Eating a healthy diet has been shown to improve skin conditions. In fact, plant based foods can provide adequate nutrition that can improve skin, but balance, diversity and wholesome nutrition is still the top priority.
Does plant based diet improve your skin? Yes, a plant based diet can help improve your skin. A plant based diet will help by reducing foods known to be directly linked to adverse skin conditions, and provide your body with essential vitamins and minerals that can promote healthy skin.
A lot of plant based foods will provide a nutritional boost of essential vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. All of these are central ingredients in obtaining healthy, great looking skin.
If you follow a clean plant based diet, you will also be removing foods that are known to cause skin conditions such as dairy, sugar, and refined or processed foods. These foods have been showed to cause skin irritation, bloating, and other conditions that affect skin health.
If you’re looking to naturally improve your skin health, try adding plant based foods to your diet. Maybe you should consider switching to a plant based diet overall.
Plant based diets focus on plant foods for most caloric consumption. A plant based diet does not eliminate all animal products, but tries to reduce the total amount of calories eaten from animal products.
It is important to consult a dietician or physician before making dramatic shifts in your overall diet. They will be able to offer insights based on your personal condition as to why a plant based diet may or may not benefit your skin.
This article seeks to explore the relationship of a plant based diet and healthy skin. Answered below are frequently asked questions about skin being improved by a plant based diet.
Is plant based diet food for your skin?
A plant based diet has been known to improve skin health, fight the aging process, and to combat skin irritation like acne.
A plant based diet can provide you with all the essential nutrients needed to maintain healthy skin including Vitamin A carotenoids, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. Many plant based foods also provide sufficient potassium, magnesium and iron that can help improve skin and protect it from external damage.
A plant based diet will provide you with more antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, and immune-enhancing benefits than many other diets. It is possible for skin irritations and diseases to actually arise from inflammation or an over-active immune system, and reducing the likelihood of can provided a necessary boost to your skin.
We would recommend increasing the total amount of whole foods you eat as part of a healthy plant based diet. In our experience, we have not seen the level of benefits from taking plant based supplements as we have when eating whole plant foods that are loaded with nutrition.
Not all supplements are created equal, and the processing of some supplements actually strip out beneficial nutrients. It can also be tough to figure out how much of a nutrient your body is actually able to absorb when consumed as a supplement.
Why plant based is the best diet for healthy skin?
A plant based diet will provide you with all the essential nutrients a body needs to thrive, including what’s needed to maintain healthy glowing skin. Plant based foods can provide an array of nutrients, not available in other diets, that can help restore skin and help prevent damage from external factors too.
Here are a few benefits to eating plant based foods:
- Leafy greens like kale, collard greens, and swiss chard are high in antioxidants, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that combat free radicals and keep skin looking young and beautiful.
- Foods high in Omega-3 fatty acids or healthy fats, such as walnuts, avocado, and flaxseed, will nourish skin while also fighting inflammation, providing clear and healthy complexion.
- Zinc-rich foods keep pores open, which helps to prevent clogging. Zinc also contains anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, making it great for troubled skin. Pumpkin seeds, kidney beans, and spinach are all high in zinc.
- Antioxidant teas with a high content of polyphenols are good for digestion and, as a result, help maintain clear skin. Green tea, dandelion root, ginger, and lemon teas are among our favorites since they are high in antioxidants.
Can a plant-based diet help eczema?
There is no direct and definitive scientific evidence, but we believe that diet can play an import factor in helping eczema. Many non-plant based foods have allergens that may cause eczema breakouts, and eliminating them in favor of plant based alternatives might be helpful.
Plant based foods also contains loads of vitamins and minerals that can help your body eliminate toxins, reduce inflammation and recuperate from eczema breakouts.
Our research found that the most common types of foods that trigger eczema are milk, fish, eggs, peanuts, soy, and wheat. Many of these are non-plant based, and if you feel you are healthy enough to switch away, we recommend substituting with plant based alternatives.
