Your Diet Will Affect Your Skin's Health!

The first step in looking younger begins with what you decide to put into your mouth. Following an anti-inflammatory diet can combat the effects of sugar-aging inflammation, a process that causes skin to become less flexible which leads to stiffness and wrinkles. An anti-inflammatory diet is protein adequate without a lot of fat, is rich in vegetables and includes a touch of essential fatty acids (EFAs). The proper diet will help your skin just as much as any anti-oxidant cream or lotion.

Most people think of a diet as being appropriate only for weight loss, however eating the right kind of foods and following a proper diet will put you on the fast track to a healthy body and healthy skin regardless of whether you want to shed pounds.

Not too long ago, the FDA outlined a diet that recommended Americans load up on carbohydrates and limit their protein. After years of research from doctors and nutritionists, though, the four basic food system and the impact it has on our health is being altered. The best diet for staving off everything from visible effects of aging to heart disease and cancer is to eat large amounts of protein, make good choices about carbohydrates, and choose fruits and vegetables rather than refined processed foods for the sugar fix our body craves. The anti-inflammation diet accomplishes all of these goals.

By curbing the carbohydrates in our diet we will reduce the level of insulin and sugar in the body. While consuming carbohydrates the blood sugar rises and insulin is secreted to keep that sugar under control. The insulin pushes your cellular metabolism into a mode in which it produces inflammatory chemicals and encourage s your body to store fats.

By stimulating the inflammatory chemicals in our body we kick-start the aging process. There are carbohydrates that do not cause your blood sugar to rise to unhealthy levels such as asparagus, beans, broccoli, blueberries, cabbage, cantaloupe, peaches, pears, spinach and most non-starchy vegetables. These foods should make up the majority of your carbo intake so that you avoid the "spikes" in blood sugar level that you receive when eating carbohydrates such as corn, potatoes, and pasta.

One particular type of protein that should be a part of your diet is fish! There's a reason why it's called brain food- it's intelligent to eat it! Certain types of fish are loaded with a nutrient that fights inflammation: omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs). Omega-3's EFAs have the ability to dramatically reduce the body's production of inflammatory compounds including some omega-6 EFAs (which can cause inflammation if not taken from the proper food source). Balancing omega-3 EFAs and omega-6 EFAs is essential in maintaining excellent health.

With your anti-inflammation diet in place, you can have meals that will improve your skin's glow. Eating fish that are rich in omega-3 like salmon, herring, snapper, bass, and trout combined with vegetables like romaine lettuce, broccoli, spinach, green beans, and cauliflower plus adding fruits like raspberries, strawberries, melon and cantaloupe can lead to a healthier skin composition. Oh, and by the way, you may also wind up preventing disease and becoming healthier as a result!

Nicholas Perricone, MD, FACN, is a board certified clinical and research dermatologist and Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Yale University Medical School. He is a pioneer in the field of the prevention of aging skin, hailed as the inventor of Cosmeceuticals. He is the author of the New York Times Best Seller The Wrinkle Cure (Rodale Reach May 2000). Dr. Perricone is certified by the American Board of Dermatology, is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition.

He has spent the last fifteen years researching aging and aging skin and holds dozens of US and International patents on the use of topical antioxidants for reversing and preventing damage to skin caused by age, the sun, the environment, hormonal changes, etc. He is the author of numerous scientific articles documenting the results of his research and is a contributing editor to the peer-reviewed medical journal Skin and Aging, the Journal of Geriatric Dermatology and is a member of the editorial board of Archives of Gerontology & Geriatrics. He is Chairman of the International Symposium on Aging Skin, an annual meeting in which researchers come together from around the world to share their latest scientific breakthroughs in the prevention of aging and aging skin.

To learn more about Dr. Perricone, call his office at (888) 823-7837 or visit his website at www.nvperriconemd.com.