin E, folic acid and lignans (estrogen-like phytohormones).Flax phytoestrogens have powerful antioxidant effects.

Flax oil can be added to vegetable salads, drunk on an empty stomach, and flax seeds can be added to various dishes: soups, salads, smoothies, cereals, jelly, baked goods.

© Getty Images

2 | Avocado – a uniquely healthy fruit should be included in the daily diet. Avocado pulp is rich in monounsaturated fats, which are important for maintaining optimal fluid levels in the skin.These healthy fats will not only moisturize your skin, but also help to retain it.

Avocado contains many unique antioxidants, glutathione, magnesium, vitamin K, folic acid, and it contains more vitamin D than egg yolk!

© Getty Images

3 | Eggs are a range of nutrients that significantly affect the condition of the skin and the body as a whole.Chicken protein contains all the essential amino acids. Egg yolk is rich in vitamins A, B12, E, D, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B5, which perfectly relieve dry skin. Lutein protects against oxidative stress.

“Eggs contain sulfur, which has many benefits. It synthesizes vitamin B1, which is necessary for the building of healthy skin, nails and hair, and it also controls the body’s metabolism.In addition, sulfur promotes better fat digestion. Other sources of sulfur are turkey meat, cottage cheese, soy, and almonds.

Omelet or poached egg, soft-boiled or hard-boiled – eggs do not lose their nutritional properties after heat treatment.

© Getty Images

4 | Herring, mackerel, salmon

The main benefit of fish is in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.This product also contains vitamins A, C, E, B12 and trace elements – iron, zinc. In addition, salmon and pink salmon are rich in selenium, which helps to flush out toxins and maintain skin elasticity.

Sunflower seeds, wheat bran, chickpeas, cottage cheese will also help replenish selenium reserves in the body.

© Getty Images

5 | Orange fruits and vegetables – a storehouse of beta-carotene, which the body uses to synthesize vitamin A, one of the most important for the skin.Pumpkin, carrot, sea buckthorn, mango, papaya, sweet potato – the choice is huge. Sea buckthorn deserves special attention: it contains not only a large amount of vitamin C, one of the powerful antioxidants, but also beta-carotene, vitamin E, microelements: chromium, manganese, copper – which also affect the condition of the skin, hair and nails.

Color your daily diet with vibrant shades of orange.

© Getty Images

6 | Leafy greens and green vegetables are saturated with water and folic acid, which accelerates the synthesis of amino acids and is an antioxidant.Cucumbers, celery are rich in vitamins K and B5 (pantothenic acid) and silicon dioxide, which is responsible for skin elasticity.

Vitamin K is essential for the health of blood vessels and capillaries, strengthens their walls.

© Getty Images

7 | Nuts and seeds are a source of monounsaturated fats that allow the skin to regenerate and stay naturally hydrated for a long time.Nuts contain a lot of vitamin E, sunflower seeds – selenium, pumpkin seeds – zinc.

These are high-calorie foods. It is recommended to eat no more than 30 grams of nuts a day, 4-5 times a week.

© Getty Images

8 | Meat and poultry are also essential in the diet. Turkey is a source of choline, sulfur and vitamin PP, which is responsible for firmness.Beef offal (liver, heart, kidneys) contains lipoic acid – one of the universal antioxidants.

9 | Water … The most important thing to do is to develop a habit of drinking clean water throughout the day. The rate depends on the temperature outside the window, physical activity and health.

© Getty Images

Back to the table of contents

Cosmetics for dry skin

Whatever is on your plate, Skin.ru reminds of the importance of skin care. Choose cosmetics designed for dry skin for your daily beauty routine.

Milk for removing makeup for dry skin “Basic care. Flower honey “, Garnier gently cleanses dry skin, while providing comfort and freshness.

Moisturizing cleansing cream-gel, CeraVe is suitable for normal to dry skin of the face and body, has an unusual effect: it does not foam, but at the same time perfectly cleanses, leaving a feeling of hydration.It contains ceramides, hyaluronic acid and other carefully selected components.

Botanic cream for dry to very dry skin with flower honey, Garnier nourishes and gives comfort, protects the skin day after day, neutralizing the effects of aggressive environmental factors.

Transforming butter cream “The luxury of nutrition. An extraordinary oil ”, L’Oréal Paris has a pleasantly nourishing formula in which argan, shea and rosehip oils are combined with essential oils of lavender, rosemary, herbal extract and protein.Leaves skin smooth and radiant.

Avocado Nourishing Hydration Mask, Kiehl’s contains avocado oil, its extract, evening primrose oil, shea butter and other nourishing and moisturizing ingredients. The formula intensively moisturizes the skin, making it soft and smooth.

Back to the top 90,000 Nutrition for dry skin: what foods should be included in the daily diet | Allure

• Nutrition undoubtedly has a huge impact on the condition of the skin.It should be balanced and regular. Be sure to need a full-fledged protein breakfast (about 35% of protein should come with the first meal), lunch and dinner, as well as one or two snacks. A balanced diet, combined with proper care, may well cope with dry skin.
• There is, of course, no categorical prohibition on any products. However, you should limit your intake of coffee and foods containing white sugar. The fact is that in the blood sugar is attached to protein molecules and makes it difficult to synthesize collagen and elastin.Therefore, with frequent use of sugar-containing products, the skin loses its tone, becomes less elastic and becomes covered with fine wrinkles. In women with dry skin, the epidermis is quite thin, with a small number of sebaceous glands, so visually such changes become noticeable faster than on combination, oily and normal skin.
• Coffee, in turn, is a diuretic and promotes the elimination of fluid from the body, which is undesirable for those with dry skin.Therefore, the use of coffee and sugar should be limited as much as possible. Also, to cope with dry skin, it is important to stay hydrated and drink 2-2.2 liters of clean water throughout the day.
• The main “helpers” for dry skin: protein, vitamins A, C and E, polyunsaturated fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6 and B vitamins – these are exactly what you need to supplement your diet with. As a source of protein, for example, lean meat (turkey, rabbit, chicken), soybeans, fatty fish (salmon, salmon, trout, mackerel, tuna) are suitable.Products with vitamins A, C and E are, in relation to the current season, carrots, pumpkin, broccoli, parsley, spinach, tomatoes. Salads are best seasoned with olive oil, as it contains vitamin E and healthy omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Include nuts and flaxseed oil in your diet, or flaxseeds themselves, which can be added to salads or cereals. B vitamins are found in the liver (including fish – for example, cod), yolk, herbs, dairy products.

** Diet for owners of dry skin: ** Breakfast (protein products and salad must be present): – orange juice,

• omelet / fatty fish,
• green peas / broccoli

Lunch: – pumpkin soup with flax seeds or pine nuts,

• boiled or grilled turkey (or chicken),
• iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, parsley and olives

** Afternoon snack : ** – persimmon / yogurt / protein bar / cereals with nuts and dried fruits

** Dinner : ** – cottage cheese,

• a glass of kefir,
• salad with carrots, apple and raisins.

Photo: GettyImages

Taking care of dry body skin

Dry skin is such a common and serious problem that it is included in the top 10 most discussed cosmetic topics. Skin is the largest organ in the human body and has many beneficial functions as well as an indicator of the health of the wearer.

There are four types of skin: normal, dry, combination and oily. Skin type is curled by the amount of sebum (sebum) that is produced by the sebaceous glands.In dry skin, the sebaceous secretion is not enough, so it especially needs good nutrition. With age, sebum production diminishes, the skin becomes drier, and the need for nourishing care increases. After reading this article, you will learn how to diagnose dry skin by a number of signs, learn the most common mistakes in care, discover a number of oils that can work miracles, and determine which oil for dry body skin is right for you.

How do I know if my skin is dry?

5 signs of dry skin

1. peeling of the skin appears
2. the skin becomes rough and rough
3. there is a feeling of tightness and discomfort
4. redness and itching possible
5. leather starts to crack

If you are familiar with the symptoms listed above, then your skin needs special care.

Will my skin always be like this? Can I fix it?

Skin type is due to physiological characteristics. Only Hogwarts graduates can turn dry skin into combination or oily skin. But we assure you that this is superfluous: with proper skin care, there is no need to envy representatives of other skin types.

Do peeling and tightness only occur in people with dry skin?

No, it is not. Absolutely everyone can face similar problems.The condition of our skin is influenced by the environment, bad habits, medication, stress and improper care. If your skin has never been dry, but has recently been tightened and flaky, then it is lacking in moisture.

I am taking care of my skin, but the dryness does not go away. What to do?

There are a number of misconceptions regarding dry skin care. Let’s dispel myths once and for all so that we don’t make mistakes anymore!

Delusion 1:

Once you have nourished your skin, that’s enough.

Body skin care should be as regular as facial skin care. The most common mistake is avoiding beauty products as soon as visible results appear. Take care of yourself every day!

Delusion 2:

There is nothing better for dry skin than the most common baby cream.

Baby cream is called baby cream for a reason, it was created specifically for babies. Experts give a number of arguments why it is worth forgetting about it in adulthood.For example, one of the main components of such a product is lanolin. Its task is to cover the skin with a dense layer, because the baby’s skin is thinner and incredibly sensitive to environmental influences. An adult, using a product that is not for his age, runs the risk of facing the problem of clogged pores, even greater dryness and the appearance of inflammation.

Delusion 3:

Nourishing beauty products are sure to relieve dryness.

Dry skin definitely needs nutrition. But moisturizing is no less important, because such skin experiences a regular lack of moisture.It is extremely important to strike a balance here – finding products that contain both nourishing and moisturizing ingredients such as hyaluronic acid.

Delusion 4:

Olive oil from a nearby grocery store, half a banana and a spoonful of honey are all you need.

Making cosmetics requires serious medical and cosmetic knowledge. Each product of The Body Shop is the result of the work of experienced professionals, years of research and search for formulas.All products are hypoallergenic and dermatologically approved, and their effectiveness has been verified by customers.

A variety of products are presented on store shelves: creams, emulsions, balms, sprays. What to look at first of all?

Today oils for very dry skin of the body occupy a leading position in skin care. First, it’s hard not to fall in love with this rich, dense texture reminiscent of homemade butter. Secondly, oils are extremely convenient to use.Quality oils are well absorbed, leave no residue, and their pleasant scent promotes relaxation. And thirdly, they contain components that perfectly eliminate dryness, nourish and maintain the moisture level in the skin.

If you ask the question: “I have dry body skin, which oil is better than of all?”, Then the next top list is for you! Please welcome!

5 Oils for dry skin that will change the way you care forever!

Body oil Olives

Olive oil, which is part of the “Olives” body oil, has excellent nourishing properties, instantly melts on the skin and softens it.It is rich in fatty acids, vitamins A, B, C, F, K and useful trace elements. Also in this cosmetic oil – shea butter and cocoa. This product does not clog pores, softens even the most keratinized areas such as elbows and heels. It is also effective in combating irregularities and scars. Suitable for all skin types. Apply this oil daily after showering. The result will not be long in coming!

Shea Body Butter

This legendary body butter is a cocktail of shea nut, cocoa, babbasu and beeswax oils.Shea butter has excellent smoothing and repairing properties. Shea body butter has a neutral aroma, therefore it is suitable for both women and men. This oil for dry skin of the body. – a favorite of many! Try it too!

Body Butter Mango

This product contains moisturizing and nourishing ingredients: mango seed oil, shea butter and cocoa butter. Mango seed oil works on the deeper layers of the dermis to rejuvenate the skin. In the cold season, it protects the skin from drying out, and in sunny periods – from exposure to ultraviolet rays.Mango Body Butter is ideal as a preventative against stretch marks during pregnancy. The magical aroma of ripe fruit will not leave you indifferent!

Wild Argan Body Oil

Argan oil is ideal for skin nourishment. Many people call this product the best oil for dry skin of the body , because this oil is rich in vitamins A, E, F, C, antioxidants and omega acids. Wild Argan Body Oil, which contains argan oil from Morocco, soothes and nourishes the skin perfectly, while its exquisite oriental scent lifts the mood.Your skin will look rested!

Softening Body Butter Almond Milk & Honey

This product is specially formulated for sensitive and dry skin. It uses Ethiopian organic honey and almond oil from Spain. The oil has a delicate and sophisticated aroma.

These oils for dry body skin are sure to help you forget about dryness, flaking and redness. Apply them to damp skin after a shower, warming up in the palms of your hands.Store The Body Shop products exclusively at room temperature and avoid direct sunlight.

When buying oils for dry skin of the body, do not forget to also purchase oil for dry skin! And for the greatest effect, we recommend paying attention to other products of The Body Shop. The Body Shop shower gels contain honey to soften the skin, care accessories do not hurt even the most delicate areas, and bombs will not color a snow-white bath.

The Dry Skin Care section has everything you need to keep your skin satisfied.Is it difficult to find your own care? No problem! The Body Shop consultants are sure to help!

NUTRITION FOR DRY SKIN

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Winter cold and icy wind are a real challenge for the skin, and especially for dry skin. We have everything to support the health and beauty of dry skin on the outside, but let’s see how we can support it from the inside out through diet.

1. The most important thing is, of course, not to forget to replenish water reserves in the body .Let us especially note: we are talking specifically about water, clean drinking water. Not all drinks are equally good for the skin (for example, coffee and alcohol dehydrate the skin). And even tap water must be well purified and filtered: chlorine dissolved in water causes dry skin .
   A good choice is quality green or herbal tea.
2. More iodine and selenium! Dry skin can be caused by thyroid dysfunction. If you have dry skin, brittle hair and nails, hypersensitivity to cold, you feel constant fatigue – this is a reason to visit an endocrinologist and check your thyroid gland.In the meantime, try increasing the amount of seafood, mushrooms, strawberries, mozzarella cheese, natural organic yogurt (better known as kefir) in your diet.
3. Fruit . In order for the cellular structures of the skin’s hydrolipid mantle to function normally, the body needs vitamins C and E, as well as monounsaturated fats. With their help, the skin will be able to retain moisture, while remaining firm and elastic. The ideal combination of these vitamins and fats is found in avocados.
   Mango, pineapple, and grapefruit are no less useful for dry skin. But do not think that in our latitudes there are no fruits that can replace tropical exoticism. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, watermelon will help you cope with dry skin just as well as the gifts of southern countries.
4. Fish – salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines, trout . The omega-3 found in fish strengthens skin cells, helps protect the skin from environmental stress and fights inflammation.Contains fish and selenium to preserve skin elastin. Saltwater fish is a good source of iodine, the importance of which in the fight against dry skin we have already written above.
   However, Avoid fish fried with a lot of fat – this fat has a terrible effect on the skin condition . Our choice is fish baked in foil, grilled or boiled.
5. Orange and yellow vegetables and fruits . Why is their color so important? Here’s why: these vegetables contain beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant that is able to resist free radicals and protect the skin from external influences (be it cold, solar radiation or the dirty air of a big city).In addition, vegetables contain vitamins A and C, which are necessary for the regeneration of skin cells and the production of collagen. The following vegetables and fruits are especially useful: sweet potatoes, carrots, apricots, melon, papaya, red pepper, pumpkin, mango.
   Note that cooked vegetables contain more beta-carotene and are therefore healthier than raw vegetables.
6. Vegetable oils are rich in vitamin E and healthy fats, and can heal the skin both as a food product and as an ingredient in homemade cosmetics.However, make sure that the vegetable oil is natural and of high quality. The most valuable oils for internal use in order to improve the skin are the following oils: olive, linseed, pumpkin, hemp, sesame and evening primrose oil.
7. Spinach and cabbage . Spinach and kale are rich in iron, omega-4 fatty acids and vitamins A, B and E, and this is an excellent arsenal for protecting the skin and strengthening its immune system. These vegetables also contain folates (salts of folate), which help to improve the natural hydration of the skin and its health.
8. Nuts and seeds . Perhaps the most essential part of the diet for dry skin health. They contain omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A, B, E, monounsaturated fats, many beneficial trace elements and antioxidants. Moisturizing the skin, improving its elasticity, protecting it from harmful environmental substances and free radicals – all this is within the power of a diet that includes almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, flaxseeds and sunflowers.
   However, keep in mind that nuts and seeds are high in calories.
9. Eggs . Egg white is an excellent material for cell regeneration, and eggs are also rich in lutein and sulfur, which help to retain cell moisture and skin elasticity.

And don’t forget to use a quality moisturizer: a holistic approach to skin rejuvenation and restoration will bring you better results and stronger effects. In the cold season, you should pay attention to moisturizing creams based on inverse emulsion.Unlike simple direct emulsions, the water in such creams is enclosed in oil droplets, thanks to which the cream can be applied 20 minutes before going out into the cold and not be afraid of frostbite. And let the winter be your only joy!

Read also:

90,000 Proper nutrition for dry skin

Dry skin – is the type of skin that you need to work with carefully and at the same time delicately. Nutrition is no exception. What diet should the owners of dry skin have, the editors WANT to understand.ua.

READ ALSO – Why does the body need carbohydrates

To maintain a good condition of dry skin, proper care and a competent diet are necessary, which would supply the body with all the necessary substances. Unfortunately, few of the owners of this skin type adhere to the necessary nutritional rules.

THE RIGHT NUTRITION FOR DRY SKIN

If we talk about the general rule of nutrition for dry skin, it will sound like this: more water and a balanced diet.Owners of dry skin need to give up the habit of losing weight on diets, and teach yourself to eat everything, but in moderation.

Limit coffee consumption

The main problem with dry skin is lack of moisture. Coffee made from everyday products is the most insidious in this matter. So, coffee removes fluid from the body, so be careful. Limit yourself to one cup of this drink a day. If you want more, watch your water balance: let each cup of coffee be accompanied by a glass of water.

Give up diets

Read also: What vitamins will help strengthen hair

People with dry skin should not go on diets. Especially low-calorie ones. The thing is that diets, as a rule, involve not just restricting the diet, but also limiting the intake of nutrients necessary for the body. For those with dry skin, it is best to lose weight through exercise and proper nutrition.

If you need a method of express weight loss, choose the least extreme diet, and be sure to monitor the amount of fluid you drink.

Limit sweet

Sugar is a dangerous product for the skin because it blocks the production of collagen and elastin. Therefore, with frequent use of sweets, the skin becomes thin and covered with fine wrinkles. And due to the fact that thinness is a natural feature of dry skin, such phenomena appear very actively on it, unlike girls with normal or oily skin.

In view of this, control the amount of sweets you consume during the day.

Drink water

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To prevent the skin from being very dry, you need to drink water. This is logical and logical. However, it should be borne in mind that for people with dry skin, the daily water intake is 2 liters. If you find it hard to drink clean water, sweeten it with honey, or add some berries. This will immediately give the water a special flavor.

Take vitamins

The main vitamins for dry skin are vitamins A and E, which must be supplied to the body in the right amount.If you are not ready to compose the diet so that it contains a sufficient amount of these vitamins, drink ready-made vitamins from the pharmacy. The main thing is to do it regularly. Include fatty sea fish, butter, dairy products, wheat and bran in your diet.

Author: Nataliya Veresyuk

90,000 Dry skin of the face: what foods should be included in the diet

Dehydration is always dangerous for the skin, but sometimes the cause of dryness is a lack of certain substances, and not just liquid.

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Those with dry, flaky skin first rush to use a moisturizing lotion or oil. However, before running for a cosmetic product, you should pay attention to your diet and change your diet. After all, it has long been known that all problems come from within. Ivona will tell you what foods should be in the diet of those with dry skin.

Dermatologist Lyubov Zinovieva says:

Nutrition undoubtedly has a huge impact on the condition of the skin.It should be balanced and regular. Be sure to need a full-fledged protein breakfast (about 35% of protein should come with the first meal), lunch and dinner, as well as one or two snacks. A balanced diet, combined with proper care, may well cope with dry skin.

