Get Beautiful SKin(Ladies Stuff)

How To Get Beautiful Clear Skin By Changing Your Diet

There are many factors which can take a toll on our general skin health and appearance, such as tiredness, everyday stress, pollution from the environment, smoking, exposure to UVA and UVB rays and just advancing age. All of these can give us bags under our eyes, acne and blemishes, dark circles and fine lines, wrinkles and sagging skin. Sounds nice doesn't it? Pamela, who is 44 and pictured below, has stated that she does not have a skincare program and never uses a sunscreen even though she is often out in the Malibu sunshine which may cause wrinkles and brown spots.

It's now usual to hear that friends and acquaintances are having treatments such as Botox and even facelift surgery to try and turn back the years. But what do you do if you don't want to take risks with procedures on your face, you are worried that they may not look right, or you don't have the money to invest in these treatments? The healthier and safer option is to give yourself a facelift from the inside - by eating the right foods you can drastically improve your appearance, and here are the top five super foods which can give your skin a beautiful and natural boost.

Avocados

Avocados are often thought of as high in fat and calories. However the fat contained in avocados is high in omega-3 fatty acids and an average avocado contains just over 200 calories - think about that when you next dive into a packet of crisps - a juicy avocado could be an alternative. Avocados will help increase collagen production which will prevent wrinkles. Avocados also contain lots of Vitamin E which helps fight off premature ageing and keeps skin healthy. The fruit also has anti-inflammatory properties which will reduce acne and psoriasis.

Bananas

Puffy faces and bags under the eyes are caused by too much water retention. Once you start getting bags under your eyes, this can damage and stretch the skin and cause lines to appear. The major cause of water retention is too much salt in the body, but this can be balanced by reducing your salt intake and increasing your intake of potassium. Bananas are a great morning snack and they are high in potassium too, take one with you to work each day. Other high potassium foods are avocados (see they are amazing fruits), raisins, apricots, baked potatoes, dried prunes and tinned tomatoes. Natalie Portman, who is 30, is a strict vegetarian, and her diet will be rich in vitamins and minerals, which may be one of the reasons she has a beautiful, unlined and blemish free skin.

Garlic

If you suffer from acne then garlic should be your best friend. It is a natural antibiotic which cleanses the blood, helps boost your immune system and has antibacterial properties. If you can eat it raw and crushed it can help reduce future breakouts of acne and its anti-inflammatory properties will help treat any current breakouts. Crushing or chewing the garlic helps to release its healing properties, so unfortunately swallowing a clove whole will not be as effective.

Oysters

This is going to be a food which you either love or hate, but give them a chance. Oysters are high in Vitamin B12 and Iron, and if you have pale lifeless skin and/or dark circles under your eyes it may be due to deficiencies of these nutrients. If you don't like oysters then other foods high in these essential nutrients are salmon, halibut, kidney beans, soy beans, pumpkin seeds, mussels, clams and seaweed.

Spinach

Spinach is just one of the dark green leafy vegetables which is rich in lutein which is an antioxidant (others are kale, green peas and raw broccoli). Lutein can help to prevent wrinkles as it aids the skin to retain moisture and elasticity, increases lipid levels and prevents damage caused by free radicals. Spinach is also high in Vitamins K and C which can help to reduce dark circles beneath the eyes. There can be several causes of dark circles, but one of them can be poor circulation. In cases where this is the problem increasing Vitamin K and C can help by boosting circulation and strengthening capillary walls. Another benefit of lutein is that it can help to keep your eyes healthy too.