Your skin and hair health are mirrors of the health of your metabolism. Your metabolism has its priorities in the right order; its primary focus is on essential functions like organ and system health. And when those are functioning well, it moves on to aesthetic things like skin and hair. Nutritional deficiencies need to be addressed before your body is able to have the fuel it needs to send energy into glowing skin and voluminous hair.
If you're suffering from thinning, dry, brittle, and breaking hair, your metabolism is trying to send you a signal. If you're dealing with consistent acne and dull or dry skin, your metabolism needs some love. Restricting entire food groups (all carbs or all fats or all animal proteins), chronic yoyo dieting, or following nutrient-lacking food plans all lead to undesirable skin and hair.
Taking supplements and slathering on expensive products are a bandaid to a much more sustainable solution... changing your diet.
These are a few things you can do to start your metabolism as well as lend itself to wrinkle-free radiant skin and fast-growing shiny hair.
01: Eat Lots of Healthy Fats
If you eat a low-fat diet, you can pretty much say goodbye to good skin and thick hair. (Your sex drive too!) Vitamin A, E, D, K are all fat-soluble vitamins. Without fat, they aren’t able to dissolve and be utilized by your body. The best fat sources are animal sources like grass-fed butter, tallow, fatty cuts of meat and fish, cod liver oil, etc. Additionally, you can get healthy fats from olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, olives, etc. They just may not be as efficient at converting and transporting the fat-soluble vitamins as needed. Remember, if you want clear radiant skin, thick hair, and a strong sex drive, eat fat. Fat is the key for your hormones. Don't eat it? Then you're not giving your skin and hair a chance to be it's healthiest self.
02: Focus on Internal Health
The way our culture presents in the media, you'd think we need all the products in order to have healthy skin and hair. But the reality is that health is almost always internal. It's what you eat, how you think and what you internalize. True health starts from the inside and no amount of supplements or products will change that. Instead of buying more products, nourish your metabolism first. Connect with your emotions and your internal dialogue. Are you consistently being too hard on yourself? Are you consistently perceiving outside situations in a negative light? There's a balance you can achieve where you love yourself and love the journey you're on. It'll get hard at times, but taking the steps to focus on the elements under your control will help reduce overall stress and keep your internal health trending in the right direction.
03: Avoid Unnatural Products
After focusing on your internal health, consider swapping out your products for more natural ones. In many cases, the ones you have in your kitchen will do the trick. Apple cider vinegar, for example, is a great natural skin toner and helps rid your hair of product buildup. Coconut oil works great as a cleanser and acts as an excellent hair moisturizer. Sea salt provides essential minerals for both skin and hair health, etc. The reason being is that many products on the market today have phytates, parabens, and other chemicals which can contribute to many health risks and may even promote aging with long-term use despite what the bottle says. This is my morning skincare routine with my favorite products.
04: Sleep 7-9 Hours a Night
Without proper sleep, our body simply can't rest and repair. This means that our hormones won't have the proper time and resources to build protein for strong healthy hair. And similarly, for our skin, sleep deprivation limits blood flow to the face which can make your complexion look dull. We recommend starting to get more sleep by going to bed one hour earlier than your usual bedtime. If you have trouble sleeping, then it's time to make some changes. For a few simple ideas, check out this post.
05: Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate
Being well hydrated will help your skin plump up in a way that gives it a natural glow and fills in those smaller wrinkles. And of course, dehydration leads to dry skin and chapped lips which are never ideal. Keep in mind, though, hydration is so much more than drinking water. In order to be properly hydrated, drink water AND up your mineral intake. Most tap water has added compounds that bind to minerals (electrolytes!) and remove them from our bodies... the same minerals we need to stay hydrated. I like to increase my mineral intake in a few different ways.
Eat more fruit. My personal favorite this time of year is watermelon!
Add minerals to water. