The array of skin and beauty benefits that come from eating the right foods are incredible. From hydration to diminished fine lines, collagen-boosting foods will enhance your skin’s tone, texture, and appearance before your eyes. By choosing the proper foods to add to your daily routine, you’ll continue to support your body’s production of collagen, fill up on vitamins for skin renewal, and reap additional priceless rewards.

What You Should Know About Collagen

Collagen is a protein naturally produced by your body. Collagen accounts for roughly 33% of your protein makeup, making it the most abundant in your body. It's responsible for keeping your skin looking radiant, plump, and healthy. Collagen is known for its role in your skin's elasticity and helps prevent the appearance of dreaded wrinkles and fine lines. Who wants to stare at those in the mirror anyway? Without this critical protein, your skin would be unable to "bounce back," leaving your skin thin, loose, and crepe-like. With that visual in mind, I don’t need to tell you how essential boosting your collagen level is, do I?

Supporting Your Skin Through Food Choices

While there are a variety of vitamins for skin and supplements for skin available, nothing beats stimulating your body’s production of collagen through a healthy diet. And there’s no time like the present. Especially since your system slows down its natural production of the protein in your early twenties. But don’t panic; there are plenty of healthy options for you to take advantage of. Choosing the right foods, such as fruits and vegetables rich in essential nutrients, is vital in synthesizing collagen to achieve beautiful, age-defying skin.

So, what are the best foods to add to your diet to see fabulous skin results? First, let me encourage you to go fresh as often as possible. Fresh fruits and veggies are rich in phytochemicals that flush waste and toxins from your body. And we know this puts you on the fast track to young-looking skin. Here’s a look at some of my daily go-to choices and why you’ll want to add them to your list:

Lemons 

Lemons help flush those harmful toxins and impurities out of your system. Lemon juice, especially first thing each morning in a hot cup of water, is a powerful cleansing food. Its ability to stimulate the liver promotes the removal of waste and toxins that bring health and aging concerns to your skin. Packed with vitamin C, lemons boost your immune system and produce glutathione to:

•   Improve your circulation
•   Decrease pain in patients suffering from peripheral artery disease
•   Fight autoimmune disease, cancers, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis
•   Reduce oxidative stress 
•   Stimulate your metabolism

Veggies

Let’s be honest, is there anything veggies aren’t suitable for? Your skin’s health ranks high on the vegetable list. A significant boost in collagen synthesis comes from select powerhouse vegetables, including:

Cruciferous Veggies: 

• Broccoli 
• Arugula 
• Radish
• Brussels sprouts 
• Cauliflower 
• Cabbage 
• Bok choy 
• Collard greens 
• Watercress 

And don’t forget to add:

Leafy greens:

• Spinach is perfect for protecting your delicate skin from free radical damage.
• Kale loads you up with calcium, potassium, iron, and protein. It’s also optimal for those green drinks, as it’s so low in calories while rich in vitamins for skin, including A, C, and B6.
• Arugula is another veggie powerhouse loaded with the right amounts of fiber, beta-carotene, calcium, and protein. Makes your mouth water for a greenie smoothie, doesn’t it?

Red vegetables:

• Tomatoes and red peppers are packed with lycopene and work to increase your skin’s collagen levels

Orange veggies:

• Be sure to fill up on carrots to restore collagen cells throughout your body that may have damage

Fruit

When you fill your body with fruits low in sugar, high in antioxidants and vitamins for skin health, you will rejuvenate and heal it from the inside out. Be sure to add plenty of tropical fruits, apples, and oranges to your smoothies for large doses of age-defying nutrients. One of my go-to choices for improved skin health is berries. These little guys are full of antioxidants. Berries offer protection from free radicals while stimulating your body’s production of collagen. Alone, in smoothies, on a salad, or healthy dessert, they pair well with anything I’m whipping up!

Blending Fruits and Veggies

Here’s a healthy little smoothie recipe that brings the best of both worlds together. It is loaded with a satisfying combination of fruits and vegetables, helping your skin look radiant, and that waistline will have you feeling sexy again! You’ll fill up on all the necessary vitamins for skin in one delicious drink.

The Whole 8 Green Broccoli Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 apple, diced         
• 1/3 cup of pineapple
• 1 cup of broccoli florets
• ½ cup of almond milk
• ½ a lemon, juiced
• 2 tsp honey (optional)
• Splash of vanilla extract (optional)

Directions:

In a powerful blender, slowly add in your florets. Add in fruit and additional ingredients and continue to blend until smooth. Add in extra almond milk to reach your desired consistency. Add in honey and vanilla to slightly sweeten if your smoothie is a bit too bitter for your preferred taste. Serve and enjoy!

More Skin-Friendly Foods

Fruits and veggies aren’t the only fabulous foods that will bring back that sexy look and provide the nutrients and vitamins for skin you may be missing. While they do offer fantastic soup, smoothie, and juice making options, don’t limit yourself there. I have plenty of skin-enhancing recipes at your disposal. I even encourage you to step outside of your comfort zone and use my recipes to whip up a few versions of your own yummy skin healing recipes.

Garlic

I can’t get enough of the aroma and flavor garlic adds to my dishes. And knowing how fabulous it is for my skin’s health makes it undeniably beneficial. Garlic has the power to repair and rebuild collagen damage while working to increase production with the assistance of lipoic acid, taurine, and sulfur.

Omega-Rich Animals

Some fish, such as salmon, are known for their abundance of Omega-3. It provides an excellent source of skin cell protection. If you aren’t a big fish eater, you may want to reconsider. I’m willing to bet you’d love glancing in the mirror to see a youthful skin glow, increased elasticity, and even skin tone.

Animals abundant in Omega-3 help target and relieve inflammation of the skin. This is game-changing for those of you who may be suffering skin irritations, including:

• Itchy, dehydrated skin
• Redness of skin
• Recurring rashes
• Eczema
• Psoriasis
• Acne breakouts

The Best Supplements for Skin

People often ask me how I juggle an insanely busy schedule with the amount of time it usually takes to create all my tasty soups and smoothies. While I am a huge fan of batch prepping, when the time doesn’t permit an afternoon of blending and cooking, I turn to my list of top supplements for skin. Nobody wants skin that sags and wrinkles, am I right? It's crucial to fill your body with the best supplements for skin, even when you may feel short on time. 

Collagen Powders

The amino acids found in powdered collagen supplements are crucial in synthesizing collagen. Collagen peptides, or hydrolyzed collagen supplements for skin, are typically a powder form and sometimes combined with healthy foods for collagen stimulation.

Many experimental studies have proven supplements for skin, such as collagen powder, have successful absorption rates; penetrating to the deepest skin layers. This is fantastic news for those of us who need quick, on-the-go options now and then. High-quality collagen powder shakes and smoothies offer the essential building blocks your skin needs to thrive.

Magnesium

Known for its ability to help relieve stress (and who wouldn’t love that), magnesium makes a fabulous supplement for skin. Think about the last few times your stress and anxiety levels reached an all-time high. Did you suffer from acne breakouts, loss of healthy skin tone, or dark circles beneath your eyes? Stress really takes a toll on our skin, so instead of taking a beating, take your magnesium supplements for skin instead.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids provide support to your skin’s lipid barrier. Omega-3 supplements for skin reduce inflammation, protect it from harmful sun exposure, and supports quick healing of your skin from wounds or scars. Omega-3 fatty acids work hard to strengthen your skin’s cell membranes while restoring elasticity.  

Zinc Supplements

Taking a zinc supplement for skin provides added strength while reducing your skin’s healing time. Zinc offers incredible antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These benefits promote that radiant glow we are all after while targeting wrinkles and undesirable age spots. A zinc supplement for skin makes up for deficiencies that you may find link to your acne and rosacea concerns, so if this is you, it may be time to grab a bottle.

Silicon

Another favorite supplement for skin known to promote collagen synthesis is silicon. Although you'll find silicon in a vast array of foods, it has a surprisingly low absorption rate. By using silicon supplements for skin, it works with the collagen you currently have to strengthen elasticity, smooth out skin texture, and improve your overall skin tone.  Not only does it act as a powerful supplement for skin, but it also supports strong nails and a healthy, full head of hair. 

Choose Quality Supplements

Safe and effective supplements are a must. Quality matters, so be aware of your supplement choices. The health of the supplement's animal source is essential, so opt for free-range, naturally fed diets for better results. A healthy animal source provides a higher quality hydrolyzed collagen, so grab the grass-fed supplements for skin when you can.

The Benefits of Vitamins for Skin

Choosing proper foods will always provide you with remarkable skin benefits. Foods rich in various vitamins for skin health, reduce signs of aging, including:

• Sagging skin
• Dull skin tone
• Appearance of cellulite
• Fine lines and dark circles

Vitamin C: A Critical Vitamin for Skin

Without proper amounts of vitamin C, your body is unable to synthesize collagen. Period. It’s one of the more essential vitamins for skin, so don't skimp. Besides, there are too many delicious food choices that provide you with vitamin C, so there’s just no excuse to neglect it.

Bone Broth for Everything

Bone broth is what I often call my “liquid gold.” I could go on and on about the physical and mental benefits bone broth provides. And if you’ve been here before, you know how passionate I am about my bone broth! It’s no secret that bone broth is my go-to for everything skin, beauty, health, and weight loss related. Adding the broth to your daily diet floods your system with vital nutrients, antioxidants, amino acids, and vitamins for skin health and repair.   

The Benefits of Collagen-Filled Bone Broth

Packed full of collagen and a variety of essential vitamins for skin renewal, my delicious bone broth provides your body with an incredible list of health benefits. Bone broth targets the inflammation throughout your body, which poses various health concerns. Bone broth combats the toxins in your liver, the damaging effects of a leaky gut, and aches and pains throughout your muscles and joints. You'll also notice a healthy, young glow return to your skin, while fine lines and wrinkles begin to fade before your eyes. Even your hair will have a luxurious, healthy shine and feel full again. A pretty fantastic list of added benefits, right?

By filling your day with collagen-rich bone broth soups and smoothies, you’ll support your system by adding:

• Fiber
• Protein
• Gelatin
• Amino acids
• Vitamins

Not only will you love your skin, but you'll also notice: 

• An increase in energy level
• More restful sleep
• Heightened mood
• Lack of cravings
• A satisfied stomach
• Support for your tendons, blood vessels, and connective tissue

Bone Broth and Your Skin

Your skin’s elasticity relies on your body’s ability to produce collagen. And when production decreases, it relies on you to help replenish it. The abundance of collagen in my wrinkle diminishing bone broth helps:

• Reduce undesirable fine lines
• Plump up sagging skin
• Restore your youthful glow
• Brighten and even out your skin tone

Collagen-rich bone broth even assists with additional skin concerns, including:

•  Eczema
• Acne
• Psoriasis
• Cellulite

Just imagine the rewards your skin will enjoy from sipping on a cup of bone broth. You’ll help calm and heal irritations and bring back balance to your skin. So, what are you waiting for? Find out how you can get your hands on more of my incredible skin resources and start repairing your skin today!

Keep thinking Big and living BOLD!