8 Diet Hacks for Healthier Skin and Hair

Good Sources

Cauliflower, flax seeds, kale, mackerel, oatmeal, oysters, peanut butter, salmon, spinach, soy, walnuts

Expert Advice

Besides eating more of the foods listed above, you can cook various oils to add omega-3 fatty acids to a wide range of other dishes. Canola, cod liver, flaxseed, mustard, and soybean oils are excellent choices.

Grow Lustrous Hair by Eating Lean Proteins

Your body uses protein to build hair, and most sources of protein also deliver a healthy dose of iron. Iron is vital for providing oxygen to your body’s cells, including those in your hair follicles. The extra oxygen helps them grow your healthy, lustrous hair.

Be careful about which sources of protein you choose. This may look like permission to eat a giant rib-eye steak for dinner tonight, but overeating red meat carries risks of things far worse than subpar hair.

Good Sources

Beans, Greek yogurt, pork loin, poultry, tofu, white fish

Expert Advice

Despite the warning above, red meat is an excellent protein and iron source if eaten in moderation. Treat yourself to grass-fed, hormone-free cuts of beef once in a while.

Boost Health by Upping Your Spice Intake

Nutrition supplements have been a for-profit fad for decades, but you may have noticed humans have been healthy for far longer than the vitamin industry has existed. That’s not to say vitamin supplements can’t be right for you. But our ancestors got their vitamins and minerals from plants that carried concentrated amounts of one nutrient or another.

Many of those plants are spices. Spices are rich in flavor and nutrition, providing various health benefits. Besides, they make cooking more fun and your meals more interesting. Everybody wins.

Good Sources

Some of the most beneficial spices include cardamom, chili, cinnamon, cocoa, cumin, garlic, ginger, rosemary, and turmeric.

Expert Advice

You’ll find products on the market with concentrated doses of various spices. Generally speaking, these are no more effective — and much less fun — than using herbs in your menu. Instead, learn to cook with spices to gain a new skill while improving your beauty and nutrition.

Eliminate Raccoon Circles by Balancing Sodium and Potassium

Raccoon circles are those dark, baggy crescents directly beneath your eyes. If you have them once in a while, you’re probably suffering from too little sleep, but their presence long-term could mean an issue with fluid retention.

If you’re retaining too much fluid under your eyes, the trick is to rebalance your sodium and potassium. Eat more of a source of one, less of the other, and see what happens. If it doesn’t get better, reverse it and see. This is never an exact science, but some small changes in your diet can make a visible difference.

Good Sources

Find potassium in avocado, bananas, cantaloupe, grapefruit, honeydew, and oranges. Find sodium in salt and most processed foods.

Expert Advice

Avoid using supplements to fine-tune your potassium or sodium. Those impact blood pressure too. Stick to dietary changes, and check with your doctor if you think you need more.

Reduce Wrinkles by Boosting Collagen

As we get older, the collagen content in our skin decreases. The skin becomes less elastic, and wrinkles form wherever the skin habitually folds. In our later years, even lower collagen levels cause it to sag in place.

Consuming more collagen can slow this process, giving your body more of the basic building blocks it needs to keep your skin’s elasticity. Nothing can stop this natural process entirely or permanently, but this simple nutrition trick can help keep your skin looking younger for longer.

Good Sources

Avocadoes, berries, legumes, lemons, limes, green tea, greens, nuts, oranges, seeds

Expert Advice

Nicotine kills collagen on contact. That’s why smokers often look older. In case you need another reason to quit smoking today, here’s one to add to an already very long list.

Repair Damaged Hair With More Vitamin C

A variety of things can damage your hair that have nothing to do with what you eat. Overbrushing, swimming in chlorine, excessive heat, lousy hair products, and various kinds of pollution can all wreak havoc with your lovely locks. You can fix some of this with high-quality conditioners and avoid others with lifestyle decisions like wearing a cap when you go outdoors, but your diet can also help.

Oxidative stress to the cells in your hair makes it more susceptible to all of the damage we just mentioned and can make recovery from that damage harder and longer. Oxidative stress is essentially your cells rusting. Just like rust is oxygen damaging metal, this stress is oxygen damaging your cells. Vitamin C is one of the essential nutrients your body needs to resist and recover from this kind of damage.

Good Sources

Blackcurrants, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, citrus juices, lemons, limes, oranges, peppers, strawberries

Expert Advice

Your body can only take in a limited amount of vitamin C at a time and flushes out any excess. Those mega-dosing supplements won’t do you any more good than a cup of orange juice for breakfast and broccoli with dinner.

Final Thoughts

Of course, the ultimate beauty-related nutrition hack is to eat a sensible diet with everything in moderation. It’s not the world’s sexiest advice on how to feel healthy and look great, but it’s a classic for a reason.

The great news is that nothing in the list above can’t be part of that kind of diet. Incorporate solutions for what you’re working on in a general healthy and nutritionous diet to look good and feel great.

Sasha Graves is a beauty blogger and writes about tips for better skin and health.