Can what you eat impact your skin?

Information provided by one of our talented team of experts – Anjali Mahto.

Now we know the skin microbiome is a thing (yes!), and that there appears to be an interaction with your gut microbes (read more here), is there any research to suggest what we eat can impact our skin? Let’s find out … 

First things first, we do know that eating well for your skin is no different to eating well for your health. With skin, however, we need to be mindful that it should be treated with diet alone (where validated therapeutic options exist). That being said, there is no doubt diet has a part to play as a piece of the wider puzzle. 

What we know so far is diet can influence the course of skin disease and have a preventative role in the development and future health outcomes. Short and long-term dietary habits can alter gut microbial composition, having the potential to affect skin. 

This could in part be achieved by sustained eating habits, including; 

• Carotenoids: are found in foods such as apricots, watermelon, asparagus, sweet potato, squash, carrots, tomatoes and many more. 
• Essential fatty acids: are found in abundance in oily fish, and for plant-based sources in walnuts and flaxseeds. 
• Vitamin E: think sunflower seeds, pin nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts and salmon and avocado. 

Interested in finding out more?

There are 4 more food groups which have the potential to affect your skin. Read more on how vitamin C, polyphenols, minerals and fermented foods can impact your skin on our app. You can download it for free below. Good news here, is they’re all fab gut-luvin’ foods that we’ve recommended chowing down on in lots of other areas of the app!