Happy Healthy Skin Month! We’re celebrating all November with fun facts about keeping your skin at its best and brightest. After all, glowy, clear skin is one of the many benefits of taking fiber daily!
Of course, fiber isn’t the only superfood that can improve the appearance of your skin. Here, we have 15 foods and supplements you can add to your diet to help fight breakouts, wrinkles, sun damage, and more.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes get their color from carotenoids, which can also act as antioxidants that protect your skin from the sun. This not only aids in preventing sunburn but also wrinkles and dry skin.
Among their many benefits, fiber supplements can help the gut flush out toxins more efficiently, reducing diet-related breakouts.
Sweet potatoes contain lots of vitamin A as well, a natural remedy against excessive oil production. Another benefit of the vitamin A in sweet potatoes is that it prevents the overproduction of cells that can clog pores and lead to acne.
Artichokes
This underrated vegetable can do wonders for the skin. Artichoke extract has actually been used in moisturizers, serums, essences, and toners to combat wrinkles by strengthening skin cells. Additionally, artichokes contain antioxidants silymarin, which can help clear blemishes, and vitamin C, widely known for its ability to brighten and even skin tone.
Fiber Supplements
Among their many benefits, fiber supplements can help the gut flush out toxins more efficiently, reducing diet-related breakouts. While you can get fiber from fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods, it’s pretty hard to get enough—only 5 percent of Americans get as much fiber as the FDA recommends.
Fiber supplements can help, well, supplement your diet to help your skin, but many brands contain artificial ingredients that you may want to avoid when trying to improve your skin health. Bellway fiber is an all-natural, organic alternative, containing no artificial ingredients or sugar. As with all supplements, check with your doctor before adding it to your daily regimen.
Collagen Supplements
We’re probably not the first to tell you about collagen supplements. They’ve been all the rage especially recently for their skin benefits, and rightfully so: Studies have linked collagen supplements to improvements in skin elasticity and hydration, and reduction of wrinkles and dryness. This is due in part to the fact that collagen is the most abundant protein in our bodies, and is a building block of our skin.
If you’re looking to give your skin an extra boost with collagen, try a fiber supplement with collagen. In addition to fiber’s ability to help detox waste that can lead to breakouts, it improves the way we absorb nutrients like collagen, allowing them to work their best.
Salmon
Fatty fish like salmon are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for supple, moisturized skin. They contribute to our body’s production of collagen (more on that later), and can control inflammation that can lead to redness and acne.
Broccoli
Like sweet potatoes, broccoli contains skin-benefiting carotenoids. Lutein, for example, can help prevent wrinkles and dryness that result from oxidative stress.
If you’re looking to give your skin an extra boost with collagen, try a fiber supplement with collagen.
Sulforaphone is another ingredient in broccoli that can protect your skin. Some studies suggest that it even can act against some types of skin cancer.
Pine Nuts
These little guys are packed with vitamin E, which you might recognize as an ingredient in some of your skincare products. Vitamin E is great for skin because of its anti-aging, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Due to these benefits, it helps with preventing acne and healing the scars it leaves behind.
Dark Chocolate
If you’re looking to improve your skin, there’s no need to give up on chocolate—dark chocolate, at least. In addition to antioxidants, it contains zinc, which can help with breakouts. Go for dark chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa for the best results.
Vitamin B5 Supplements
Vitamin B5, also known as pantothenic acid, has been shown to reduce oil and the size of pores. Some studies have shown impressive moisturizing and skin healing effects by vitamin B5 as well.
Avocados
Avocados are often hailed for their healthy fats (and for guacamole, let’s be honest), but this doesn’t just benefit our diets. Healthy fats like those in avocados help to keep skin flexible and moisturized. Avocados are also a great source of vitamin E.
Soy
Soy contains isoflavones, compounds that have been linked to reduced wrinkles and improved skin elasticity. (This compound is also part of the reason why soy is good for breast health: It can block excess estrogen from binding to receptors, which can lead to or exacerbate breast cancer.)
Isoflavones in soy may also help protect your skin from UV radiation, which can lead to skin cancer.
Green Tea
One of many foods on this list with antioxidants, green tea can help block damage from the sun and free radicals. Studies have shown that women who drink green tea daily experienced less redness from sun exposure than those who did not.
Glowy, clear skin is one of the many benefits of taking fiber daily!
Cinnamon
Just a dash of cinnamon can help stimulate blood flow to your skin, improving its store of oxygen and nutrients. This spice may also help control blood sugar, helping to prevent breakouts related to sugar intake.
Spinach
Leafy greens like spinach contain vitamin K, which helps with circulation to the skin. It also contains zinc and zeaxanthin, the latter of which is a natural antioxidant that can protect skin from harmful free radicals and help even skin tone.
Garlic
Garlic has been used as a natural remedy for centuries, including for issues affecting the skin. As an aromatic vegetable, it’s rich in selenium, which can reduce inflammation and keep skin elastic. It also contains allicin, which has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiseptic properties that can help fight breakouts and help the skin absorb more nutrients.
