7 Essential Foods for Healthy Skin +Hair

Want beautiful glowing skin? Look no further than your fridge and pantry! We rounded up the top 7 essential foods for healthy skin and hair!

Many years ago, in an effort to keep my young family as healthy as possible, I started religiously reading labels on the food we bought. Trying to figure out what all those unpronounceable ingredients really were was a time-consuming and daunting endeavor, to say the least. But after a while I became well-versed in the ingredients to avoid and what food choices to make for my growing family.

 I thought I had it covered until a few years later when I started reading the labels on my beauty products. What the heck? Who knew those ingredients could be scary too?

The more I read about the potentially harmful ingredients in drugstore lotions and potions, the more I was determined to find all-natural alternatives. We all want great skin but even the more expensive creams moisturizers often contain harsh and synthetic ingredients that strip away our skin’s natural oils. This can lead to dry skin as well as worsen other skin problems such as acne and eczema. 

Thankfully, great skin and all-natural beauty are close at hand. As it turns out your kitchen is full of staples that are not just good for your body but brimming with nutrients that are great for your skin too.

So next time you’re tempted to drop a wad of cash on an expensive mask or body scrub, first try raiding your pantry for these seven skin-improving foods. Many have been used for centuries to beautify and heal the skin by cultures all over the world. 

COCONUT OIL

When it comes to beautiful skin, coconut oil should be one of the first ingredients you reach for. Regular use of coconut oil can help cleanse, moisturize, remove makeup, minimize stretch marks and prevent razor burn. Because it contains antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, it can also speed the healing of wounds and minimize scars.

If you struggle with extra-dry skin, coconut oil might be your new best friend. Rub coconut oil in hands to warm it up (coconut oil melts at body temperature) and then use it like you would body lotion. Not only will your skin feel silky smooth, you’ll feel like your on a tropical beach vacation.

Coconut oil works on hair too. There’s a reason many conditioners contain coconut oil: It’s better able to penetrate hair than most oils which leads to healthy strands and less hair loss. It can be used overnight as a deep conditioner or used daily to calm your frizzy, flyaway strands. Just rub a little coconut oil between your palms and rub it through your hair to leave it looking smooth and polished.

OATMEAL

Not only is oatmeal a great choice for breakfast, it’s also a great choice for sensitive, irritated or inflamed skin. It can cleanse, mildly exfoliate and moisturize, which makes this pantry staple a triple-threat. Oatmeal contains saponins which help clean and remove dirt. It also contains polysaccharides that become gelatinous when water is added and create a soothing, protective film on the skin. Oatmeal baths are an old-time remedy for skin conditions such as sunburns, poison ivy, eczema, and psoriasis. 

To prepare an oatmeal bath, add oats in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it tightly together. Add the oatmeal packet to a warm tub and then hop in and soak for 20 minutes. 

RAW HONEY

Raw honey should be a staple in your kitchen, but it’s amazing healing properties should make it a staple in your beauty cabinet too. A natural humectant, honey attracts and retains moisture, which helps create soft, supple skin. It has natural antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, making it a perfect remedy for healing cuts and wounds. By applying a little raw honey to wounds, a barrier is created against germs and bacteria, helping speed up the healing process. It also works great as a facial mask to soothe and heal troubled and acne-prone skin.

But it has to be raw to provide all these wonderful benefits. Conventional grocery store honey has been pasteurized and micro-filtered removing all the skin and body-healing goodness of the original product those little bees worked so hard to make. You can find raw honey at specialty grocery stores and more and more regular grocery stores are also carrying it. Or even better, ask around to find local honey from a beekeeper in your area and get this miracle cure right from the source.

To use for acne treatment: Warm a teaspoon of raw honey just slightly in the microwave, enough to make it easily spreadable. Spread gently all over face and leave on for 15-20 minutes. Rinse with warm water and pat dry.

AVOCADO

Avocados are truly one of nature’s superfoods. Healthy monounsaturated fats, vitamins A, B, D and E, and minerals like phosphorus, potassium, and calcium all provide a myriad of health benefits for your body and your skin too.

Here are 7 benefits of avocado for the skin:

• Moisturizes your skin
• Reduces skin inflammation
• Stimulates the production of collagen
• Minimizes acne
• Diminishes age spots
• Soothes a sunburn
• Helps treat eczema and psoriasis 

The easiest way to apply avocado to your skin is to use a high-quality, extra-virgin avocado oil. If you don’t have that on hand, you can use the mashed up avocado pulp. An avocado-pulp mask that you leave on your face for 20 minutes will do wonders for dry and sensitive skin. And of course, you’ll also want to regularly eat avocados to get the full benefit of this amazing fruit.

YOGURT

Since yogurt is an excellent source of lactic acid, it can soothe, exfoliate and moisturize your skin. Applied topically it can have similar effects to an expensive facial, including smoothing fine lines and wrinkles and correcting discoloration and age spots caused by sun damage. make sure you buy good quality plain yogurt made from whole milk with live bacterial and probiotic cultures.

To create your own yogurt facial mask, apply 1/4 cup of plain yogurt with 1 teaspoon of honey or olive oil. Apply it to your face and leave on for 20-30 minutes, then rinse well.

OLIVE OIL

While facial oils can work wonders for the skin, they can also be very expensive. Why not turn to this amazing oil that has been used for cooking and beauty treatments for centuries? Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) is high in skin-boosting vitamins K and E, which help to reduce dark under-eye circles as well as protect against sun damage. It can be used in a variety of skin-benefitting ways such as:

• Use a few drops as a nighttime moisturizing treatment 
• Mix EVOO with a little salt or sugar for a quick homemade scrub
• Use as a shaving cream to ward off razor burn and bumps with the help of this natural lubricant.
• After exfoliating with a pumice stone, apply EVOO to heels. Put on socks, go to bed and wake up to sandal-worthy feet.
• Use anytime as a great all-over treatment for extra-dry and eczema-prone skin

VINEGAR

An extremely versatile and inexpensive skin-care product, vinegar was used by Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, to treating ulcerations and skin sores. White vinegar and apple cider vinegar are beneficial for the scalp, hair, and skin. When used as a hair rinse, vinegar can remove shampoo build-up and close hair cuticles leading to shiny, less-frizzy hair.

Diluted apple cider vinegar can also be used as a toner. Just dilute 2 tablespoons ACV in 1 cup of water and apply with a cotton pad. Vinegar is good for both oily and dry skin to help control acne, blackheads and treat flakiness.

You Have Food On Your Face

We all want a healthy body and beautiful skin so it’s important to remember that it’s not only what you eat that matters. What you put on your skin matters as well. If you want the best skin you can have then using ingredients on your face that are good enough to eat will go a long way in helping you reach that goal. 

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