Get glowing skin with healthy fats!

From fairy tales to today’s fashion and entertainment icons, glowing skin is a definite prerequisite for beauty. All of us at some point in our life wish we could remain youthful forever with fresh and radiant skin.

The answer to retaining your youthful good looks is in your hands. One way to get glowing skin is by taking care of yourself with healthy, nutritious food choices. The healthier your food options, the more radiant your skin can get. There are many nutrients including healthy fats that can help your skin stay lovely and radiant for a very long time.

Here’s a simple breakdown of the facts about healthy fats. 

Healthy fats and their importance for a healthy complexion:

Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) are also known as Healthy Fats for one particular reason: your body needs them and can’t produce them on its' own. You can only get them from the foods you eat.

Healthy Fats are of two types, and they are important to keep your skin healthy: 

• Omega-6 Fatty Acids are building blocks of cell membranes. They help prevent skin dryness to maintain healthy and hydrated skin.
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids nourish your skin. They are important for radiance and add softness to your complexion.

Switch to healthy fats for finer skin 

An overall balanced diet contains 20-30% of total fat from the total calories you consume daily. This incorporates both unsaturated fats which include the omega- 3 and omega-6 fatty acids. It also has saturated fats that you should avoid because of their association with various diseases.

To improve your complexion and maintain a healthy balanced diet, you should try to replace unhealthy fat sources (saturated fats) found in fried food, margarine, butter and animal fat with healthy fat sources in moderate amounts. 

Examples of Healthy Fats:

Healthy Fats	Best Food Sources
Omega-6 Fatty Acids	Seeds, nuts, grains, vegetable oils (corn, cottonseed, safflower, sesame, soybean, sunflower), green leafy vegetables, avocado.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids	Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines, canola oil, walnuts, soybeans, ground flaxseeds, and fortified eggs.

Practical tips to make these nutrients a part of your healthy diet: 

• Include oily fish in your meals, twice a week
• Top your salad with a few slices of avocado or a sprinkle of sesame seeds
• Add a handful of nuts or seeds such as walnuts, almonds or ground flaxseed to your breakfast cereal for a healthy start to your day
• Always cook with vegetable oils such as canola oil rather than margarine or butter

Good to Remember:

Being on a low-calorie diet to lose weight can sometimes reduce your fat intake drastically which can affect your skin and make it dry! This is why you should make sure that your diet always includes healthy fat options.

In addition to choosing healthy fats, you can also help your skin get healthy and glowing by taking care of your overall nutrition with antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water.