Better Skin Via Vegetables!

Beauty is important to us. Whether it’s the polish on our nails or the skin on our faces, how we look is a top priority. But beauty doesn’t come easy for some, actually, for most. If we spend a life eating tons of meat and smoking cigarettes it won’t matter how much natural beauty you were born with, it won’t last very long. That’s why how we treat our bodies is important.

From the makeup and creams we put on our face to the food we ingest, all these things have an impact on our beauty, especially our skin. In fact, poor skin can indicate some other illness internally so it’s particularly important to pay attention. Today we are going to focus on what we can put in our bodies that will produce a healthy glowing skin on the outside.

After reading about the myriad of vegetables that can help you achieve the healthy-looking skin you might want to set out and start your own garden. No matter if you live in a house with a great backyard that has tons of sunlight or if you live in a garden apartment, with the technological advances today, anyone can grow fresh herbs and vegetables right in their own home.

All you need are some seedlings and a few pots, and you can begin an indoor garden easily. Of course, you should educate yourself on how to choose a grow light, which would greatly benefit your gardening project. Still, we need to discuss the types of vegetables you should be growing if a healthy skin is your ultimate goal.

Vitamin E

This vitamin is important if you are focusing on healthy skin because it serves as an antioxidant. Vitamin E protects your skin from free radicals that are created when our cells metabolize. These free radicals will accelerate the aging process, which can leave premature wrinkles on your skin.

Not only does vitamin E help with free radicals, it protects your skin from sun damage and toxins in the air. You can take a supplement to meet your daily requirement for vitamin E, which is 22.4 international units for adults and 28.4 for women who are breastfeeding, but there is a tastier way to get this vitamin in your system.

Dark leafy greens like Swiss chard, turnip greens, kale, and mustard greens are all full of vitamin E. Broccoli, parsley, and papaya are other plant-based foods that can give you all the Italian E you need.

Vitamin C

Just like vitamin E, C is an antioxidant that protects your skin from free radicals. Some say that vitamin C might even reduce the aging process. Besides all that, vitamin C is essential for maintaining the elasticity of your skin which keeps it supple. It does this by producing collagen.

Some of the foods that are loaded with vitamin C are tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, green peppers, and leafy greens. Of course, oranges and grapefruits are other food sources where you can get your recommended daily allowance, which is 75 milligrams for ladies and 90 milligrams for men.

Selenium

Here we have something you may not have heard of before. Selenium is a mineral that also helps with keeping the elastic in your skin and the firmness. It can protect your skin from the UV rays of the sun and can help stop the negative effects of sun damage your skin might already have. As adults, we should be consuming 55 to 70 micrograms of selenium every day.

You can do this by eating spinach, green peas, carrots, and some species of mushrooms. Lentils are another food high in selenium.

Carotenoids

This special skin hero can be found in the most colorful of vegetables. In fact, if you see a red, yellow, or orange veggie, then it has carotenoids in it. They are literally the pigments that make those vegetables the colors that appeal to us. When we eat them, our bodies turn the carotenoids into vitamin A, which is another antioxidant that has shown to slow down aging.

It provides even more protection from free radicals and toxins. And, the beta-carotene found in these veggies can add another layer of protection on our skin from sun damage. Some of the tasty veggies that have carotenoids in them are carrots, pumpkins, and red and orange peppers. Dark leafy greens have carotenoids as well, but the chlorophyll in them hides the color.

You need to eat 700-1,300 micrograms a day if you are a woman and 900 if you are a man.

Conclusion

As you can see vegetables are good for us in so many more ways than we’ve ever really known. Not only are they full of fiber that helps our digestion, now we know that vegetables grown in our own garden could be the strongest advocates for our beauty. The fun part is they are so tasty.

A salad of leafy greens with some tomato slices, a few bits of red onion, and a handful of healthy sunflower seeds tossed in a little bit of olive oil and red wine vinegar is delicious. And eating it will ensure your skin health and your overall well-being. It’s no wonder gardening is all the rage today when we learn about how much vegetables help our lives.

-BeautyStat Editorial Team