How to get beautiful skin from the inside out.

It’s a new year, and what a perfect time to clean your slate and focus on a New Year’s Resolution. Sounds so cliche, right? But why not? Let’s talk healthy skin. Let’s focus not only on what you put ON your skin, but what you put IN your body. Your skin is your largest organ with a pretty hefty job: PROTECTION. Take care of it girls! And start from within! 

First, you should know there is a difference between dry skin and dehydrated skin. But many of the symptoms of dry and dehydrated skin coincide.

• Dry skin tends to lack oil, causing it to be irritated, itchy at times, and flakey. It happens around the mouth, elbows, hands, etc. 
• Dehydrated skin looks dull and puffy at times, can feel tight, and really makes the skin look more wrinkly… yikes!!!!

Let’s be real here… we do not want our skin looking MORE wrinkly! I mean, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want any wrinkles! The realistic side of me knows that that is kind of an impossible feat, BUT I will do everything to PREVENT wrinkles!
Who said we have to ‘grow old gracefully’? We can grow old and still have amazing skin!

Lets talk KEEPING OUR SKIN HYDRATED: 

The most common causes of dehydrated skin are not enough water, weather, and lifestyle. Here’s what you should do to hydrate your skin.

1. Water, water, water!

Dehydrated skin lacks water. So, drink water. I can’t stress this enough. So many elements in our daily life, leaves our skin dry… and dehydrated.  

How much water? This varies per individual; however, we have all probably heard 8 glasses a day. That’s about right. According to the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine it’s actually about:

• 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) a day for women; and
• 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) a day for men

That  sounds like a lot. But don’t fret! That also includes foods like fruits, veggies, and also teas/juices, etc.

Don’t like the taste of water?  Add some lemon or a sprig of mint.

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2. You are what you eat!  

Recognize that diet affects our skin! “You are what you eat.” I’m sure you’ve heard this one before. This was a popular one in my home growing up! 

Eat more fruits and veggies. Fruits and veggies contain WATER and are high in antioxidants. 

Eat more Foods with high Omega fatty acids like salmon.

And avoid foods that trigger inflammation and or acne, such as dairy products and processed foods and sugars.  These leave our cells deflated. 

Avoid foods high in salt. Our body needs salt, but not too much. Healthy balance. Eat less fast food, and do not add salt to your food – especially in restaurants (where  it’s probably been added already)!

 Make good lifestyle choices. 

• Exercise regularly.
• Cope with stress (through mediation, exercise, yoga etc) to help alleviate its toll on the body.
• Don’t smoke… nope… not even once in awhile.  
• Limit your caffeine intake. This can be tough. I am NOT saying avoid it. I love my morning coffee or tea! Guess what – a daily cup of Joe is actually  beneficial. It’s energizing and burns fat. With that said, we can’t drink it all day long. And we can’t drink those energy drinks all day either.  In excess, it really leads to dehydration amongst many other potential problems. 
• Limit Alcohol consumption. EEEEEK I said it. My love for red wine (and Tequila) gets my skin feeling so dull and lifeless. Why, oh why? Alcohol blocks our anti-diuretic hormones, and therefore leads to dehydration. So, I’m NOT saying you have to avoid completely, but if you want beautiful skin… limit your consumption. (A little secret tip of mine, I drink a glass of water between my glasses of wine.) 

3. Consider some supplements. 

Some of my recommendations for supplements that help with skin health are:

• Oral Vitamins C, D, and A
• Vitamin B12 injections and Glutothiamine oral supplements or injections, which are available through select medial providers. We do these at my practices, and they help with collagen production and  fight free radical damage to skin.
• Selenium and Co-Q10 both prevent signs of aging by fighting free radicals that damage skin.

Drumroll, please… the MOST important thing you can do for your skin from the inside out is….

If you take one thing away from this article, I would choose water. Water is so great. It’s one of the most important things we can do for our skin and our overall health.

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