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March 19, 2019

Foods for Healthy Glowing Skin

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Plant-based Foods for Glowing Skin

I am sure you have heard it many times. “You are what you eat”. I heard that phrase for the first time during my visit to an aesthetician I admired years ago. Years later, I have read many books and online resources that have confirmed it to be the case. So, what would you want to eat to have flawless skin? Here is my brief list of vegan products and foods for glowing skin.

First of all, let’s start with the simplest sources of food that are easily available almost year round 😉

Foods for healthy skin - fruit and vegetables

Fruit and Vegetables for Healthy Skin

  • green leafy vegetables: kale, spinach, alfa-alfa – increase collagen production;
  • red vegetables: tomatoes, bell peppers, beets – contain lycopene, an oxidant that helps to prevent free radical damage and cell ageing. They also improve collagen formation;
  • orange vegetables: carrots, yams, sweet potatoes – contain vitamin A which encourages healthy skin production. It is also good for your eyes 😉
  • citrus, bell peppers, and tropical fruit – contain vitamin C and antioxidants which protect cells from free radicals.
  • berries: raspberries, blueberries, blackberries – also improve collagen production;
  • cucumbers, watermelon, radishes – contain 90 % water – hydrate your body and skin.

Eating seasonal vegetables and fruit can get the most vitamins and minerals for you and help your wallet 😉

Plant-based Protein for Beautiful Skin

Hemp seeds, almond seeds, flax seeds, and chia seeds – all are a perfect source of protein for beautiful skin. They also contain omega 3 and vitamin E which moisturize and soften skin.

Add them to your morning oatmeal or smoothie to make it even better 😉

Plant-based Fat for Glowing Skin

Avocado and all the seeds mentioned above – help repair, hydrate, and sooth the skin.

Pumpkin seeds – these seeds are a wonderful treat for your skin and your body. Besides healthy fats, they contain Zinc, which is extremely important for skin, hair, and nails. I add them daily to my oatmeal breakfast or spread over a salad for dinner.

Foods for healthy skin - fruit and vegetables

Fermented foods for healthy skin

Kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha – all are a great source of probiotics that improve digestion. Good digestion is very important not only for your body in general. Fermented foods promote clear skin as well.

Fighting acne? Add sauerkraut to your menu 😉 (grab a recipe here)

Other products that can come under this category are apple cider vinegar and fermented yogurt. Unfortunately, vegan fermented yogurt can be expensive. I have tried to make some at home but am still to perfect the recipe.

Apple cider vinegar, on the other hand, is so versatile. Add it to your morning glass of water and you technically have your daily boost of vitamins and minerals in a glass.

Foods for healthy skin - fermented cabbage and garbanzo beans

Vitamin B Group foods for gorgeous skin

This group consists of 8 vitamins which have their own name:

  • Vitamin B1 – Thiamin – can be found in sesame seeds and spinach; Looking for a recipe with both of these?
  • Vitamin B2 – Riboflavin – can be found in almonds, avocado, beets and mushrooms;
  • Vitamin B3 – Niacin – oatmeal and mushrooms are a good source of this important vitamin; I love my morning oatmeal!
  • Vitamin B5 – Pantothenic Acid – avocadoes, tomatoes and mushrooms are a great source;
  • Vitamin B6 – Pyridoxine – like bananas? they don’t only contain potassium! Garbanzo beans and sunflower seeds are also a great source of B6;
  • Vitamin B7 – Biotin – almonds, asparagus, garbanzo beans, lentils, oats, and walnuts – a diverse list of great foods for your healthy skin;
  • Vitamin B9 – Folate or Folic Acid – this vitamin needs to be taken in moderation. But the good source of the vitamin B9 are chickpeas, lentils and spinach;
  • Vitamin B12 – Cobalamin – this is the only vitamin in this group that I take in a supplement form. The nutritional yeast is believed to have a small amount of it, but the source of B12 is mainly the animal-derived foods that I don’t consume. If you are in Canada, I would recommend this product. It can also be found on Amazon.

The main benefits of this group vitamins are the growth and repair of the skin cells, skin inflammation reduction, treatment of acne and rosacea, and anti-ageing.

Foods for healthy skin - fruit and vegetables

Other important vitamins and minerals for healthy skin

Vitamin K – broccoli, Brussel sprouts, kale and spinach.

Potassium – avocado, bananas, sweet potatoes, Swiss chard and beet greens.

Zinc – kidney beans, lentils, pumpkin seeds. Zinc is also a very important mineral for hair and nails’ health.

Do you need to take supplements?

The answer is – it depends.

