Sunday, July 7, 2013

Food for Your Skin: The Power of Fruits N' Veggies

As a busy mother of two young boys and an entrepreneur, it's difficult to find time to do anything, let alone maintaining a skin regiment. Luckily, maintaining healthier, younger looking skin does not require a lot of time or cost. All it takes is developing and keeping healthy habits. If you eat a balanced healthy diet, everything you need for quick skin solutions is probably already in your kitchen.

When you use your kitchen for cooking, you can "feed" your skin also! You've probably heard many of the body and health basics: drink plenty of water to stay hydrated; eat plenty of fruits and vegetables for anti-oxidants, maintain a well-balanced diet and exercise program, etc. So, in essence, you provide care and feeding to the inside of your body, the brain, and your hair, why not your skin? Adding skin to your list of health maintenance is practical, smart, and pretty easy.

Two of the most common food groups in most people's kitchen are a great start, Fruits 'n Veggies. There are many health benefits for the inside of your body when you regularly consume anti-oxidant rich fruits and vegetables.

The good news is that there is a long list of fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, avocados, papayas, mangoes, cucumbers, peaches, and more, containing enormous benefits for your skin. For myself, I prefer to snack on tomatoes and carrots, which are great for your skin as they are rich in Lycopene and Carotene.

It's best to eat them raw for optimum nutrition. I usually sprinkle a dash of salt on my tomato, which makes it delicious. Eating these vegetables does help your body including your skin. But, with a minimal amount of effort, you can use those same fruits and vegetables to concoct a quick externally applied facial.

While feeding on your carrot or tomato there are a couple of neat ideas. First, use the juice to wash your face. Or, if you are feeling a little adventurous, mash up some of the pulp and juice and give yourself a quick facial. Of course not all fruits and vegetables work for everybody. Some may cause sensitivity in some skin types. These will help exfoliate your skin.

You've got to try several and find the ones that work best for your skin type. If you have sensitive skin for example, then stay away from the citrus fruits and go for cucumbers instead. Cucumber is well known for its soothing and softening properties. Also cucumbers have been widely used as effective eyes pads to relieve puffy eyes and dark circles around the eyes.

In short, we have learned a couple of important health tips here. First, your skin should not be forgotten as you strive to maintain a healthy body and lifestyle. Second, there are many fruits and vegetables that are likely already in your kitchen that can serve a dual purpose of food / nutrition along with skin maintenance, exfoliating, and cleansing.

Sopie Kouame, Owner of Belle Aglaia, LLC. - http://www.belleaglaia.com.
Sopie is a busy mother of two young boys and the owner of Belle Aglaia, a Portland, Oregon based natural, organic skin care company. Growing up in the Ivory Coast, making lotion was a part of daily life. She has applied her experience with extensive education to become of wealth of knowledge around skin and skin care products.

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