You already know how important eating a nutritious diet is to your general health and well-being. But nutritious foods which are high in vitamins and antioxidants are good for more than just your heart and other organs. Such foods have the added benefit of promoting beautiful hair, skin and eyes, from the inside out.
Hair
The essence of great hair is protein, according to the “Ladies Home Journal.” Eating lean beef twice weekly can provide you with healthy protein, as well as essential iron, zinc and B vitamins. Other sources of protein include eggs or egg whites and cottage cheese. Besides protein, your body needs complex carbohydrates to assist the protein in fostering hair growth.
A complex carbohydrate such as brown rice provides you with long-lasting energy, along with fiber and B vitamins.
Vitamins and minerals essential to good hair include iron, B complex, folic acid, B12 and zinc. Many foods besides beef are rich in iron, including oysters, chicken liver, oatmeal and soybeans. Vitamin B12 can be found in eggs, sardines, salmon, beef, shrimp and dairy foods.
Spinach, great northern beans, asparagus, peanuts, tomato juice, orange juice and fortified breakfast cereals are all high in folic acid, according to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.
Skin
The Healthy-Skincare website includes Brazil nuts, berries, carrots, salmon, avocados and pomegranate juice among the foods that promote beautiful skin. Brazil nuts contain zinc, which helps promote the formation of collagen and elastin, serving to keep the skin youthful looking and helping prevent skin inflammation and dryness. Brazil nuts are also a rich source of the mineral selenium, which improves the skin’s elasticity.
Berries of all sorts contain antioxidants that fight skin damage, as do carrots and sweet potatoes, which are sources of vitamin C and beta carotene. Salmon and avocados both provide the body with the healthy fats required to maintain skin elasticity. The B group vitamins, such as those found in whole grains, are important for the growth of new skin cells. Pomegranate juice contains compounds called anthocyanins, which strengthen the small blood vessels feeding the skin, thus helping prevent spider veins.
Eyes
Scientists have discovered that certain nutrients can help protect eyesight, including beta carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin and zinc. Carrots have long had a reputation for helping vision because of their high beta carotene content. Lutein and zeaxanthin, two plant pigments found in foods such as spinach, kale and other green leafy vegetables, were shown to protect the eyes from macular degeneration and cataracts in a study conducted by Harvard Medical School.
An Australian study found that zinc protects the eyes from macular degeneration. Oysters have the highest amount of zinc per serving of any food. Red meat and poultry, beans, nuts and whole grains are other good sources of zinc.
