Nutrition for Skin

Acne and Problematic Skin:

AVOID:

• Acidic, processed food
• Fried food
• Junk food
• Sugar (increases AGEs)
• Avoid gluten, wheat, oats, corn, rice (increases inflammation in the gut)

INCREASE:

• Avocado
• Olives/Olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Water
• Omega 3 fatty acids
• Vitamin D3 levels
• Fresh & lightly steamed vegetables
• Zinc-rich foods, such as liver, kidney, beef, lamb, oysters & scallops
• Probiotics

Dryness or Dehydrated Skin

AVOID:

• Sugars (strengthen your collagen)
• Alcohol
• Refined carbohydrates (increases inflammation

INCREASE:

• Omega 3 fatty acids
• Flax seeds (need to be crushed with pestle & mortar)
• Natural Beta-carotene
• Water!
• Probiotics

Pigmented skin, or uneven skin tone:

AVOID:

• Foods containing Psoralens (limes, parsley, celery, parsnips) can attract and absorb ultraviolet rays.
• Vitamin C

INCREASE:

• Pomegranate
• Pygnogenol (potent anti-oxidant)
• Probiotics

Ageing skin and fine lines:

AVOID:

• Definitely sugars!
• Refined carbohydrates, wheat, gluten
• Fried & junk food

INCREASE:

• Water
• Fresh & steamed vegetables
• Vitamin C containing foods, such as bell-peppers, guava, dark leafy green vegetables, broccoli & Brussels sprouts
• Healthy fats (olive, coconut, avocado)
• Anti-oxidants (berries, kiwi-fruit, grapefruit)
• Probiotics

• Omega 3 fatty acids from fatty fish. Unfortunately the plant sources of Omega 3 falls far too short in providing sufficient amounts.
• Vitamin B12
• Calcium
• Vitamin D3
• Iron (Iron from proteins is absorbed two to three times faster than iron from plant sources)
• Vitamin C (to assist with iron absorption)

1. Avoid as much sugar as possible
2. Keep fructose consumption below 15-25 grams per day
3. Use the sweet herb stevia as a substitute
4. Use organic cane sugar/raw honey in moderation
5. Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, which can damage your health even more quickly than fructose

• Cranberries (1 cup) = 0.7g Fructose
• Passion fruit (1 medium) = 0.9g Fructose
• Prune (1 medium) = 1.2g Fructose
• Apricot (1 medium) = 1.3g Fructose
• Guava (2 medium) = 2.2g Fructose
• Clementine (1 medium) = 3.4g Fructose
• Kiwifruit (1 medium) = 3.4g Fructose

• Walnuts – High in omega 3 fatty acids
• Kiwi fruit, citrus, strawberries – high anti-oxidant levels
• Organic dark chocolate – bio-flavonoids
• Brazil nuts – high in Selenium
• Good quality water

Glycation is the process in which sugar bonds with protein to form advanced glycation end products (AGEs). In other words, once sugar enters the circulation, they attach themselves to the amino groups of tissue proteins such as collagen to slowly rearrange their youthful structure into the main culprits of damage.

As a result, once healthy collagen fibers lose their elasticity, becoming rigid, more brittle, and prone to breakage. This assault on the skin’s structural support system contributes to the ageing of tissue, and when accelerated by hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), to the gradual development of diabetic complications.

As skin ages it becomes especially vulnerable to glycation, because collagen compromises up to one-third of the body’s proteins, and has a slow turnover rate. Once glycated, collagen fibres have reduced regenerative ability, leading to wrinkles, creping and sagging that characterises skin ageing.

Limiting sugars in your diet is a well-known key to longevity, because of all the molecules capable of inflicting damage in your body, sugar molecules are probably the most damaging of all. Fructose in particular is an extremely potent pro-inflammatory agent that creates AGEs and speeds up the ageing process. It also promotes the kind of dangerous growth of fat cells around your vital organs that are the hallmark of diabetes & heart disease.