Beauty mantra: Best kept secrets to maintain a healthy skin

Follow these steps to begin your journey to healthier skin today.

This adage still holds true and it is important to add skin-friendly foods to your diet. Consume nuts such as almonds as they contain healthy fats and vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) which have been shown to impart anti-aging properties that may benefit skin health.

Drink around eight glasses of water daily. It will do wonders to your skin. Another great thing you can do is add to your diet vegetables such as leafy greens, gourds (cucumber, ash gourd, bottle gourd, snake gourd, ridge gourd), and tomatoes that have high water content. Also, include beverages such as herbal teas, coconut water, buttermilk, fresh lime juice to your daily routine for healthier skin.

Stress increases cortisol levels that reduces the skin’s ability to hold moisture2. For clearer skin, it is imperative to reduce your stress levels. There are several ways to maintain a calm mind and one such way is to practice yogasana or meditation for about 10 - 15 min every day. It is recommended to do this in the morning, before you begin your day and in the long run, you will notice a positive impact on your skin’s health.

Sweat it out! Any form of exercise is good for overall health and especially for your skin. Working out regularly helps in accelerating the cleansing process of your body. For many, accommodating a regular fitness regime in your busy lifestyle might seem hard in the beginning, as you might tend to feel hungry immediately after a workout.

In such a case, to avoid binging on unhealthy food, keep a handful of roasted almonds handy as they make for a tasty and healthy post workout snack. Added to that, almonds are a rich source of protein, a nutrient which is not only energy-yielding, but also known to contribute togrowth and maintenance of muscle mass.

Smoking accelerates the normal process of aging and causes unfavourable skin changes. Skin damage is irreversible and it is important to take steps to prevent premature wrinkles. The first step is to stop smoking. It is also important to add skin-friendly foods to your diet. A new pilot study by researchers at the University of California, Davis found that the addition of almonds as a part of your beauty routine helps to reduce skin wrinkles.