You want gorgeous skin and hair, but it’s not just the products you use that can achieve this. Your food choices play a big role in making you look your best. One of your New Year’s Resolutions should be to add more of these beauty-boosting foods to your diet so that you can say hello to brighter skin and thicker hair.
Fight the Sun’s Damage with Berries!
Being in the sun puts your skin at risk of damage. Getting too much exposure to the UV rays causes the skin to produce free radicals, which results in wrinkles and pigmentation. You need to eat antioxidants to prevent these free radicals, and berries are a great source of them. Add a variety of them to your yogurt, fruit salads and smoothies this summer. Strawberries are especially good because they contain the antioxidant Vitamin C, which offers other skin benefits, as you’ll see below.
Make Skin Supple with Vitamin C
Citrus fruits, such as lemons, oranges and grapefruit, are delicious additions to your summer meals. They’re also crammed with Vitamin C that stimulates collagen production in the skin. Collagen maintains the skin’s firmness, keeping wrinkles and sagging at bay. The result? Healthier, younger skin.
Lemons aren’t just great for their Vitamin C content. They also help the liver to flush out toxins that would show up on your skin, such as in the form of blemishes or rashes. You can make lemons refreshing in summer by adding them to your chilled water when you’re lounging by the pool.
Quench Your Skin’s Thirst with Cucumbers
Feeling thirsty? Cucumbers are mostly made of water, so they’re a must to keep your skin beautifully hydrated during the hot months. The bonus is that they also add a lightness to your meals while hydrating your body. Remember that when your body is not getting enough water, this shows up on your face in the form of tightness, dryness and dullness. Even wrinkles look more pronounced when skin isn’t supple.
Want Gorgeous Hair?
Whether you love to let your locks look natural during summer or you’re all about styling your hair to look glamorous, diet plays an important role in the quality of your hair. Getting thicker hair is one of the reasons women get hair extensions, but you can help your hair grow thicker and shinier with these foods:
Avocados
These delicious fruits contain copper which is also great for your skin. Copper creates elastin and collagen in the skin, including the skin on your scalp holding hair follicles. Copper also helps to balance the body’s hormones so that hair can be strong instead of brittle. If you’re not big on avos, reach for other copper sources, such as nuts, beef, or dark green vegetables.
Whole-grain cereal
The reason why you shouldn’t skip whole-grain cereal for breakfast is that it’s an important source of iron. Iron brings more oxygen and nutrients in the blood to the skin’s surface as well as hair follicles so that hair can grow healthy. However, when eating iron-rich foods (lentils, beef and nuts are also great sources) be sure to combine them with Vitamin C. This helps it get better absorbed in your body.
Nuts
Since they contain Vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids, walnuts are a must in your diet to keep your hair naturally shiny. Nuts also contain protein which is important for healthy hair because hair naturally contains protein. These protein structures break down over time or due to sun exposure, however, so you need to refuel them with protein-rich foods that will prevent dull and brittle hair from photo-bombing all your summer selfies!
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