Diet is a key component in losing weight and keeping fit but it may turn out that avoiding and eating certain foods may help with skin conditions such as acne or wrinkles. Dermatologist Dr. Jessica Wu, author of Food For Your Face joins the set of The Doctors to speak about which foods you should be eating for better skin.
Actual Before and After Results of Dietary Acne Treatment by Dr. Jessica Wu
Photo Courtesy of www.thedoctorstv.com
"Choosing the right food can help fight acne, wipe out wrinkles and get glowing skin but you have to know what to eat," says Dr. Wu. Two main foods to avoid include dairy and sugar. According to Dr. Wu, to fight teen or adult acne, avoid all dairy products: including milk, cheese, and yogurt. Dairy products may contain cow hormones that could interact with skin, causing it to produce more oil and clogging pores. Another thing to avoid is sugar - the body converts sugar into glucose which may break down collagen in the skin, causing wrinkles.
Dr. Wu does recommend eating pizza to improve your skin - but not the kind that made Chicago or New York famous. A whole wheat thin crust pizza with a lot of tomato sauce, green and yellow vegetables and grilled chicken, nix the cheese, is a healthy pizza for skin improvement. Dr. Wu says tomato sauce contains many antioxidants and studies have shown a link between consuming a lot of green and yellow vegetables with less wrinkles and crows feet. Pizza should be topped with grilled chicken, which is high in lysine and proline, amino acids that build strong collagen for firmer skin.
The drink of choice is a Bloody Mary due to it's high content of tomato juice, which is heavy on lycopene, an antioxidant that may help fight sun burns and sun damage - a good thing to keep in mind as summer rolls along.
For dinner, Dr. Wu recommends steak: high in zinc, which helps build strong collage, steak also has anti-inflammatory properties to calm skin down, reducing break outs. Steak may also fight acne causing bacteria. She does say to limit eating steak to once or twice a week due to it's fat content.
With this shopping list in mind, it's time to hit the supermarket and start improving our skin - from the inside out!
