Top 5 Diet Tips for Flawless, Youthful Skin

our skin is an incredibly important organ it actually reflects the health status of all the other organs and systems in our body when you inest foods that are high in or even just well then you initiate an inflammatory response that can start to really aggravate acne and cause more acne just not good to do it's very clear that diets that are of the so-called lowi inflammatory type don't spark inflammation your skin is going to look so much better so much healthier more vibrant it absolutely impact your inflammation Levels by reducing them it absolutely will impact

skin health and appearance all of that is going to make you look more youthful it's not an imagined effect it is [Music] real any discussion about skin has to include a discussion about nutrition why your skin and your immune system have a very intimate relationship it's bidirectional your skin reflects the status of your immune system in many ways anytime we're talking about the immune system or skin we need to take into account the gut microbiome and nutrition so many people asked what are the things that they should eat to have healthy appearing youthful skin they

also asked what are the things that one eats that could exacerbate things like acne and what can one eat in order to reduce their acne so let's just start off with the basics the vast majority of our food if one desires to be healthy mentally healthy physically healthy and a high performing individual in any number of different things cognitive physical or otherwise we want to consume the vast majority of our foods from nonprocessed or minimally processed sources so-called Whole Foods so fruits vegetables if that's within your diet some people include grains some people don't I'm

not here to discuss that of course if you're human sometimes you'll ingest processed foods but really trying to avoid highly processed foods is critical with respect to the specific foods that can improve skin appearance and skin Health it's very clear that diets that are of the so-called lowi inflammatory type that don't spark inflammation so these would be things that sometimes are referred to as the Mediterranean diet or a Paleo like Diet you hear these terms but what what are we really talking about mostly Whole Foods minimally processed foods again I'm an omnivore I love fruit

I love vegetables I do like rice oatmeal and some pastas I like a great sour dough bread I like butter I like olive oil I like meat I like fish I think I am representative of most people out there because I eat most all those things but I also eat the occasional croissant I also eat the occasional slice of pizza I don't eat a lot of that stuff but I eat it now and again one of the I think best accounts on dermatologic health and skin health and appearance on the Internet is Dr Andrea Suarez

she's a medical doctor board certified dermatologists and she has a wonderful video that describes the various foods that one can eat to promote skin health and skin appearance and she certainly mentions collagen and bone broth she also mentions various sources of omega fatty acids that are often lacking in people's diets that they should pay extra careful attention to get so things like walnuts flax fatty fish it's also suggested that we eat a lot of leafy greens so dark leafy greens you're probably noticing a lot of these recommendations are kind of typical for what people describe

anytime they're talking about nutrition for health and of course we should get our colored fruits and veggies so our oranges our strawberries the Reds and oranges are critical out there and she also highlights something very important that I want to reiterate which is that we have a critical need for Vitamin A for our skin Health she appropriately cautions against supplementing with vitamin A because it's a fat soluble vitamin it's very easy to overdose vitamin A if one is supplementing with too much of it she recommends rather getting enough vitamin A from things like oranges carrots

sweet potatoes she recommends as much Berry intake as is appropriate for someone and one can afford the berries are so delicious but they tend to be expensive so you're getting the theme now inflammation is bad not just for the skin but for all organ systems of the body it's not just about the high density of calories and the high density of taste present in highly processed foods those are problematic but a lot lot of the issue with these highly processed foods is the high heat conditions used to make those Foods stable on shelves or stable

in packaging over time the point is that when these highly processed foods are basically made they involve the interactions between sugars and proteins and fats at high heat that make them stable on the shelf or in packaging and those can be very inflammatory and that can show up in the form of reactive skin it can make your psoriasis worse yes it can make your acne worse it can make your skin more tense tender and painful it can make your skin basically more reactive to some of the underlying predispositions you might have either because of genetics

or other things you're doing or not doing maybe you're going through a particularly stressful time maybe you're getting a little bit of extra sun and you're eating more highly processed foods and those things are combining and making your skin break out or flush more than it would ordinarily again there's so many reasons to eat most of your foods from nonprocessed or minimally processed sources and of course and now I sound like a broken record cuz you can hear this all over the Internet ingesting foods that are excessively high in sugar excessively high in sugars combined

with fats just not good to do pro-inflammatory it's going to cause all sorts of issues as you probably know when you ingest foods that are high in sugars or even just carbohydrates generally that also contain a lot of fats and in particular when those foods are highly processed well then you initiate an inflammatory response and set for it a whole domino set of issues related to hormone Pathways and cell growth Pathways that make everything acne psoriasis and overall appearance worse yes your skin will appear to age faster does that mean you can never have a

french fry no you decide what's best for you but know what you're doing as a segue to talking about acne we need to talk about the gut microbiome and this is a direct outgrowth of our discussion about nutrition here's the simple takeaway that I believe everyone should follow not just for sake of healthy appearing skin but also for sake of every organ and tissue system in your body which is the data clearly show that ingestion of sufficient amounts of fiber so Prebiotic and probiotic fiber so fruits vegetables sometimes this can also come from grains some

people will supplement with additional fiber if they feel they need it as well as ingestion of low sugar fermented foods things like kimchi sauerkraut the sort of sauerkraut that has to stay in the fridge so not the stuff that's stable on the Shelf at room temperature anything containing a brine that salty brine these low sugar fermented foods are powerful enhancers of the gut microbiome and when the gut microbiome is healthy you have reduced overall inflammation in the body this is often reflected at the level of the skin and basically skin health and the youthfulness appearance

of skin is enhanced okay this can also help with conditions like acne or psoriasis especially in conditions where there's a direct immune system skin relationship that we'll talk about more in a little bit okay so I highly recommend people have anywhere from 1 to four servings of low sugar fermented foods per day and let's face it low sugar fermented foods if you find the ones that you like are really great to ingest cuz they're tasty and they're good for you we keep coming back to inflammation as a general issue for skin health and that points

us also towards some specific dos and don'ts as it relates to Lifestyle let's face it if you sleep well your skin is going to look so much better so much healthier more vibrant than if you are not getting enough sleep if you drink alcohol and you wake up the next morning you know your skin is going to look puffy it's not going to look good doesn't mean you never have a glass of wine doesn't mean you never have a beer or a cocktail if that's your thing but alcohol consumed in excess and it doesn't take

much to get there is going to cause sleep issues microbiome issues so get great sleep avoid alcohol in excess maybe avoid it allog together drink plenty of water this sounds like such basic advice but proper hydration is key get enough water in electrolytes it absolutely will impact your inflammation Levels by reducing them it absolutely will impact your skin health and appearance in a positive way so these are just basic things that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention and as we all know our emotions impact the appearance of our skin and yes it can exacerbate

so-called breakouts but I've done entire episodes about controlling your stress we have a master stress episode that talks about real time tools that you can use like the physiological sigh it's the fastest way that I'm aware of to reduce one's levels of stress this is something my laboratory has studied in detail at Stanford there are also things you can do and we're all aware of what they are proper sleep meditation non-sleep deep rest all things that we can do that are zero cost very minimal time investment and that reduced stress can dramatically improve not just

the health but the appearance of your skin stress is part of life but learn to control your stress in real time and through tools like non-sleep deep breast that are zero costs that can help you reduce your overall levels of stress get great sleep and keep in mind that things that improve blood flow reduce inflammation give you lower stress better sleep all of that is going to make you look more youthful it's not an imagined effect it is real [Music]