Healthy Skin Tips: diet + nutrition tips for clearer skin (science-backed)

healthy skin in my opinion is a
combination of different factors diet
lifestyle and skin care in today's video
we're kick-starting a two-part skin care
series today we're gonna talk about diet
and nutrition these are all things that
I do and they're all signs back and in
next week's video we're going to talk
about lifestyle and skin care if that's
something that piques your interest keep
watching hello hello welcome back to the
whole happy life my name is Rhea and I'm
a holistic nutritionist with an applied
science background so I wanted to
provide some context before we get into
the tips but if you would like to go
straight to the tips you can do that so
I have received a number of requests in
the last two months about doing a
skincare routine talking about products
that I use but I didn't want to do that
because although I think skincare is
important I think it's a small piece of
the puzzle a bigger piece of the puzzle
is what you eat and your lifestyle and
honestly my skin didn't change and tell
us her to change the way I eat before my
wedding
I spent close to thousand dollars I'm
not proud of this thousand dollars and
microdermabrasion treatments on serums
to get the bridal glowing skin and you
know what it didn't happen because I
didn't change the way I eat I was just
focusing on the problem externally and
not internally now that I've changed the
way I eat I have much better skin than I
used to i'm not genetically blessed with
good ski and i really have to work on it
i will still have days when I break out
I will still have days when things are a
little bit irritated and that could be
because of stress it could be because I
probably wasn't eating as well as I
thought I was eating and you know what
that's okay I don't think anyone can
have perfect skin all the time and
there's no such thing as perfect skin so
don't beat yourself up if you're
struggling with skin issues just try
your best and don't stress about it I
think when we're stressed about it it
becomes worse alright so now that I've
talked about the context let's dive into
the tips the tips will be mainly for
reducing things like redness to reduce
premature aging and for reducing acne
tip number zero or the base tip as I'd
like to call it
to eat a healthy and balanced diet
consistently so I didn't even want to
mention this as a tip that's why I'm
calling it tip number zero because they
all know we need to do that we all know
we need to eat a healthy diet for good
skin but it was worth mentioning because
that is the foundation for the rest of
the tips if you're not eating a healthy
diet consistently none of the other tips
that I'm going to provide you in this
video make any sense to do on their own
nutrition is not about just doing one
thing there's no one particular nutrient
there's no one particular magic cure for
your skin it's about doing things in
conjunction with each other so what is a
healthy diet that is a million dollar
question we can all do different diets
and still have healthy skin because
honestly there is no one-size-fits-all
approach when it comes to nutrition you
could be vegan you could be pescetarian
you could be paleo it doesn't matter you
can all have a good skin the thing that
I think that makes the most difference
is to stick to a diet which is
predominantly Whole Foods or minimally
processed food so take out those
ultra-processed foods take out the foods
that don't have much nutrition and if
you're interested in learning more about
why processed foods are not so good for
you I do have a video on it
tip number one is to reduce the amount
of refined sugar you eat there is a link
in the science between sugar excess
sugar and things like skin wrinkling in
sagging premature aging and let me tell
you I think a lot of the wrinkles that I
do have especially the smile lines
probably are the results of eating a lot
of sugar I've had them for quite some
time I used to be a sugar addict now I
can't reverse the damage that I've done
but at least I can prevent more damage
from happening so what is it about the
sugar that causes problems so there is a
process called glycation that happens so
when there's extra sugar molecules they
attach to the collagen in your skin and
they make that calls and stiff and less
elastic so your skin loses its firmness
it starts to Sag and then we have
wrinkles so if you want to prevent
wrinkles and you want to keep your skin
healthy long-term it's a good idea to
reduce the refined sugar if you're
interested in learning more about how to
reduce refined sugar I do have a video
on it tip number two is to avoid or
limit high glycemic
so what is a high glycemic food a high
glycemic food it's a food that will
raise your blood sugar very quickly if
you're interested in learning more about
high glycemic foods I have a lot of
information in the description so
examples of high glycemic foods include
cakes cookies crackers instant oats
white bread rice cakes things like that
so it's a good idea to reduce the
consumption of these because there is a
link in the science between high
glycemic foods and acne and I also feel
that this actually does make sense
because when I eat more of these foods
when I eat more processed carbohydrates
that raise my blood sugar very quickly I
do tend to break out more so if you're
having issues and breakouts and you want
to reduce them it's a good idea to stick
to low glycemic foods and medium
glycemic foods such as fruits vegetables
whole grains I'll have a detailed list
in the description tip number three is
to eat enough protein and vitamin C now
if you're eating a balanced diet you
