Nutrition and Skin Health: How Diet Affects Your Skin

“Diet plays a significant role in maintaining and improving skin health through a variety of mechanisms involving gut health, hydration, inflammation, and nutrient supply,” DiLoreto says. “The combination of a balanced diet rich in certain nutrients plus avoiding harmful foods can greatly improve skin health, leading to clearer skin and a more radiant complexion. Diet is not a one-size-fits-all approach and varies greatly from individual to individual.”

DiLoreto points to just a few of the latest nibbles of the recent science behind how diet affects your skin:

Clearly, there is a critical skin-diet connection. Nutrition helps bolster and protect the skin from the inside out. People often think only of how the outside world affects skin health. After all, the skin is constantly exposed to the environment more than any other organ in our bodies, it’s more vulnerable to the oxidative stresses of air pollution, personal care products with questionable chemicals, humidity and dryness imbalances, UV rays, and other potentially harmful elements.

But both logical and scientific research show that your skin receives nourishment from the inside based on the foods you eat and the beverages you consume. This “skin-diet” link is critical for bolstering the skin’s ability to stay healthy, clear, elastic, protective, and strong. Scientists uncover more and more evidence all the time that whole, natural, healthy, minimally processed foods provide essential nutrients our skin needs to stay healthy. On the flip side, a diet that tends toward refined carbs, sugars, highly processed items, and saturated or trans fats can aggravate systemic inflammation and oxidative stress that can cause or worsen skin problems and other diseases.

With that in mind, DiLoreto urges everyone to “…understand how diet affects your skin health, and consume a healthy, well-balanced diet.”

DiLoreto wants everyone to know how critical good nutrition is for skin health, and specifically to make sure they’re getting adequate levels of the right minerals and vitamins for skin health.

There are several “best vitamins for skin health”, and science shows that the body absorbs them best from real food sources. Nevertheless, if your healthcare provider notes that your body struggles to absorb certain nutrients, you may discuss with them and your dermatology provider how to supplement these for your optimal health and skin health.

“Overall, I recommend what I call a skin-friendly diet,” says DiLoreto. “This is one low in sugar with plenty of fruits and vegetables, adding water and probiotics too.” She recommends choosing a daily diet with a variety of foods high in the following nutrients:

A balanced nutrition plan with good levels of all of these nutrients can reduce inflammation while healing and repairing skin damage. Getting the right levels of these important nutrients can also help balance hormones and reduce oxidative stress on your whole body.

“Make sure you understand what you may be deficient in,” explains DiLoreto. “Then replace that deficiency with a reliable supplement recommended by your doctor. Everything you are taking should be taken with purpose and intent.”

For example, if you and your doctor decide a plant-based diet is best for you, you will need to supplement nutrients mostly found in animal products. On the other hand, whole-grain foods that contain gluten have many antioxidants that you might not be able to get naturally if you need to follow a gluten-free diet.

Many of the vitamins and minerals listed above are powerful antioxidants. The important thing to know about antioxidants is that they can prevent damage to the skin and other organs in the body, as DiLoreto explains:

“Antioxidants help protect the skin from damage caused by free radicals and environmental stressors,” she says. “Free radicals are unstable molecules generated by UV exposure, pollution, and other factors. They can damage skin cells, causing skin cancer and premature aging. It is important to utilize measures to combat these free radicals. The easiest way to remember which foods provide the antioxidants to combat them are fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.”

She also warns, however, that eating a healthy diet is just one avenue for protecting the skin from free radical damage. Scientists and dermatology providers the world over remind everyone that you can’t skip the sunscreen because you drank your green smoothie in the morning. Protecting yourself from sun damage while eating a healthy diet are two powerful ways to lower your chances of developing skin cancer while generally keeping your skin healthy and slowing aging from the inside out.

So, you know you need to eat a variety of healthy foods every day to get those powerful antioxidants into your life. But there are so many different fad diets and meal plans out there, many of which are being pushed on social media without much science behind them. DiLoreto and the whole Apex Skin team are here to cut through the confusion with the latest about what medical science says a “healthy diet” should look like, for your skin and everything on the inside too.

Inflammation can cause many health problems, including skin conditions. So, reducing inflammatory processed foods and increasing the intake of super-charged nutrition-dense foods is one way to support your body and your skin. An anti-inflammatory diet includes foods like leafy greens, plenty of colorful vegetables and fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, and fatty fish like salmon. Spices like ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric are also included. These foods contain omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and other nutrients that lower inflammation in the body and contribute to overall good health, including skin health.

The low glycemic index diet or GI diet recommends people eat foods that are low on the glycemic index. This diet leans on a “good carbs” vs. “bad carbs” strategy that also recommends non-starchy vegetables and fruits. This diet helps people regulate blood sugar and reduce insulin resistance, which can help balance hormones and help improve skin health.

The DASH diet, which stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension”, includes many of the same anti-inflammatory strategies as the diets previously mentioned. It cuts way back on salty, sugary, processed foods and saturated fats while focusing on fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, legumes, and low-fat dairy.

We know that good hydration is critical to overall health and skin health. A healthy diet will get hydration from both foods and beverages.

There is considerable evidence that the usual culprits of sugary, processed foods and refined carbs found in white bread, pastry and sugary cereals are no help when it comes to skin health. We already know that excessive consumption of these things is harmful because it leads to insulin resistance that can lead to diabetes. Interestingly, people with diabetes are more likely to suffer from skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema, and premature skin aging, just to name a few. So, we can trace the skin-diet connection to specific and common skin conditions like the following.

