Glowing skin: It's your diet not your makeup

By Gilbert Kidimu

What is the secret to healthy hair and glowing skin? It's not in your makeup case, ladies. It's in your diet. It has been established that the foods in your kitchen are far more important for keeping your skin soft, smooth, and glowing than the premium creams adorning your bedroom table.

Turns out you cannot beat nature.

As much as we try to resist it, our skin does age as a result of gradual, accumulated damage from sun exposure, strong soaps, chemicals and poor nutrition.

Pimples, a darker complexion, spots, and skin paleness, are some of very common skin issues otherwise avoidable if we include a few delicious fruits, tasty vegetables, and crunchy seeds in our daily diet.

Gilbert Kidimu spoke to Albert Balinda, a nutritionist from Makerere University about what to eat for a perfect skin.

Spinach

This leafy green vegetable is rich in nutrients and antioxidants. Spinach is loaded with lutein, which keeps your eyes healthy and glowing. Spinach is also a good source of vitamins B, C, and E, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids. Trade your lettuce for spinach, or saute spinach for a quick, healthy side.

Broccoli

Antioxidants like vitamins A, B complex, C, E, and K all help to add luminosity to the skin and to revive damaged tissue, while omega 3 fatty acids, calcium and folate support the healing process and aid the proper function of skin cells. Eat raw in a salad or lightly steamed to get the most out of your florets.

Lettuce

Remember the plant that led to the arrest of Rapunzel’s parents? Well, considering the manifold benefits of lettuce, who can blame them? Six leaves provide more than 100% of your DV of vitamin A, which revitalizes skin by increasing cell turnover. The mineral potassium in romaine gives skin a refreshing boost of nutrients and oxygen by improving circulation.

Green Tea

Drinking anti-oxidant polyphenol-rich green tea will improve your skin and boost your beauty.

Apples

An apple a day is not just a cliché, so give this piece of advice more than a passing chance. Quercetin, an antioxidant in the peel of many varieties, provides hefty protection from the "burning" UVB rays that trigger skin cancer. A few offering the biggest dose: Monroe, Cortland, and Golden Delicious. The next time you plan to spend time in the sun, pick one of them to start your day (of course, you still need to wear sunscreen).

Strawberries

Although rare in Uganda, you can always find them in supermarkets around Kampala. A cup has up to 130% of the DV of vitamin C, a potent antioxidant that boosts production of collagen fibres that help keep skin smooth and firm. More C may mean fewer fine lines too: Women with lower intakes were likelier to have dry, wrinkled skin. Early research also shows that ellagic acid, an antioxidant abundant in strawberries, protects the elastic fibres that keep skin from sagging. Sweet!

Red Grapes

It is thought that red grapes and their seeds contain powerful natural chemicals and antioxidants that have been shown to treat inflammatory skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. As a natural antihistamine, grapes can also help to control the side effects of allergic reactions. Try popping a few washed grapes (with seeds) into a fresh salad, or enjoy a handful as part of a healthy snack between meals.

Blueberries

This little-known berry was ranked number one in antioxidant activity by the U.S. Department of Agriculture compared to 40 common fruits and vegetables. The antioxidants in blueberries protect you from premature aging, so add half a cup to your yogurt or cereal every day.

Avocado

This slippery green fruit is widely known to be a great source of vitamin E, which boosts the skin’s vitality and luminosity. However, it also possesses good quantities of vitamin C, which can be used to reduce skin inflammation, while avocado oil is thought to stimulate the production of collagen in the skin, which improves its tone and texture. Eating a regular portion of avocado can also improve the skin’s ability to keep itself moisturised.

Papaya

If you went to a UPE school, you call it pawpaw. Papaya, which is rich in so many healthy components, is best for skin care as it promises and works to provide you with healthy and glowing skin. Being a good source of Vitamin A and Papain, this fruit helps in removing dead skin cells along with breaking down the inactive proteins.

Tomatoes

They offer more than flavour to your dish. Tomatoes are rich in vitamin C, which helps to keep the skin firm and taut by aiding collagen production. They also contain lycopene: the red pigment which not only gives them their bright red colour, but also stimulates skin circulation.

Beetroot

They might not taste so great, but the skin-clearing properties of beetroots are well worth the effort. The purple roots are particularly high in vitamin A, as well as potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin E, which is essential for epidermal health and healing. Combined, these nutrients make a

Yogurt

One cup of low-fat yogurt has more calcium than a cup of fat-free milk, which is great for your posture, nails, and teeth. Mix it with fruit or granola for a healthy breakfast or that essential mid-afternoon snack.

Whole grain bread

Whole grain bread, pasta, and cereal are surprisingly high in antioxidants (whole wheat cereal, for example, contains a comparable amount to most fruits and vegetables), and eating additional antioxidants is key to youth-proofing your complexion. The levels of the body's natural antioxidants decrease with age, so adding them to your diet becomes even more important.

Brown Rice

It has been suggested that steady blood sugar levels and skin health could be linked, so it makes sense to try swapping out processed white carbohydrates for brown, wholegrain, low glycaemic index foods like brown rice. A portion a day not only provides a rich source of B vitamins, protein, selenium and magnesium, as well as several antioxidants, but also helps to regulate your sugar levels by releasing energy slowly throughout the day rather than all at once like processed carbs do.

Fish

Also, the high protein it contains can help to speed up the skin’s natural healing process.

Water

Clear skin starts from within, and one of the best, cheapest and most effective ways to get there is to help your body flush out toxins by drink plenty of water. Not only will upping your fluid levels help to keep your brains fully functional and therefore better able to cope with stress, but it also replenishes water in the cells. Make sure you drink the recommended eight glasses of pure water a day, and drink more after exercise.

Finally, once you make changes to your diet, don't expect an overnight miracle. It takes six weeks for new skin to emerge up to the surface, so the visible benefits from dietary changes will take just as long. For persistent skin conditions, talk to your GP or consider seeing a dermatologist.

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