Leading research has found that the easiest and fastest way of achieving a glowing complexion is to eliminate the most common foods & ingredients that trigger skin breakouts, inflammation and allergic reactions – and ensure you include healthy fats into your diet.

These trigger foods include, but are not limited to:

- Gluten
- Soy
- Wheat
- Dairy

Simply experiment with removing these trigger foods from your diet for 28 days (the average time it takes for skin to shed and renew) and see how your skin looks. Sometimes, you only need to eliminate them for a short while to give your system a chance to detox, then gradually re-incorporate them (paying attention to how your skin reacts).

GOOD SKIN TIPS:

TIP 1: Eat great tasting food full of “healthy” fats.

TIP 2: Be sure to eat a “green food” diet
Chlorophyll = good skin health. Probably one of the best foods for skin, but the least consumed, are green foods.

Collards, kale, spinach, wheatgrass, sprouts…all of these foods include skin-loving chlorophyll and are alkaline, helping to naturally balance out any excess acid in our bodies that may be contributing to our skin problems.

Chlorophyll is the green coloring matter in plants, known also for its natural cleansing properties. It is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial agent. So, if you are suffering from breakouts, or even acne, try incorporating it into your diet.

The best way to consume chlorophyll is by eating greens as opposed to drinking liquid chlorophyll out of a bottle. This way, you benefit from all of its properties and minerals. The best food source of chlorophyll is spinach.

Don’t overcook your greens as that will lose the chlorophyll within it. Light steaming is the best way or just eat them raw (yes I know, not to everyone’s taste). If both of the above don’t appeal to you, then why not make a “green smoothie” and mix all the greens together mixed with a bit of ice cream? It does taste great!

TIP 3: Load up on antioxidants with the best Superfoods. Antioxidants have the ability to support the aging process by attacking free radicals. The best superfoods are goji berries, acai berries, mangosteen and noni. They all taste quite good and you can get most of these within “Innocent Smoothies” too.

TIP 4: Eat an adequate amount of high quality protein. Your skin, hair and nails are all rich in protein and require high quality protein to continue to function properly. Without protein your skin will become pale, dull and will age prematurely. Best source of protein is fish, eggs and chicken/turkey meat. Make sure your protein intake is part of a balanced meal as too much protein will have adverse effects on your blood sugar level.

TIP 5: Reduce your sugar intake to reduce your apperance of wrinkles. Research has shown that sugar is pro-inflammatory which means excess sugar causes inflammation in the body which leads to wrinkles. Pro-inflammatory foods to reduce in your diet are (sorry in advance); cakes, cookies, desserts, most breakfast cereals, breads, pastries, juice drinks (rather than fresh juice) and fizzy drinks.

TIP 6: Stay hydrated! Every cell, as well as every bodily and metbolic function in our body needs water. It is the most essential nutrient we consume and helps our skin more than anything I’ve mentioned above. Our skin is made up of 50-70% of water and a lack of it doesn’t take long to show up in the skin in the form of dry skin.

Did you know that puffy eyes and dark circles can be the result of water retention brought on by inadequate water consumption!?

The ideal amount of water to drink is to measure your body weight, divide by 2 and then divide the result by 8. This will give you a rough estimate of the number of 8 ounce glasses of water you should drink in a day. If you exercise, go outside on a sunny day or drink alcohol, drink more water to compensate.