Foods to glow from head to toe

Written by Adriana Donnola for Seniors Health Insurance.

Slathering on a facial moisturiser can only go so far in keeping your skin looking its beautiful and glowy best; what we eat plays a much bigger role than you might think. 

But you don’t have to eat loads of nutrient-dense – often expensive – fresh seafood to look good. There are plenty of foods that can help improve the health of your skin and hair, and boost your energy and mood. 

Amino acids are essential for your body's processes, such as constructing and mending muscles and bones, producing hormones and enzymes, and even serving as a potential energy source.

So what should we be eating? Here are some not-so-obvious foods and snacks that could have elevated beauty-boosting qualities. 

Glow-boosting foods and snacks

Foods that could be good for your skin

Sprinkle seeds like chia, pumpkin, linseeds and hemp onto salads or into yoghurt and smoothies daily. In case you’re wondering, although they come from a cannabis plant, hemp seeds only contain trace amounts of THC, so they are considered safe to consume. 

Add edamame to salads, fried rice or eat a handful as a snack (buy them frozen in supermarkets). A nutritional powerhouse, these immature soybeans are a complete plant-based source of protein, sans cholesterol. They are rich in micronutrients – zinc, calcium and potassium – needed for the normal functioning of cells, as well as antioxidant-rich isoflavones (plant-based compound) that fight skin-damaging inflammation. 

Sip organic bone broth. Although you can buy this commercially packaged (read: expensive), it’s simple and cheap to make in a big batch and freezes well. Technically a stock made by simmering bones with vegetables, spices and herbs for a number of hours, some nutritionists claim that bone broth is rich in collagen (which depletes in skin from our late 20s) however, other collagen studies suggest that this might be a dubious claim. 

Foods for your hair

Eat more canned sardines. They have considerable nutritional value, including being a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, which fight hair loss and are a beauty all-rounder, and hair follicle-supporting vitamin D. Plus their tiny bones provide a calcium boost to keep hair shiny and healthy.

Foods to give you energy

Boost gut health (and maybe even stress levels) with fermented foods. A healthy microbiome is crucial for digestion, absorbing nutrients and fuelling your brain and body while also producing the happy hormone we all need, serotonin. Choose sauerkraut, pickles, kefir, kimchi or plain yoghurt. Or add them all to your day; they could even be far more potent than popping a probiotic pill.

Learn to meditate

Now time to glow from the inside-out as well as the outside-in. Stress can harm hair and skin, so take the time to learn how to breathe deeply and mindfully, and then practise daily. Meditation can benefit a clearer mind, reduced stress levels and deeper (beauty) sleep. Easy and purse-friendly.