Why food for soft, smooth skin?
Have you jumped on my challenge to softer, smoother skin by the end of the summer? I hope so! You’re totally worth it. And it's easy. I promise we got over the most arduous habit last week. From here on in it should be smooth and easy sailing. Number 4 on my download for easy habits is rose tea. Or a tincture/extract if you think that sounds better. Personally, I use both because I'm crazy about roses. The fragrance and taste of roses are reasons enough to add this to a tall glass of refreshing cold water. But it’s not just roses I’m going to sell you on here. What I'm going to attempt to sell you on next I don't actually have for sale 😃 There are many mini changes you can make in your diet. By diet, I mean the food you eat. I'm not going to present any kind of a trendy new regimen that you have to gear up for and get brave. I learned long ago that I can only build new habits if they're small habits. I'm willing to wager you're the same. I don't go in for drastic. Never. It doesn't work. I'm suggesting changes so small you probably won't notice them. Colorful changes that you might not consider big, but your skin will. I want to begin with your leafy green salad. I want you to eat as many greens as your food budget affords. Yes, that's the same advice you hear everywhere. (Let's not change that). Veggies work against insulin resistance, this then keeps your cortisol levels down, that in turn gives you more ability to deal with life's stress, and that is beneficial to how your skin manages to react to going through life and aging. So, yes, keep up the salads and stir fries. But for fun, let's rename them. How about green, red, purple and orange salad? Because you're going to make some easy color changes. How? Trade in a portion of your green romaine for red leaf lettuce. Shred in some red cabbage. Grate some carrots. Do you ever eat (edible) flowers? As well as pretty to look at, your body loves them. Throw in a handful of calendula petals or violas. (These are the easiest kinds of flowers to grow and they self seed all over the place. Plant them once and you'll have them forever!
I have enough space in my garden for a whole range of vegetables and flowers that take my family and me through the entire year. Sadly, winter squash isn't one of them. Butternut, acorn, delicata and pumpkins. Yum. Even though they're worth every inch, they take up a ton of space I just don't have. Every autumn my family and I take a trip to the local farm that we love. We wander around fields that aren't off limits. We visit cows and goats and chickens and definitely don't feed the donkey. He's got big teeth 😁 We check out the vintage buys in the cute shack. We ooh and ah in the farm shop. And, get this, we buy 150 pounds of winter squash. (It never fails that several people stop to ask us how to cook squash. I wonder how many people we inspire? We're the poster children!) That 150 pounds is our habit lol. Don't feel you need to go all in for that! Because, yes, it's extreme. Adding just a bit of orangey squash or pumpkin to your regular meal repertoire is enough. It's guaranteed to improve your relationship with your reflection.
You're wondering how this can be? Eat your way to beautiful skin? You want some facts.
Colorful foods enable changes in your skin that resist damage cause by sun and other environmental triggers. (In my last blog post, I commented that sun exposure is responsible for 90% of all visible skin changes). I accidentally stumbled on this colorful truth. Gardeners know that red leaf lettuce is worth growing because it's slow to bolt (that's fancy speak for growing tall flower stems instead of more leaves) and it doesn’t get all bitter in the heat of the summer. I learned this is because the red coloring in the leaves protects it from sun radiation and it doesn't have to react the way other lettuces do. I though that was really cool. It was a while before I learned that eating red lettuce and other naturally colorful foods let's them do that for us, too! Even cooler! Miraculous! Colorful veggies and edible flowers prevent sun damage, prevent age spots and prevent wrinkles!
Watch this Clip to Find Out Why You Want to Include Colorful Veggies and Flowers at Mealtime
Here's more. I loved reading these research results: "no correlation exists between age and skin aging...Consequently, a healthy diet, rich in antioxidants including carotenoids, could serve as the best preventive strategy against skin aging." This same research concludes that the very best results come from combining colorful foods with skin care products containing colorful ingredients like calendula. Of course, that's a whole other post and I'm not going to get into that here. Are You in? Ready to start this new and easy habit? I know you are. Thanks for letting me share this with you. I love passing on healthy tips because I love helping make your life better. Are you taking on my challenge for softer, smoother skin by the end of the summer? Easily, by adding only five easy habits to your day to day? The challenge starts here: Your First Easy Habit for Beautiful Skin Revealed. Stay tuned next week for another easy habit. My best to you, Chwynyn For more like this, Sign up for my newsletter Follow Slow Botanicals on Pinterest