Correcting eating habits to keep skin youthful

Associate professor of medicine Wynn Huynh Tran, Northstate University of Medicine California, USA, says that nutrition directly and long-term affects the skin. Healthy, shiny, rosy skin is the clearest sign that the body has adequate nutrition.

Studies show that a balanced diet and anti-inflammatory foods are key to healthy skin. The concept of a balanced diet includes eating a variety of different ingredients such as grains, vegetables, proteins, starches, and fats, and a balance of macronutrients – the three basic nutrients including carbs (sugars), protein (proteins) ) and fat (fat) and micronutrients – micronutrients. Cruciferous vegetables, fruits, nuts, and whole grains have anti-inflammatory effects. The best way to absorb vitamins for the skin is directly from vegetables, not through functional foods.

According to Huynh Tran, eating a lot of sugar is bad for the skin. Studies show that eating a lot of sugar can easily lead to diabetes, increase inflammation under the skin, increase insulin resistance, cause the body to create glycation end products (AGEs) that damage collagen and elastin fibers, stretch skin, too faster aging.

Eating sugar also makes acne worse by increasing inflammation, stimulating the growth of bacteria, secreting sebum, making the skin darker. Milia can also develop more in people with diabetes or obesity.

Nicotine and more than 4,000 other chemicals from cigarette smoke damage the tissues under the skin, trigger inflammation, make the skin thinner, red, more susceptible to infection and take longer to heal if scratched. The substances in cigarette smoke can clog the tiny blood vessels, make the skin lack nutrients and reduce the ability to eliminate toxins.

Alcohol is also bad for the skin. Drinking a few glasses of alcohol has no effect, but drinking alcohol every day in high concentrations will cause skin to wrinkle. The doctor explained that drinking alcohol causes the body to lose water, from which the amount of water under the skin is gradually lost, the skin becomes pale. Alcohol affects the visible tiny blood vessels, which can eventually develop into skin diseases. Not to mention, drinking a lot of alcohol also makes the body lose important vitamins such as vitamins A, B, and C, affecting collagen regeneration.

Complex carb starches (slowly absorbed carbs) such as brown rice, brown bread, oats are high in fiber, absorbed slowly, making you feel full for a long time, helping to keep your skin healthy. However, another type of starch is a simple carb (fast absorbing carb) such as white rice, confectionery, sugar, and tea, which absorbs quickly, causing the body to digest quickly leading to hunger. Eating this type of starch, the metabolic system is often faster, easily leads to weight gain, increased inflammation index and accelerated skin aging.

Doctors advise to take care of healthy skin to start with weight loss exercise. When the weight is reduced, the inflammation index decreases, the skin regenerates. Exercising helps blood vessels to dilate, flow normally, lead toxic substances out, keep the skin healthy.

Eat plenty of foods that are good for your skin, like fish oil that provide Omega-3s to reduce inflammation inside tiny blood vessels, helping to repair damaged skin from UV rays. Fresh fruits and vegetables are major sources of vitamins A, C, D, E and minerals. You should eat a few fruits and vegetables every day. The fruits rich in vitamin C include guava, orange, grapefruit; Mushrooms provide a lot of vitamin D.

Should supplement daily with nuts and grains such as: Sunflower seeds are rich in vitamin E and linolenic acid; Walnuts contain many minerals such as zinc and selenium. Green tea contains polyphenols, which reduce skin damage and help restore wrinkles.

Thuy Quynh