How Your Skin Tells You About Your Diet

By Adeniyi Ogunfowoke

Everyone has those days, the ones when you look in the mirror and just don’t love what you see. Whatever your skin issue is, there are ways to fix it that go beyond seeing dermatologists or applying moisturising creams. In fact, revamping your skin can be easier than all that. Sometimes all you have to do is to say goodbye to your skin hang-ups is to make simple dietary changes. This said, Jumia Food, Nigeria’s no 1 food ordering platform shares the things your skin is telling you about what you eat.

Acne

Foods that are high in iodine can trigger acne— for this reason, being cautious with what you eat is highly recommended. If you experience acne, you should evaluate your diet for iodine-rich foods.

Early signs ageing

The quicker you eat the fewer nutrients your body absorbs. The experience of chewing, tasting, and swallowing food can cause greater nutrient absorption by your digestive system. Skin ages when it’s deprived of essential nutrients like proteins, vitamins, and minerals. If you’re not absorbing enough, your skin isn’t getting enough — therefore ageing your skin. Eat mindfully and enjoy your food to get the most benefit.

Dry skin

Dehydration sucks the moisture out of all your body’s systems — your skin included. While thirst might be invisible, your dry skin is not. If you’re experiencing dry skin on the regular, you probably need to be drinking more water or at least eating more hydrating foods.

Stretch marks

Stretch marks usually happen more often when you have less zinc in your body. This is due to zinc’s crucial role in repair and healing. To mitigate the physical appearance of stretch marks, eat more spinach, shrimp, seeds, and other foods with a high zinc content.

Oily skin

Oily skin signifies your diet is too high in dairy. So, if your skin oil has gone into overdrive and you find yourself dealing with daily dampness, you might be drinking too much dairy.

Eczema

This skin condition is as a result of eating much animal protein (meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy). To tackle eczema, you should get rid of animal protein from your diet. In other words, you should become a vegetarian for the sake of clearing your skin of eczema.