The Secret to Beautiful Skin

What’s the key to a clear complexion? Hint: It’s not the expensive cream at the department store. Amazingly, the secret lies in your cupboard, and it won’t cost you $85 for half an ounce. We sifted through the hype to bring you the beautiful skin secrets of three experts. They’ll tell you why a cover girl’s complexion is only a bowl of blueberries away. Change Your Diet It wasn’t until recently that skin care gurus switched from prescribing creams to focusing on food.“Beautiful skin on the outside begins with good health on the inside,” explains Nicholas Perricone, M.D., author of The Wrinkle Cure (Warner, 2005) and Dr. Perricone’s 7 Secrets to Beauty, Health, and Longevity (Ballantine, 2006). “You’ll never look your absolute best unless you eat right.” After all, food nourishes every part of your body, including your skin.One of the best incentives to eat for beauty is that your overall health will improve along with your skin. Not only will you get a silky, rosy complexion, you’ll also have more energy.
for an antioxidant boost.

Five of the Best Foods to put on your shopping list for beautiful skin is;

1. Blueberries
“The many benefits found in the blueberry lead to extended youth and beauty,” explains Perricone. Blueberries neutralize free radical damage to collagen cells, which keeps your skin supple and strong.


2. Buckwheat
This seed is rich in a substance called rutin, an anti-inflammatory antioxidant which can improve your complexion. Rutin reduces blood pressure and strengthens blood vessel walls, and can even help prevent varicose veins. Bonus: It delivers more protein than other grains, so you’ll stay fuller longer. “It’s a great weight-control ally,” says Perricone. It also puts carbs back on the menu! Use buckwheat flour in your favorite pancake recipe or add cooked buckwheat to a warm winter stew for a hearty flavor.

3. Olive Oil
Opting for olive oil over butter is a great first move. For the best results, choose extra virgin olive oil. It contains higher levels of polyphenols, compounds with antioxidant activity, according to Richard Asarch, M.D., of the Asarch Center for Dermatology, Laser and Skin Rejuvenation in Colorado and author of The Beautiful Skin Diet, (Ideal, 2003). Antioxidants protect against – and sometimes even reverse – the skin damage caused by free radicals, which are unstable oxygen molecules produced by pollution, sunlight and cigarette smoke. When cooking with olive oil, be careful not to turn up the heat too high when cooking or the oil will lose its nutritional properties.

4. Cherry Tomatoes
Seeing as how they’re packed with antioxidant-rich lycopene and vitamin C.

5. Strawberries
Strawberries' antioxidant properties are rejuvenating, especially to the skin, smoothing out lines and wrinkles.


Foods that will destroy your skin

If you want to put your best face forward, watch out for these five foods:

1. Sugar is exceptionally damaging to skin and accelerates the aging process, inside and out. Per Remember that there’s a difference between the natural sugar in fruit and the added sugar in packaged goods. Look out for the words fructose, sucrose, corn syrup, fruit juice, mannitol, and molasses on ingredient labels –all are forms of added sugar.

2.Raisins cause sudden and wide swings in sugar loads in the body, which can inflame and damage the skin. If you can’t resist raisins, pair them with protein or heart-healthy fat to prevent a blood sugar spike. Try mixing in a handful of walnuts or almonds for a high-energy, skin-savvy trail mix.

3.Bacon This breakfast favorite is high in saturated fat, which "increases the incidence of skin aging and wrinkling.

4. Restaurant Meals, Many restaurant dishes contain hidden fat, sugar, salt, chemicals, and preservatives that harm your body and skin. Make most of your meals at home so you can control what goes in, and what stays out of, your food.

5. Delicious Desserts, Even skin gurus need to indulge sometimes. Enjoy angel food cake topped with fresh strawberries, dig into pineapple and kiwis.