As I’ve mentioned above, I take B12, as it is the only vitamin, I believe, vegans can’t obtain from plants, or can’t obtain the recommended quantities.

Depending on your lifestyle and eating habits, sometimes it is easier to just get that “magic” pill. (I am Not talking the “magic slimming pill” now!)

But it doesn’t mean you need to spend hundreds of dollars on supplements.

Review your meals.

What are some of your favourite dishes? Do you eat a lot of bananas but not enough of avocados?

Are you allergic to nuts and need to make up for the macro- and micronutrients they contain?

What are other whole food products for healthy skin you can substitute for the ones you can’t have?

We are all different.

But we can live better.

Do you have any comments or questions that I haven’t answered?

Please comment below. I am always happy to have a good discussion 😉

Want more tips on a healthy vegan lifestyle or are you on the weigh-loss journey? Just sign up using the form below to get them directly to your email. No worries, I won’t bombard you with my emails 😉 A quick by-weekly email (sometimes with free goodies) is all I promise to send you 🙂


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Filed Under: Health & Fitness, Pretty

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  1. Amie says

    May 21, 2019 at 3:53 am

    Thanks for sharing all this! I love finding ways to take care of your skin from the inside out!

    Reply
    • Nat says

      May 22, 2019 at 7:28 pm

      You are welcome Amie! It is very important to take care of ourselves from the inside out! Though, we sometimes forget about it. Thank you for stopping by and finding a moment to comment!

      Reply

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Hi! I am Nat! Welcome to my blog! I am a skincare addict, a certified Personal Trainer and have been an ethical vegan since January 2015. Want to learn more about how you can live a healthy active life as a vegan?

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Monday’s are fun days! No? Just Sundays? Or any Monday’s are fun days! No? Just Sundays?

Or any day can be a fun day?

I’m sharing some of my fave vegan and cruelty-free skincare and makeup products on my LTK page, and it’s the last day to get 10-20% off shopping at Sephora 😉 (link in bio).

Wishing you a wonderful week and hope you have fun!

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It was so much fun to play the game yesterday! Tha It was so much fun to play the game yesterday! Thank you all for your guesses!

A surprise winner is @berezhnoidmitrii, the boy (now a man) I went to school with from grade 1 to grade 10 and also to the same music school for 5 years (I dropped off after 😊).

Why was he a surprise winner for me? Because the last time we met was, well, at school which was maaaaany years ago 😁

For all of you who took up on the challenge, here are the answers:

1️⃣ I’m a certified personal trainer but it is not my day job - true. I am a certified personal trainer working as an admin professional in my day job.

2️⃣ I became vegan overnight and have been vegan for over 6 years - true. Watched a couple of videos on animal cruelty on January 2, 2015, and woke up the next morning with the decision made and never looked back since then.

3️⃣ when I was a kid, I wanted to have brown eyes - haha that is true. My mom had brown eyes and she was the most beautiful woman for me, so I wanted the eyes like her 😊💛

4️⃣ I have a Monarch butterfly tattoo on my ankle - FALSE 😂 I’m so afraid of tattoos or anything that can be a permanent change on my body 😊

5️⃣ my childhood dream was to become an actress - true. I even got into trouble when had written about it at school. My teacher told me that I had to dream about becoming something real, like a doctor or a teacher, and acting was not a real profession 🤨 killing my dream right away...

6️⃣ I am afraid of heights - sad but true. I’m fine flying the planes but would never cross a suspension bridge or live in a high rise 🤣

7️⃣ I speak (read and write) 3 languages - true. Russian as a native language, plus English and Hebrew.

8️⃣ I’ve visited all continents - I wish! Well, not wishing to visit the Antarctica, but I haven’t visited Australia, Africa and South America yet.

9️⃣ I used to play the violin and a bass guitar - yup, true. As I said, I went to a music school for 5 years (violin) and played a bass guitar in a school band 😊

Now, your turn, do you want to play a game and list a few true/false statements about yourself in the comments so I try and answer which one is which?

Let’s have a fun weekend and play 😉

💛

#truefalse
Let’s play a game! Shall we? You know the one wh Let’s play a game! Shall we? You know the one when you need to guess the true/false facts about me 😊

7 facts are true and 2 are false.

So, how well do you know me? 😉

1️⃣ I’m a certified personal trainer but it is not my day-job;

2️⃣ I became a vegan overnight and have been vegan for over 6 years;

3️⃣ when I was a kid, I wanted to have brown eyes;

4️⃣ I have a Monarch butterfly tattoo on my ankle;

5️⃣ my childhood dream was to become an actress;

6️⃣ I am afraid of heights;

7️⃣ I speak (read and write) 3 languages;

8️⃣ I’ve visited all continents;

9️⃣ I used to play a violin and a bass guitar.

