Let’s be honest, the anti-aging industry is such a megalithic movement because we all want to look good, plain and simple. Unfortunately, skin issues have become an epidemic due to poor diets, toxic burden, and chemical laden products that only make the problem worse long term. Sure, we can blame it on the cold, the wind, and the sun, but really, if we took better care of ourselves and navigated the weather appropriately, none of those elements would be a long standing issue.

The good news is there are many different ways you can improve your complexion over time, and it doesn’t just come down to your traditional beauty products (although good ones can really help). Even incorporating a few of these things will improve your skin, and if you do them all, you’re bound to glow.

Here’s five ways to create that soft, supple, and sexy skin.

Clean up your diet

A fundamental precursor to skin health, good or bad, is the state of your diet. Most people don’t connect skin conditions to poor nutrition, but in fact, it is arguably the MOST important factor in obtaining the beautiful skin you desire.

There is a long list of foods one should avoid in order to eliminate any inflammatory reactions that can cause temporary and long term skin issues, but if you can simply avoid this short list you’ll be in good shape:

  • Refined sugar and artificial sweeteners
  • Unhealthy fats (saturated, trans)
  • Refined carbohydrates (white flour)
  • Alcohol
  • Gluten
  • Excessive omega-6 fatty acids (in oils such as corn, safflower, grapeseed, peanut)
  • Dairy
  • Artificial additives
  • Conventional and processed meats

On the flip side, the foods and beverages you can consume that will typically help beautify your skin through cleansing and nourishment, includes:

  • Foods that are low in sugar, easily digestible, and highly hydrating, like berries, cucumbers, leafy greens, kale, carrots, celery, and onions.
  • Foods high in omega 3s such as hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax, and wild caught salmon.
  • Foods high in vitamin C such as camu camu, acerola cherry, guava, and oranges.
  • Foods high in zinc such as pumpkin seeds, oysters, ginger, and eggs.
  • Foods high in selenium like garlic, brown rice, and Brazil nuts.
  • Foods high in silica such as cucumber, leeks, green beans, asparagus, and rhubarb.
  • Foods high in enzymes and probiotics like raw fruits and vegetables, fresh green juices, sprouts, sauerkraut, coconut kefir, and kombucha.

A very easy to have this organized for you into a daily plan with plenty of recipes, is through the THRIVE Academy.

Sweat and exfoliate

If you want your skin to look good, you need to avoid clogged pores as much as possible so that means avoiding eating a lot of “oily” (especially bad fats) foods, avoiding poor skin care and make up products, and avoiding any other impurities that can clog your pores.

Two great ways to sweat are intense exercise, and infrared sauna. Both will open the pores and help cleanse the skin, resulting in more radiant and glowing epidermis. If you’re not able to exercise, and don’t have access to a sauna, try a hot bath with calming essential oils and magnesium flakes and enjoy a good sweat that way. Of course, it’s best if your water is filtered or otherwise purified.

Before you jump in that tub, or even the shower, try dry skin brushing beforehand too. It will gently invigorate the lymphatic system, remove dead skin cells, and improve blood flow, all which can help improve the health of your skin. For more on dry skin brushing and how to do it, go here.

Don’t overdo the elements

Mother nature can be a lot of fun to be in sometimes, but we need to pay attention to how much time we spend in conditions that are not so friendly to our skin.

The biggest culprit for damaged skin when it comes to the elements is excess sun exposure. As a big proponent of vitamin D and getting it from the best source, the sun, I highly advocate that you do get regular sun exposure. However, depending on your internal health, ethnicity, diet, and location, you may burn or otherwise dry out your skin if you spend TOO much time in it. So take time to enjoy the sun every day you can, but be cognizant of the state of your skin and when you need to cover up or seek shade.

A less likely situation, you also need to avoid spending too much time in very cold or windy conditions, which can quickly dry out your skin. If you must be in it, then just make sure you have a high quality skin care line that can moisturize and nourish your skin.

Hydrate with pure water

Since we are approximately 70% water, it only makes sense that proper hydration will contribute to more supple and ageless skin. Not only does it keep our body “moist”, it is also key to cleansing toxins out of the body.

Not any old water will do, however. If you’re drinking tap, or unfiltered water, the chances are you are drinking a chemically polluted source that diminishes your hydration at the cellular level. This is why you need to stick with a highly reputable water filter (NOT Brita or the like), or approved spring water, for best results. You can also consider reverse osmosis or distilled water, just make sure you mineralize it (a pinch of sea salt will do).

Keep in mind that the more water dense produce you eat, the less straight water consumption you will need. That, and herbal teas (non-caffeinated), can count towards your daily water needs (look to get 1 cup of water for every 20 lbs of body weight).

Nourish your skin

Now for the fun part, nourishing your skin with toxic free, botanically guided, skin care that not only improves your skin appearance, but uplifts your mood and well being.

It’s no secret now that anything you put on your skin, is virtually the same as you eating it, only it gets absorbed directly into the bloodstream. So if there are any toxic components to it, and 99% of skin care lines will have varying levels of toxic ingredients, they will be absorbed directly into your body. Unfortunately, this means your skin care routine is actually AGING you, due to the toxic burden incurred.

A high quality skin care line will remove all toxins and use ingredients that nourish your skin through plant based ingredients and botanicals that provide an array of nutrients and antioxidants to your epidermis. Not only that, these pure ingredients will uplift your spirit due to the heavenly smell of these carefully sourced raw plant materials. How nice is that?

This is why I love Annmarie Skin Care, because they have taken a desperate need for a toxic-free and highly nourishing skin care line, and filled the void with a beautiful and skin-loving product catalog that will turn you into a skin care fanatic! Using select organic and wildcrafted ingredients, these herbs are infused into aloe vera and skin nutritive oils at low heat for a powerful base to all the products. Then, additional natural plant extracts like antioxidant rich plant and seed oils, along with skin supporting nutrients, are infused into the beautifying alchemy and put in Miron glass to maintain the integrity of the formulation.

You really have to try it to understand how good you feel applying these products, during and after! The cool part is you can get a sample kit so you can give the products a try without going “all in”. You will not be disappointed. Go ahead and get your clean beauty trial offer, here.

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Derek Henry

Derek Henry, Founder of Healing the Body and the THRIVE Academy, used nutrition, supplementation, and a holistic lifestyle to naturally unravel 13 chronic disease conditions that conventional or alternative medical professionals couldn't help him resolve. As a result of this one-in-a-million health transformation and the knowledge acquired in the process, he now educates, coaches, and inspires others to transform their health through a natural and holistic approach. Since 2014, he has helped his THRIVE Academy participants heal over 20 different chronic disease conditions, primarily related to digestive and autoimmune concerns.

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