What To Eat For Glowy Skin - The FIVE Key Nutrition And Skin Principles

Nutrient-poor diets can lead to inflammation, breakouts, and premature skin ageing. We can turn to skincare products, but many of these simply can’t reach the deeper layers of the skin. So, for step 1 in our skincare regimens, we should look at what’s on our plates rather than our bathroom shelves. Nutrition and skin should not be overlooked.

In this article, I’ll cover everything you need to know about eating well whilst supporting your skin health.

This post is all about nutrition and skin.

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First, there are two things I want you to know when it comes to nutrition and skin health.

1. Skin has a 28-day cycle. So, once you change your diet, you may not see changes overnight, but that glow might appear in about a month's time.
2. Diet is only one part of the puzzle; hormones, genetics, sleep, and stress all come into play when it comes to our skin. Good or Bad skin is rarely caused by diet alone. Many people cut out entire food groups to improve their skin, but this approach can often lead to more harm than good.

Before jumping into the five principles, I want to bring your awareness to two things I would consider avoiding when it comes to skin or, at the very least, taking a moderate approach.

What To Avoid - Nutrition and The Skin

Alcohol:

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Alcohol is pro-inflammatory and dehydrating; plus, when you drink, you tend to eat poorly and sleep poorly, which affects your skin.

A study that included more than 3,000 women found that women who drink eight or more drinks a week (the equivalent of one bottle of wine) are more likely to have fine lines on their upper faces, foreheads, and around the eyes. The study also showed midface volume loss and more visible blood vessels.

Alcohol can also flare pre-existing conditions such as eczema and rosacea. 

But a big problem here is that alcohol also wreaks havoc on hormones and sleep. At night, when you sleep, you produce growth hormones; it is a time when we regenerate, and skin turnover is at its highest, renewing your cells. But drinking disrupts this process, so we need to protect our sleep. 

Also, if you are sleep-deprived, your cortisol, a stress hormone, increases, and we know that stress worsens many skin conditions. It can lead to breakouts and exacerbate psoriasis.

Restrictive Diets

I would also avoid very low-calorie or restrictive diets.

When we eat, our bodies prioritise sending the nutrition to our brain and heart first. Then, it goes to the lungs, liver, and kidneys, and then it goes to muscle and bone. Finally, anything leftover goes into your skin. This means our skin is the last place to get nutrition, so you need to have enough nutrition coming in, in order to get those nutrients into lovely, glowing, healthy skin.

In addition to this, if you remove a particular food group, your skin will suffer. The first sign of any nutrition deficiency is often seen on the skin, hair and nails. For example, B12 deficiency is common among people who may cut out dairy or follow a vegan diet. This can present as cracked edges or sores around the side of the mouth. When low-fat diets were popular, it was more widespread to see much dryer skin. On the opposite side of the scale, very high-fat Keto diets can cause a very itchy rash known as “keto rash” It's a direct result of cutting out carbohydrates, which causes the skin to become inflamed and triggers red bumps and blotches to appear. The treatment for this is simple - you reintroduce carbohydrates! 

Now let's move on to the positive...and what we can include more of to optimize our skin!

Nutrition And Skin: The Five Principles

Principle 1: Supporting Our Skin Structure With Protein.

In particular, we want to support the collagen protein network in our skin.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the skin. As we age, our bodies make less collagen. From the age of 20, we start to lose about 1% of the collagen in our skin per year. After menopause, falling oestrogen levels lead to a further reduction in collagen production.  As these levels drop over time, our skin loses its elasticity. This results in the skin losing its bounce and becoming more susceptible to wrinkle formation.

There are two main ways we can support our skin's collagen through food choices.

1. Number 1 is simply eating enough protein. This is the most important thing. Protein helps ensure that our body has enough building blocks to create collagen. Check out this article to learn more about how much protein you should eat. The good news is that our bodies can make collagen, so if we don’t eat lots of dietary collagen, our bodies can naturally produce collagen by taking amino acids from other protein-rich foods. So you can be a vegan, vegetarian, or meat eater and still be in good standing to support your collagen production by eating a wide range of foods with enough protein. If you are unsure, protein-rich foods include meat, eggs, fish, dairy, legumes, beans and nuts. 
2. Our bodies can make collagen, but to do this, we also need Vitamin C and Vitamin E from our diet. These are critical players in stimulating collagen production. Food sources rich in Vitamin E are almonds, sunflower seeds, leafy greens, peanuts, and avocados. As for vitamin C, you can find it in citrus fruits and vegetables like bell peppers and broccoli. 

Principle 2: Is Moisturising Your Skin From Within

Low levels of fat in your diet, particularly omega-3, can contribute to dehydrated, flaky skin and dry, dull hair. The best source of omega-3 in our diet is oily fish. Oily fish tend to be coloured fish, so think of your salmon, mackerel, sardines, trout, etc.

They help maintain healthy skin moisture levels, supporting the skin barrier. They contribute to the natural oils produced in the skin, which offer smoothing and softening benefits by coating the outer layer of the skin and preventing moisture loss. Due to their anti-inflammatory properties, they are also important for conditions such as dermatitis, psoriasis, and acne.

There are plant sources of omega-3, such as walnuts and flaxseeds, but they are not as well utilized by the body as oily fish. Therefore, this is one scenario where if you don't consume at least one portion of oily fish a week, I would consider taking a supplement. When choosing a supplement, look for one with EPA and DHA at a dosage of 4-500mg for an adult. If you follow a vegan diet, you can choose supplements sourced from algae.

Staying hydrated by drinking enough water is also essential for your skin health. However, it is often overhyped. I remember being told as a teenager that drinking lots of water could flush out your skin and eliminate all teenage acne. But that didn't work. Drinking water can help with skin hydration, but only if you're dehydrated to begin with. Over-hydrating and drinking gallons of water won't provide any additional benefit. Nevertheless, it is important to keep adequately hydrated. The best way to tell if you're drinking enough is to look at your urine, which should be a pale yellow colour.

Principle 3: Prioritising Gut Health

We may not think what is happening inside our gut can show on our skin, but research shows that is where the key to glowy skin lies. The gut is home to trillions of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and viruses) collectively known as the gut microbiome. Over the last decade, an explosion of research has linked the gut microbiome to almost every aspect of our health, from depression to being able to manage our weight, food cravings and skin health.

The exciting news is that we have the power to influence our gut microbes directly through the foods we eat. We may be unable to change our genetics, but we can change our gut composition. 

Regarding a healthy gut microbiome, there are two things we are looking out for:

1. Balance: Having plenty of "good" gut bacteria, as opposed to the less beneficial "bad" bacteria
2. Diversity: Having various species of bacteria in the gut.

The two main ways to achieve this are:

1. Eat plenty of fibre – at least 25g daily.
2. Eat a variety of plant foods – 30 a week, according to the (American Gut Project)

Thirty plants may seem like a lot, but it's easier than you think. This number isn't only restricted to fruit and vegetables but also includes whole grains, oils, nuts, seeds, spices, coffee, tea, herbs, and plain chocolate. So, if you are the kind of person who always only eats almonds and blueberries, start trying to switch it up more. Buy a bag of mixed nuts or mixed frozen berries instead.

An imbalance of gut bacteria (known as Dysbiosis) has been linked to several common skin conditions, such as acne, rosacea, eczema and psoriasis. The theory is that our gut bacteria produce compounds known as SCFAs, which have anti-inflammatory effects. If you have fewer good bacteria, you will, therefore, have fewer of these anti-inflammatory compounds and more inflammation. Another likelihood is that our gut is involved in training our immune system to work at its best, so when out of balance, the immune system can cause unwanted inflammation that can take the form of skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. 

Do you need to take a probiotic supplement?

In terms of skin health, we don’t have evidence to recommend specific probiotics for skin conditions just yet. Probiotics cover a huge range of different species of bacteria in various quantities. USprobioticguide.com is an excellent resource for looking at probiotics if you are interested in learning more. There is evidence for probiotic use in some scenarios (just not yet on the skin). 

Principle 4: Controlling Sebum Production with Low GI Choices

Sebum is an oily substance needed to lubricate our skin. However, too much sebum can lead to skin congestion, ultimately making skin more prone to breakouts. Natural fluctuations in hormones can impact our sebum levels. But it's suspected that our food choices can, too, especially diets rich in added sugars or carbohydrates that turn into sugars quickly. These are labelled high glycemic foods. These can be found in sugar-sweetened beverages, refined grains, or sweets, cakes and biscuits. Since these foods break down into sugar quicker, the amount of sugar in the blood also increases quicker. This increases hormone levels, such as insulin and insulin-like growth factor, which may stimulate more sebum (oil) production and breakouts in some susceptible people. Foods that are digested slower with a slower release of energy, such as whole grains, are called low glycemic and have displayed positive impacts on the skin.

Research also shows that excessive sugar consumption can reach the dermis and form molecules called advanced glycation end products, or "AGEs." AGES can damage collagen and elastin, stiffening them and resulting in premature skin ageing or skin sag. This discovery was first made in people with diabetes. Studies have shown that those living with higher blood sugar can have thickened skin and appear visibly older than those with normal blood sugar levels. So, a diet very high in refined sugar will quite literally “AGE you.” 

Certain cooking methods, such as grilling, frying, BBQing, and roasting, also produce significantly higher levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) compared to water-based methods like boiling and steaming.

Now, please don't misinterpret any of these principles and try to eliminate all sugar, fruit, and carbohydrates. We need to be mindful of eating excessive amounts of added sugars, not all sugar.

Principle 5: Glow with Greens and Colourful Plates. 

While sunscreen is essential, it isn't the only way to fight free-radical skin damage. 

Within the skin are powerful compounds called antioxidants that can neutralise the effect of free radicals produced by UV light before they can cause harm. Going back to collagen, we have covered building collagen, but we must also protect the collagen that we have.

So, antioxidants can be applied topically to our skin, like using a vitamin C serum before suncream as part of your morning skincare regime, but you can also consume them through your diet. This will further help mitigate the effects of free radicals on our skin. Diets rich in antioxidants have been linked with having a positive impact on our skin's elasticity, smoothness, and colour. 

Each coloured fruit or veg has a different potency and array of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. So, if you are missing a colour, you are likely missing some benefits. Even dark chocolate contains flavonoids, an antioxidant that may help protect the skin. 

And if you didn't know, one of the most evidence-backed skincare products, retinol, is, in fact, vitamin A.

So, aiming to get a lot of colour into your diet will be hugely beneficial for your skin health and overall general health, too.

A diet with lots of colours is also likely to have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body. Most skin conditions, like acne and psoriasis, are inflammatory in nature, so eating in this way will, in general, be really helpful. I have a 10-step anti-inflammatory diet plan available here that I would recommend you check out.

Conclusion:

As you can see, when it comes to nutrition and skin there isn't one miracle food, supplement or drink for clear and glowing skin. Remember that many factors contribute to our skin's appearance, like hormones, sleep stress, and medications. So nutrition is just one of the many pillars that we can focus on, but luckily, it's one of the controllable ones.

This post was all about nutrition and skin.

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More about the author:

Hi there! My name is Maria, and I am a Registered Dietitian practising in Ireland and Bermuda. I have extensive experience in helping clients improve their health through the power of good nutrition. I hope you enjoyed this article. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Additionally, if there are nutrition topics or recipes you would like me to make in future posts, please let me know. I would be more than happy to help.

Stay happy and healthy 💚

Your Registered Dietitian

Maria xx

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