“There is a positive association with acne and sugar. This is because these foods cause rapid spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels which can increase oil production and trigger acne, so avoiding sugary snacks, white bread, pastries, and sugary cereals should help.”

“Certain foods can trigger or worsen symptoms of eczema,” says DiLoreto. “Some of the most common triggers include dairy, eggs, nuts, wheat, and soy.”

If it sounds like eczema and food sensitivities have something in common, DiLoreto confirms this suspicion: “Patients with eczema are more likely to have food allergies which can worsen their eczema. It is important to identify and avoid these allergens.”

Once again, DiLoreto stresses that inflammation is one of the problems behind eczema, so avoiding inflammation-causing foods like sugary, processed foods high in saturated fats can help. She also mentions that boosting the gut microbiome with probiotics and staying well hydrated can help protect the skin’s protective barrier to calm eczema flareups.

“Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy skin cells,” explains DiLoreto. “Diet can affect immune system function and some individuals may trigger immune responses and worsen disease.”

It shouldn’t be surprising now that DiLoreto recommends an anti-inflammatory diet to help calm psoriasis as well, as it is an inflammatory condition. “Certain foods can either promote or reduce inflammation,” she says, again urging people to avoid highly-processed, sugary foods that can cause inflammation, cardiac diseases, and metabolic issues along with psoriasis.

However, she notes that psoriasis is one of those conditions in which some people may have food sensitivities to “healthy foods” too. “Some people with psoriasis may have sensitivities or allergies that worsen symptoms, commonly gluten, dairy, and nightshade vegetables like tomatoes and peppers,” she explains. “It is important to identify and avoid these common triggers so you can avoid them and get supplements to replace nutrients if needed.”

Diet is one of the biggest lifestyle factors that can drive your overall health and your life! A diet rich in nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, whole grains and lean protein sources (always adjusting for your own food sensitivities and allergies) can be one of the most important ways to boost your skin health. But there are four other lifestyle aspects to add to good nutrition: stress management, quality sleep, daily exercise, and the right daily skincare routine, says DiLoreto.

We know that out-of-control stress can cause a wide variety of health problems, including excessive cortisol levels. Cortisol is the “fight or flight” hormone that helps your body jump into action when it encounters a threat. But when stress is unrelenting, cortisol levels remain too high for too long. “Increased cortisol levels can lead to oil production, which contributes to acne and other inflammatory skin conditions,” says DiLoreto. “It also worsens inflammatory conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea. This is because stress can weaken the skin’s barrier function, leading to dryness, irritation and the inability to repair itself.” She suggests that if stress is taking over your life and your health, to try mindfulness or meditation techniques to reduce stress, and take time for yourself so you can do things you find enjoyable and relaxing.

Speaking of repairing itself, a good night’s sleep is one of the most important times when the body, including the skin, can regenerate and repair itself.

“During sleep, the body undergoes repair and regeneration processes including skin cell turnover and collagen production,” says DiLoreto. “Quality sleep ensures adequate blood flow to the skin, providing nutrients and helping your complexion. Poor sleep, however, can hinder these processes. Lack of sleep disrupts the hormonal balance, potentially increasing cortisol and worsening skin conditions.”

DiLoreto stresses that diet can also impact sleep quality, and recommends getting the following nutrients in adequate amounts to promote healthy sleep:

“Tryptophan, which is found in chicken breasts, lean pork chops, firm tofu, and, yes, turkey, helps produce serotonin, which is converted to melatonin in the body, which can help improve sleep quality,” explains DiLoreto.

“Maintaining a consistent skincare routine with a cleanser, moisturizer, and sun protection is going to be of the utmost importance to help repair the skin barrier and protect against damage,” says DiLoreto. “Also, avoid harmful habits such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and tanning beds which can accelerate aging and increase risk of various cancers. Stay informed by establishing a relationship with your board-certified dermatologist and partaking in annual skin cancer screenings.

“Getting in regular exercise will give your skin a healthy glow and strength training can help overall body health and skin tone,” says DiLoreto. Regular exercise can also help regulate blood sugar, improve sleep quality and reduce stress.

Of course, knowing the science behind good nutrition and putting it into practice can be two totally different and difficult things. We know sugar can hurt our skin health and our overall health. But… it tastes good! Or maybe we’re so busy that we don’t have time to prepare healthier meals. How do we overcome these challenges?

When it comes to breaking sugar cravings that often overtake us, DiLoreto suggests switching out to healthier alternatives. So, if you’re craving something sweet, instead of reaching for that doughnut, reach for a bowl of berries or some fruit. If you’re craving a salty treat, try nuts or seeds.

If stress and being too busy are the problem, rely on pre-cut veggies or mix up some packable salads on the weekend that you can take and mix at work. Also, consider frozen produce as a quick, easy alternative to meal prep. If you have a slow cooker or an instant pot, you can often just toss the ingredients in, set the controls, walk away and come back later to a healthy home-cooked meal.

If cost and accessibility are a problem, shop for the on-sale produce at your grocery store. Seasonal items are usually less expensive than foods that are off-season. Community coops, agricultural programs, and farmers markets can also be good, inexpensive, fresh sources of healthy foods.

“Overall,” urges DiLoreto, “set clear, achievable goals, track your progress, find support, and celebrate your milestones!”

“Skin type and diet vary greatly from individual to individual and, of course, any skin concerns should always be discussed with a dermatology provider in your area,” says DiLoreto.

You can improve your nutrition and skin health simultaneously, and with help and support from your dermatology provider at Apex Skin in Northeast Ohio. Providers like DiLoreto from our Canton office have considerable experience and expertise in how nutrition and skin health are inextricably linked. Come talk to us! We can be your support system.