My current favourite beauty foods

Now, there are many different beauty foods out there, from nuts to salmon to dried fruits, it all seems to have some kind of benefit for the appearance. It's hard to choose! But beauty foods shouldn't become an obsession. One of the main reasons for that is that beauty doesn't necessarily mean a good health. I see beauty food as an extra to a healthy balanced meal of proteins, dark greens and essential fatty acids. I personally don't like to spend too much on beauty food, and I also don't want to starve myself. On the contrary, I love to get as many nutrients into my system ánd enjoy health benefits while consuming my beauty foods.

Here is a list of some of my favourite beauty foods:

Biological cucumber



Cucumber is in the "Dirty Dozen" of foods that you should buy organic. They contain a lot of pesticides if they aren't. Plus, biological cucumber contains twice the amount of nutrients compared to a regular cucumber. That makes up for the price. The skin of the cucumber contains sulfer which is a building block for hair, skin and nails, which makes it one of the best actual beauty foods around.

Watercress



Ah, watercress, finally available in my slow supermarket. Watercress was one of the first leafy greens man ate and one of the first cultivated ones. Our bodies are very well adapted to digesting these greens. They contain more vitamin C than organes and more vitamine A than brocolli, gram for gram (proportionally). It is said that a diet with watercress gives women facelift-like beauty benefits. The leaves or a little crunchy and have a light mouthwatering bitterness to them. Greens should be the largest part of our diet, be we all know we are barely eating any. Adding watercress to steak, salads and soups is a good start.

Walnuts



A classic, walnuts, rich in antioxidants and healthy fats to stop cravings and to boost the brain, rich in protein.



I used to have a terrible habit of eating apples on an empty stomach. It would make a nauseaus and almost vomit. But apples are one of the healthiest fruits: they restore hair, contain anti-oxidants, give a rosy glow, fights hair loss, promotes hair growth, is full of vitamin C for collagen production, etc etc etc!

Dark chocolate



Dark chocolate has been officialy declared as healthy. It is full of anti-oxidants and a stress reliever that promotes blemish free skin. It's also a ritual of mine to nibble on dark chocolate while I study to boost my memory, along with the following little gods:

Blueberries



Blueberries are my favourite kind of berry. I prefer blackberries for their color, but they don't have the crunchiness and plumpness that blueberries have. When I buy dark chocolate for studying, I always look for one that has dried blueberries embedded in it, because both blueberries and dark chocolate are some of the most powerful memory boosters of the food world. Needless to say that blueberries, being berries, are rich in antioxidants. They can slow down ageing and help heal broken capillaries in the face.

Since I'm Belgian I know my chocolate. I'm a milk chocolate person, but I'm absolutely in love with this mouthwatering thin of black chocolate with blueberries: the Green Dream Chocolate from Heaven, made by a small Belgian company and supporting fair trade. It's available in nature stores like Essenza.



Dried figs



I was looking for something to balance my hormones to reduce PMS and to feel better in my skin overall. One of the easiest ways was to consume dried figs. Dried figs can be a little pricey but you can also go for dates and other dried fruits, because all dried fruits are good for balancing hormones.



Herbal teas. Herbal teas are teas made from plants that do not contain tea leaves, such as chamomile and hibiscus tea. Both are good for the skin. The benefits of herbal teas are so various I'm not even going to list them. Unlike tea leaf tea herbal tea doesn't work as a diuretic so it's doesn't pull water from your system, instead, it counts as water intake. Another good one is raspberry leaf tea, which you can find at almost any health(y) store these days. Raspberry leaf tea is good against pms.

Red meat



Meat is overrated, but still essential for ones diet. Meat is stocked with highly important nutritional elements such as essential fatty acids, protein and vitamin D. It would takes days to eat the same amount of greens to get this number of nutrients inside our bodies. When you eat a small amount of (organic) red meat, you get a large concentration of nutrients right away. The meat forms a base of nutrients making it easier to benefit from smaller, extra nutrients such as from the blueberries that we can't eat by the hundreds every day. Hair, skin and nails benefit endlessly from protein as it is the building block.

Lemon



Lemon, although sour in taste, is one of the most alkalazing foods available. An alkaline diet fights premature ageing, fights inflammation and illness. A bit of lemon juice in water is a great start of the day.

Yakult



Probiotics are highly important these days. People are destroying their guts with soda and coffee, living under constant stress which overworks the adrenals in the body, causing dehydration even when you drink water, in turn causing adrenal fatigue. Probiotics boost the immune system, boost digestion and the absorption of all the nutrients in the foods that are so important.

What do you think of these beauty foods? What is your favourite beauty food?

x

Helena