So, which 2 are not true?

🤓
Life is too short to waste it on people you don’ Life is too short to waste it on people you don’t like or who don’t like you.

It is too short to not go outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Use any opportunity to say “I love you” to the people you love.

Love like there is no tomorrow. Hug like it’s the last one.

Share kindness. Share your knowledge. Share your wisdom. Never stop learning.

Be yourself. Keep an open mind.

Love yourself. Spread love.

Do You. Respect others.

Life is too short. Make it beautiful.

Love,
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Strong, secure, happy, resilient, supportive, conf Strong, secure, happy, resilient, supportive, confident and beautiful... At @ClassyandchicGems, we are so blessed to be surrounded by women who support, inspire and encourage each other.

Tuesday is here and we’ve TEAMED up to share our Comfy in My Skin looks. We believe all of God’s people are beautiful and it’s so important to love yourself right where you are in this life. 
	
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Happy Tuesday! What does Healthy Living mean to yo Happy Tuesday! What does Healthy Living mean to you?

There are a million theories and talks about what healthy living is about, and I’m sure you’ve heard it and know it all.

I will just share a few thoughts of what healthy living means to me in no particular order 😊

1) balanced nutrition - ideally whole foods, plantbased, and include a variety of foods in every food group (grains, fruit and vegetables, legumes and nuts);

2) physical activity - team sports, weightlifting, swimming, running, cycling - whatever makes your heart beat happily and challenges your body;

3) peace of mind - this is a huge one! If you are not happy about your current state of mind, think of what you can change about your life to make yourself happier. Is it your work? Relationships? Family? If something doesn’t make you happy, just stop doing it. (Sometimes easier said than done, but is worth trying);

4) sex - yes, there I said it. There will be no life on this planet without it 😉 Mutual enjoyment is extremely important and absolutely natural. We are not doing it for our partner, we are doing it for ourselves;

5) our surroundings/environment - it is up to each of us to make this world a better place. We can try and keep our parks and streets clean. We can start a garden, plant trees or simply grow herbs in a pot indoors.

We can be better to others and to ourselves. We can respect others and live like the future is in our hands.

Because it is.

💛

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#healthylivingjourney #alwaysdoyou #healthandwellnessjourney
#fuelyourbodyright #seethegood #takecontrolofyourhealth
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“Keeping your body healthy is an expression of g “Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything” - Thich Nhat Hahn

This quote reminded me of the Avatar movie. The one where the entire planet habitants live in harmony with each other and with nature.

Like our body is a whole system of a much larger system and if we take a good care of it, we take care of everything around us.

I just loved it and I thought I would share it with you. You are free to think I am crazy 😉

I also wanted to wish Ramadan Mubarak to those celebrating it! Hope you have great and safe celebrations with your family!

And here is an easy roasted sweet potatoes with tofu served with a side salad. I just love this recipe so much!

Cut sweet potatoes and tofu into pieces. 
Add avocado oil, paprika, ground cumin and coriander, soy sauce, nutritional yeast and turmeric, and mix it all.
Bake at 400F (200C) for 30-40 min (if sweet potatoes are ready, everything is ready).
You can add other spices (garlic powder, chili paper flakes) and whole garlic head if you like.

Buon appetito!

💛
“What’s your excuse?”, “Why do you think y “What’s your excuse?”, “Why do you think you can’t make it happen?” - have you ever asked yourself or been asked any of these questions?

Why is it so difficult sometimes to do what we should do, and we are looking for the ways out?

When I was at school and had to submit an assignment, I would always push it to the very last moment. I felt like the neurones in my brain would start racing under the time pressure and the thoughts will be firing out. Whereas, before then I would be just staring at the screen with 0 ideas. 

There was a girl in a few classes with me who was an absolute opposite. She would have her papers ready right away and will be submitting them a long in advance moving to the next project...

I have no idea where she is now and what’s going on with her but I do think and hope she is very successful and loves whatever she is doing.

I would always think why I was not like her?

While I like being myself and don’t want to be anyone else, I now know that you don’t have to be born like that girl.

Since then I’ve learned to be a better planner and more organized.

You can definitely coach yourself and build new habits. Whatever it is that you think you can never do because you just “were not born that way”, is possible.

Whether it is loosing weight, getting the job of your dream, or passing an Astronomy test (just saying 😉), You Can Do It.

Believe in Yourself.

Ask for help, if needed, and do it.

Because You Are Capable.

Happy Sunday!
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