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Causes of dry skin:

Nutritionist Svetlana Fus believes that the cause of dry skin is a lack of iron.

Iron is an essential trace element for the human body involved in providing oxygen to tissues, organs and systems. Chronic iron deficiency can lead to a decrease in hemoglobin in the blood, an oxygen-carrying protein, and provoke the development of iron deficiency anemia. If the iron deficiency in the body is caused by improper diet, then this can be corrected.

What not to do if your face is dry:

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Alcohol, fried foods, sweetened drinks should be excluded from your diet.These foods reduce body fluids and cause skin dehydration.

In the blood, sugar attaches to protein molecules and hinders the synthesis of collagen and elastin. Therefore, with frequent use of sugar-containing products, the skin loses its tone, becomes less elastic and becomes covered with fine wrinkles. For women with dry skin, the epidermis is rather thin, with a small number of sebaceous glands, so visually such changes become noticeable faster than on combination, oily and normal skin “- explains dermatologist Lyubov Zinovieva

Nutrition for dry skin:

• Orange fruits and vegetables

Vitamin A is needed for the skin to be healthy and beautiful.It promotes cell regeneration and also helps prevent dryness and flaking. Vitamin A is found in carrots, melon, pumpkin, bell peppers.

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Avocados contain antioxidants, vitamins C and E and monounsaturated fats, which saturate the skin with moisture.

• Nuts and Seeds

Nutritionists recommend including walnuts and flaxseeds in the diet, as they are rich in omega-3 and omega-6.They also contain monounsaturated fats that moisturize the skin.

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Salmon must be present in the diet of those with dry skin. In addition to the omega-3 content in fish, salmon is also rich in selenium – a mineral that keeps the skin elastic.

Eggs are rich in proteins, biotin, lutein, vitamins B5 and B12, which prevent dryness.Also, thanks to the presence of sulfur, the elasticity of the skin can be restored.

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• Leafy greens

Greens are a source of folate, omega 3 and iron. Greens must be present in the diet, they help the skin to recover.

Turkey contains lipoic acid and zinc, which help relieve dry skin and prevent flaking.

• Olive oil

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Olive oil helps to get rid of saturated fats and excess salt, which helps restore skin elasticity.Also, keep in mind that olive oil contains vitamin E and healthy fats that help fight dry skin.

Earlier we wrote how to eat depending on the skin type.

Eucerin: Dry Skin | How to help dry body skin

The best time to moisturize is when the skin is clean and slightly damp, such as after a bath or shower.
Dry skin requires special sunscreens without any irritating perfumes or dyes.The constant use of protective gloves and hand cream can help some professions, such as a doctor or hairdresser.

Lack of effective treatment
If dry skin is not treated urgently, the degree of dryness may increase and the hydration system in the deep layers of the skin may be impaired. In such situations, it is necessary to use a moisturizer designed to solve this problem.

Sun exposure
While protecting dry skin from sun damage, it is important that sunscreen also repairs deficiencies in moisturizing factors, in addition to the appropriate sun protection factor (SPF).It is also important that sunscreen, like any other care product used on dry skin, is free of irritating perfume and dyes, as dry skin, especially on the face, is more prone to irritation than normal skin.

Occupational Risks
Certain occupations require work in conditions that may increase the risk of dry skin. These are usually activities that involve the development of dry skin, such as working in hot or cold conditions (farmer / fisherman), or work involving the use of detergents (doctor / nurse / hairdresser), or working with chemicals (mechanic / cleaner).

Dehydration
The skin receives moisture from the body and therefore depends on the water balance in the body. When dehydrated, it reduces the supply of moisture to the skin, which slows down the natural transport of water through the skin and can contribute to dryness. Older people are prone to dehydration, as thirst dulls with age.

Smoking
Cigarettes contain many toxins, including nicotine, which can reduce blood flow.This leads to a decrease in the metabolic rate in the skin. This means that the processes of premature aging and drying can start in it.

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