For example, a common eczema trigger is dairy products like cow’s milk and cheese. Since soy is another common trigger, we suggest trying oat milk or hemp milk.
If you think the trigger is related to allergies, we highly recommend you see a specialist to learn more about your condition instead of accidentally replacing it with another allergen.
Eczema can be a tricky condition to manage and certain foods during an outbreak can actually make it worse.
Since eczema is an inflammatory skin condition, we recommend trying anti-inflammatory foods like those with high Omega-3 contents and other healthy fats. Avocados, walnuts, or chia seeds can be great choices if there is no other allergy involved.
We always recommend you speak to a doctor before trying any home remedies.
There is also some research to suggest having a healthy gut can help you reduce the amount of outbreaks you experience. This means eating more probiotics to help your gut flora flourish [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
Fermented foods like pickles, kimchi, and tempeh are excellent sources of beneficial microorganisms. The science of probiotics is emerging and we are excited to learn more about the benefits of heathy gut flora in regards to eczema.
If your child is the one experiencing eczema we highly recommend you speak with a specialist before trying at home remedies. Switching from one diet to another might actually make the problem worse or cause a more serious outbreak to occur.
Plant based diet for skin
By eating a whole-food, plant-based diet, we can help improve our overall skin health. A plant based diet can help reduce excess inflammation in our skin while also providing a number of vitamins and minerals that support healthy skin.
Our skin can be viewed as a window into our bodies. According to evidence-based research, the more whole plant foods we consume, the better—both in terms of nutrition and skin health [6].
Here are some plant based foods that have been shown to benefit our skin:
- Walnuts have high levels of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids can reduce inflammation and contribute to rebuilding strong cells [7].
- Eating a small cup of sliced bell peppers can provide you with enough vitamin C required for daily intake. Alleviating vitamin C deficiencies have been related to lower chance of skin wrinkles in some studies [8].
- Sunflower seeds are my preferred source of vitamin E, an antioxidant that protects against the harmful effects of free radicals. These seeds are also high in selenium, which, when combined with vitamin E, is more effective at combating free radicals [9, 10, 11, 12].
- In one study, the consumption of high-antioxidant cocoa powder reported significant benefits in skin health, including increased moisture, reduced roughness, reduced sensitivity to burning, and increased blood flow [13].
- Kale is high in vitamins and minerals, making it beneficial not only to your skin but also to general health. Beta-carotene, polyphenols, and vitamin C are among the antioxidants found in kale. Because some of the antioxidant qualities of kale are lost during the cooking process, eat it both raw and minimally cooked will maximize total benefits [14, 15, 16, 17, 18].
- Avocado has beneficial monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that keep skin smooth and hydrated [19, 20, 21].
- Oats are abundant in antioxidants and saponins, which are cleansing substances. Oats are also terrific for skin health if applied topically, and it is found in many moisturizers and lotions [22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27].
- Green tea is high in antioxidants called catechins, which can help protect cells from harm [28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33].
- Isoflavones, which imitate or prevent estrogen in the body, play a role in the health advantages of soy. Everyday use of soy isoflavones may help to minimize wrinkles and enhance skin elasticity [34, 35, 36, 37].
- Sulforaphane, found in broccoli florets, may offer anti-aging and anti-cancer properties. Lutein, found in broccoli, protects skin from oxidative damage, which causes wrinkles and dryness [38, 39, 40].
Skin and Plant Based Diet: Conclusion
Following a plant based diet can reduce the amount of skin irritants you consume such as dairy and other foods causing excess inflammation. There are know irritants found in dairy products, and removing such items from your diet can have enormous effects on your skin health.
A plant based diet has been known to improve skin health, fight the aging process, and to combat skin irritation or disorders.
There are lots of inconclusive studies siting multiple other factors, therefore it is hard to determine that switching to a plant based diet is the only solution.
A plant based diet also provides your body with all the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs to maintain healthy skin. In fact, nutrition and a balanced diet is the best way to improve and maintain healthy skin.