To wrap up this month’s recurring food theme, we will be discussing about energizing diet and tasty exercise. Diet and exercise are frequently associated with the health of your skin, typically along the lines of getting the most out of what you put into your body. While that is true, the direct impact of diet and exercise for you skin is still up for debate.
Diet and exercise are important for your physical health and allow your body to function optimally and obtain nutrients for fuel and energy. They function primarily at a macro level, however, and their interactions with the skin aren’t as significant as a beauty regime or a skincare routine. That doesn’t mean they don’t interact in a meaningful way.
How your diet affects your skin
Let’s start with the importance of balanced diet. A balanced diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, provide vitamins and nutrients for your body and your skin. The vitamins and minerals that are essential to your skin are Vitamins C, E, K, and D.
Obtaining these nutrients through dietary consumption, however, doesn’t seem to have as big as an impact for your skin as most people think. Most of the things that comprise the structure of your skin are used first by your body to keep it alive and working. Any essential nutrients that are left over in your body go towards the health of your skin before being stored in fat or removed from the body.
What is known to negatively affect your skin the most is the overconsumption of sugar and processed foods. While fine in moderation, sugar, processed foods, or any foods with a high glycemic index are more likely create breakouts and inflammation in your skin. Changes to your diet to prevent this will help, but diet can only do so much to help or harm your skin.
What exercise does for your skin
Moving on to the part that comes after diet, it’s exercise. Exercise and physical activity are just as important to keeping your body functioning, as a lack of exercise will lead first to muscle and joint weakness, following by their decay and atrophy. There are also many common ideas and misconceptions about exercise, such as the skin glow you get after a good workout or what is recommended for your skin for a workout.
One thing that is true about exercise is that it gives your
skin a slight glow. This is due to the increased circulation and blood flow
required by your body during periods of physical activity, which in turn delivers
more oxygen and nutrients to your body and to your skin. Clearer skin is
thought to be the result, both from the workout itself and from the stress
management that exercise can bring.
Workouts do have major and obvious downside, which is the sweat produced to keep your body from overheating. Sweat is very likely to clog pores which can lead to acne and inflammation, which it why it is recommended to wash your face thoroughly after exercising. Additionally, the only products that should be applied to your skin for working out is sunscreen; makeup will likely damage your skin more when it mixes with sweat.
While exfoliation is recommended for 1-2 times a week, a gentle exfoliant is better suited to help clean your skin. Our Green Tea Salt Scrub will work well to remove sweat and build up after regular workouts.
The last thing that is the most important for both diet and exercise is water. Regular hydration allows you to regain any water lost from sweat and helps your body process food from your diet more efficiently. Water itself can directly help your skin by keeping it full and elastic with the help of collagen and hyaluronic acid.
