SkinAsthetics
Radical Thinking,Colour Your Food
NoveletteBodden,
Certified Aesthetician
Your skin is battling againstfree radicals. Time to eat your ammunition.
Nutritionists often suggestassessing your diet in terms of color the more colorfulyour plate, the more nutrients you're getting. If the most vibrantthing in your daily diet is a cup of coffee, it may be time tomake some changes. Without adequate variety, you could wind updeficient in vitally important compounds called antioxidants andflavonoids.
Free radicals are impossibleto escape- you can thank pollution, pesticides, cigarette smoke(secondhand and otherwise) and sun exposure, for starters.
Why?
Because the breathing processitself leads to their creation. That's ironic for active guys after all, who breathes more, a triathlete or a couch potato?Weightlifters aren't safe, either, as free radicals are producedduring the breakdown of protein and fats, processes that occurin athletes much more than they do in the average couch potato.
For the skin to do battleagainst free radicals, your body needs nutritional ammunition.Conventional wisdom has held the antioxidant vitamins C, E andA (as beta-carotene) as the best defense against free radicals.But in one study, flavonoids worked even better:
The daily treatment of flavonoidsneeded to fight free radicals and provide training benefits isnot yet known. The good news is that if you eat at least fiveservings of fruit and vegetables a day, you probably have yourflavonoid bases covered. The bad news, according to the AmericanDietetic Association, is that only one in 10 of us consumes thatamount of fruits and veggies daily.
The easiest way to get moreflavonoids is to simply put more color into your diet. Foods suchas strawberries, carrots, peaches and broccoli are flavonoid-richand excellent for the skin. According to a Norwegian study, greentea, apples and onions also contain vast amounts. This is anotherstrong argument for eating your fruits and vegetables. Surprisingly,red wine is high in flavonoids (as are the red grapes from whichthe wine is made). Dark beers, such as stouts, also contain significantquantities (though light beers contain almost none).
If your diet is seriouslylacking in antioxidants or flavonoid-rich foods (and if beer isyour only source, it doesn't count), you may want to considersupplementing. Start out with 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C andbetween 400 and 1,000 IU of vitamin E each day.
If you're a fitness fanatic especially if you do a lot of cardio intense sports activitiessuch as triathlons or marathons you may need even more,along with an extra flavonoid boost. For serious endurance athletes,a daily dose of flavonoid supplements taken with meals, will offerprotection from the increase in free-radical production. Regardlessof your diet or exercise regimen, supplementation is a good ideaif you have a genetic predisposition to heart disease or cancerof the stomach, colon or rectum.
In the meantime, help your skin fight free radicals by puttingmore color in your diet.
Novelette Bodden
Spa Novell