Writer: Deena Yasmeen binti Abdul Ghaffar
Editor: Ravivarma Muniandy
Source: Image courtesy of Google
Facial cleansers, moisturizers, toners, masks and endless products to treat every single kind of face condition you could ever imagine. Whether acne-prone, sensitive, oily, dry-skin; there were too many different skin types and frankly, an even bigger number of products. In the recent years, skincare trends started to spring up like mushrooms. Trends such as the 10-step Korean skincare regime or the one mask a day trend. Even introducing newer products that contain much more bizarre ingredients. The never-ending trends never seemed to go away and there are too many products in the self-care market. As much as piling products on our faces sound like the best course of action, how about stopping yourself from buying another ‘miracle product’ and redirect your attention to what you are ingesting? Instead of trying to find another ‘quick fix’, why not look for a long-term solution? Foods that you eat would have a big impact on your skin. A change of diet could actually affect your skin condition and improve it. Author of Feed Your Face, Dr. Jessica Wu highlights that anything that you eat would show up on your skin eventually which is why it is important to watch what you eat. In addition, research conducted by Dr. Rajani Katta and Dr. Samir P. Desai in 2014 uncovered a few connections between a person’s diet and their skin’s condition in their research entitled Diet and Dermatology. First, for acne-prone skin, they suggested a low-dairy diet as well as a low glycemic load diet. A low glycemic load diet means a diet low on carbohydrates such as sugar, white bread and white rice. Replacing your diet with non-dairy alternatives or goat’s milk would help in cutting out the dairy. As for cutting out refined sugars, one can turn to fruits, vegetables and nuts. Next, in order to avoid skin cancer, one should eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are sources of healthy fats and antioxidants that help reduce the effects of UV rays. Dr Wu also suggests choosing vegetables in red, yellow and green. Tomatoes especially help to reduce sun damage. Aging skin has been a concern for many in the past few years. The worry of wrinkles and sagging skin is present in our society. Through their research they have uncovered that foods such as herbs and spices as well as avoiding food that is cooked through grilling, frying and roasting would inhibit the production of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs would promote the production of wrinkles and sagging skin due to sugar intake. All in all, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables packed with antioxidants and healthy fats is really the way to go. You do not have to immediately change your whole diet lest it becomes to much. You could take it slow by incorporating it in your diet slowly. Take it a step at a time and you will hopefully get that healthy glowing skin.