probably are getting enough protein and
vitamin C but I still wanted to mention
some special considerations so first of
all why is protein and vitamin C
important well both of them are building
blocks for collagen and your skin is
made out of collagen so if you want to
have healthy skin you need to get enough
protein and vitamin C now let's tackle
protein first so in terms of the protein
if you're eating a balanced diet and
you're eating enough calories you
probably are getting enough protein but
let's say you're on a calorie
restrictive diet if you're trying to
lose weight make sure you're getting
enough protein because if you're on a
calorie restricted diet depending on how
many calories you eat you could be under
eating the protein now the other thing
to keep in mind is if you're eating a
diet where you're eliminating a lot of
food groups let's you're allergic to a
lot of food groups or you're eliminating
them for other reasons you could be
under eating and that could result and
not getting enough protein now let's
tackle the vitamin C so if you're eating
enough fruits and veggies and a balance
of them you probably are getting enough
vitamin C but one important
consideration is that when you are
stressed when you're going through
periods of stress your body actually
uses up a lot more vitamin C than
Rimal so during that time it's a good
idea to eat more vitamin C tip number
four is to eat enough omega-3 fatty
acids so why are oh maybe three fatty
acids important well they managed oil
production in your skin they can help
reduce inflammation reduce acne and
premature aging if you're not
plant-based you can get your omega-3
fatty acids from fish I personally get
it from fish salmon herring mackerel
these are fatty fish that have a lot of
omega-3 fatty acids if you are
plant-based you have options - I have a
link in the description that actually
explains all your different options now
I do recognize some people can't eat
seeds they tend to have issues with it
so in my case you can take a supplement
there is an algae based supplement it's
plat base that does have omega-3 fatty
acids so that could work for you if you
have issues with nuts and seeds number
five is to get enough fruits and veggies
and to make sure you get a variety so
this kind of ties into the base tip
which was to eat a healthy diet and to
me that means eating a lot of fruit and
veggies the amount of fruit and veggies
you eat is totally personal but I would
suggest half a plate or fruit and veggie
that is the suggestion of a lot of
nutrition organizations you can find
more information below so when you're
getting half a plate of fruit and veggie
for every single meal try to focus on
getting a variety so you're not eating
the same ones every single week because
when you're eating the same treats and
veggies all the time you're getting
exactly the same nutrients again and
again and it's a good idea to change it
up because all different fruits and
veggies have different vitamins
different minerals and different
phytochemicals for example something
like watermelons have lycopene and
lycopene can help to reduce sun damage
something like onion will not have like
a pimple have something else they have a
compound in them that helps reduce scars
so really is a good idea to get a
variety so you get a variety of
different nutrients tip number six is to
get enough zinc so I don't really like
to talk about specific nutrients and
skin because it's not like zinc will
make your skin amazing but I wanted to
mention zinc specifically because there
is a link between low levels of zinc and
acne so if you are struggling with acne
and breakup and scarring as well then it
might be related to zinc
I'm not saying definitely really to
think it just might be so have a look at
what you're eating and make sure you're
getting enough Seng tip number seven is
to eat enough probiotics and prebiotics
it's really important for good gut
health and good digestion means we're
going to have healthier skin there is a
link between that probiotics and the
simplest sense are bacteria that are
good for us and prebiotics are the food
for that bacteria so if you were to just
focus on the probiotics and not eat the
prebiotics you're not going to have that
much of a benefit it's important to get
both so in terms of probiotics a lot of
people recommend supplement I think
supplements do work for certain people
but I am a big believer in getting it
from food first and if that's not
helping then try a supplement so in
terms of food a couple options or things
like sauerkraut kimchi yogurt it can be
plant-based or dairy depending on what
works for you and in terms of prebiotics
there are a lot of foods that have
periodic Spri biotics are basically
types of fibers that your gut bacteria
feeds on so things like garlic onions
asparagus apples oats
all of these have prebiotics tip number
eight is to reduce dairy and see how it
goes I was almost not going to include
this tip in this video because it's not
based on concrete scientific evidence
but there is some preliminary evidence
in the last two or three years it shows
that high dairy consumptions are linked
to increases in acne and I personally do
find this to be the case a lot of things
about nutrition are about trying them on
yourself because every single person is
so different so there's no
one-size-fits-all approach
anyway I hope you enjoyed this video and
you found it informative if you did give
it a thumbs up so I know to create more
content like this and don't forget to
subscribe and hit the bell so you get
the notification for next week's video
which will be about lifestyle and
skincare I will see you in the next