My mother has glowing skin and never seemed to age. No fancy cream, no elaborate routines but she still has effortlessly beautiful skin.
But here I am juggling jobs, family responsibilities, and everything. I barely find a moment to breathe, let alone follow a skin care regimen. And now whenever I look in the mirror, I see the dryness, fine lines, and that lost glow.
It’s as if my skin is screaming for attention.
But, I didn’t know how to get healthy and glowing skin.
I once asked my Mom her secret. I thought she would share some magical formula.
Her answer was blunt: “You don’t take care of yourself. Your lifestyle reflects in your skin.”
It stung. But she was right. Years of neglect, quick meals, late nights, and self-care finally caught up.
From last few months, I have been trying to change that.
If you are in the same boat, I have brought good tidings for you. I have gathered some expert backup tips that fit into the busiest of routines. Ready to take charge and get that glow back?
Stop everything else and read till the end to know more.
What is healthy and glowing skin?
I know you are excited to skip everything and go straight to the list of tips.
But I want both of us to be on the same page, and for that, you should understand what exactly is healthy and glowing skin means.
Now, the definition of healthy and glowing skin varies from person to person. Most people use the term “healthy glowing skin” interchangeably with “perfect skin”.
However, as per experts, if you have healthy skin, it will appear:
- Smooth and will not have blemishes and breaks
- Fairly even in colour and It will not be red and inflamed
- Completely hydrated and not too dry or too oily
But is healthy skin and flawless skin the same?
The answer is: NO.
Your skin can be healthy and glowing, but at the same time, you may have some normal characteristics like fine lines and wrinkles, visible pores, occasional blemishes, and birthmarks.
Your skin health depends on many factors. They are:
- Lifestyle and diet
- Hormones
- Genetics
- Environment
- Health condition and medication
Among all these factors your diet, lifestyle, and to a large extent, hormones are under your control. The other factors you cannot control.
So in this blog, my focus is to give you practical tips to get healthy, glowing skin by changing your diet and lifestyle, and not achieving flawless skin.
Hop in to know them.
How to get healthy and glowing skin
The tips I am sharing here are all-natural processes. You don’t need to get expensive skincare items or undergo procedures in fancy salons and clinics. These are very much doable at home and they are not going to burn a hole in your pocket. So, let’s check them out.
- Take care of your diet
You need to understand that whatever you eat not only becomes part of your inner being, but it reflects on your skin.
“Everything you eat becomes a part of not only your inner being but the outer fabric of your body as well. The healthier the foods are that you consume, the better your skin will look,” says Samantha Heller, a clinical nutritionist at NYU Medical Center in New York City.
Heller further says that starving your skin for a long can make your skin dry, older looking, and shallow.
So what food should you eat to make your skin healthy?
Most experts recommend that a balanced diet is the best way to make sure that your skin is getting all the nutrients it needs.
Here’s what experts advise:
- Low-fat dairy products
Vitamin A is essential for healthy skin and the best food to get it is low-fat dairy. It helps keep your digestion intact and a healthy digestion means healthy glowing skin.
- Healthy oils
Experts consider cold-press oils or, in the case of olive oil, extra virgin olive oil as healthy. Mostly because, their preparation involves pressing, heating, and bottling.
On the other hand, when oil is commercially processed, they use solvents that spike their temperature. After that, they undergo many procedures which strip them of all nutrients.
- Essential fatty acids
Freshwater fish, walnuts, canola oil, and flax seeds are good sources of fatty acids that are responsible for healthy cell membranes.
- Antioxidant-rich foods
Blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and plums are rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals that protect your cells from free radicals like the type formed from sun exposure, which can even damage your cell DNA.
- Selenium-rich foods
It is an essential mineral that increases your body’s antioxidant effects and makes your skin super healthy. You need to have eggs, broccoli, brown rice, chia seeds, flax seeds, and mushrooms are good sources of selenium.
- Food with anti-inflammatory properties
One of the best food to boost your cells’ anti-inflammatory properties is green tea. In fact, one recent study claims that green tea can reduce the risk of skin cancer.
- Never miss a sound sleep
If you are getting less than 6 hours of sleep chances are high that your appearance might get affected.
And if you think beauty sleep is not important, you are wrong, because it is very much real. Experts also have confirmed that when you sleep, your skin uses those resting hours to heal itself from damage caused by your daily activities.
It is the time your skin gets a chance to improve and you wake up looking refreshed.
Most importantly, when you don’t get enough sleep, you become stressed and that causes pimples and breakouts.
So pulling an all-nighter is not at all a good idea. More so, sleep improves the blood flow to your skin and makes your skin even-toned and glowing.
- Exercise and stay active
You might already know that exercise is good for the heart, lungs, and overall mental health.
But do you know that exercise does wonders for your skin?
Yes, you have heard that right.
“We tend to focus on the cardiovascular benefits of physical activity, and those are important. But anything that promotes healthy circulation also helps keep your skin healthy and vibrant,” says dermatologist Ellen Marmur.
Doing exercise increases blood flow to your skin which nourishes the cells, as the blood flow carries with it nutrients and oxygen to working cells.
What’s more, blood flow also carries away wastes like free radicals and other toxins from the skin cells, cleansing your skin from within.
The moral of the story is that stay active and get healthy glowing skin.
- Be gentle with your skin
Being gentle with your skin is extremely important to maintain its health, at least that’s what experts are saying.
Keep these points in mind and try to maintain these in your day-to-day life.
- Reduce your bath time
Hot water and long showers strip your skin of its natural moisture. So avoid hot water and use warm water instead.
Also, reduce your bath time to maintain the natural oil levels of your skin.
- Avoid chemical-laden strong soaps
Always use mild soap and try to avoid strong chemical-laden soaps that strip your skin of its natural oil.
- Moisturise dry skin
Use a moisturiser that suits your skin type if you have dry skin.
- Stop smoking
Smoking is a big NO if you want healthy skin, as scientists have found that smoking is an ageing accelerator. It makes your skin look older and contributes to wrinkles.
Also, it depletes your skin of oxygen and other nutrients, damaging your skin health.
What’s more, smoking destroys collagen and elastin, fibres that maintain your skin’s elasticity.
So, think twice before indulging in smoking next time.
A little effort can change your skin health
Now, imagine looking in the mirror and seeing your skin that has an inner glow now.
The best part is, you now do not need to simply imagine that situation. You actually can get that healthy glow if you follow the tips I have suggested.
So don’t just wait, start making these healthy changes in your daily routine and have that beautiful skin real soon.
Yoga is an integral part of the process that gives you glowing skin. I have done that by incorporating Suryanamashkar in my morning schedule. Here’s my article on the same:
For dietary advice, you can follow these influencers who share some practical and scientifically proven facts:
If you feel too lazy to walk, you should know that walking is great for inner glow. Here’s how I transformed myself from a lazy person to a mindful walker: