Beauty Foods - Reds, Oranges and Yellows
We all want to look younger, healthier, more vibrant. Yes? You may be genetically blessed with great skin, have hormones that balance like a like a tightrope walker or have a lifestyle that allows you to visit the day spa twice a week... but even then, there’s only 2 real ways to get the best out of your youth and beauty potential. Topical, or internal nourishing.
Topically, we can use lotions and potions on our skin to make it look and feel better. While keeping a healthy skin cleansing and moisturising regime is a good habit to get into, not to mention sun protection, it’s not the best way to really boost that youthful glow and stave off the ageing process.
Internally, our bodies act as a regulation system for not only great skin on the outside but a perfectly working machine on the inside. Remember your skin is an organ just like your liver, kidneys, heart and brain. The foods we choose will ultimately show up on our skin just like they show up in our other organs. On top of that, great skin comes from the whole machine working together, including other organs providing nourishing nutrients to the skin and removing waste products as needed.
Adding fruits and vegetables in warm colours are most likely to create glowing and healthy skin, hair and nails.
The Mellow Yellow
Yellow fruits, vegetables and spices are nature’s anti-inflammatories. No, they won’t replace modern medicine if you’re ill but they can help prevent many minor viruses and inflammatory reactions by adding them to your diet regularly. Phytophenols and enzymes in the mellow yellows can aid in bringing a healthy and natural balance back to the skin.
Spices such as turmeric, ginger and saffron can have a calming effect on the body, especially on the digestive system and on sensitive skin. Add fruit and vegetables such as yellow capsicum, corn, lemon, pineapple and banana to your diet for a calming effect on red and acne prone skin.
Orange you glad you saw this?
Orange fruits and vegetables are nature’s powerhouse of defence against nasties! The orange options tend to be packed with the ABCs - Vitamins A, B and C that is - providing vital nutrients required to keep your immune system chugging along at its best.
Add fruit and vegetables like mandarins, oranges, orange capsicums, sweet potato, pumpkin, papaya, rockmelon and carrots to really boost your immune system. Remember that Vitamin C especially is destroyed during the cooking process so ensure your orangey options are regularly ‘in the raw’.
Red It, Did It
In nature, red can signal 2 things - either poison, or the plant’s way of ensuring it’s seeds are spread far and wide by providing delicious and beneficial packaging. Enter the ‘beauty food’!
Red fruits and vegetables contain a combination of phytonutrients, collagen boosters and antioxidants, all of which support increased oxygen and minimise oxidative damage to cells. The net result is better functioning internally and brighter, healthier externally!
Add fruits and vegetables such as raspberries, strawberries and goji berries, red skinned apples, red capsicum, pomegranates and tomatoes for healthy skin and glossy hair. Remember that the super beneficial lycopenes found in tomatoes are much better absorbed when tomatoes have been cooked or at least warmed.
The Beautiful Truth
We’ll talk about other colours in the diet in our next blog, but the take home message should be this: a rainbow of fruit and vegetables in your diet is one of the best ways to fight the ageing process, feel great and ensure every meal is fun and exciting. It’s win win!
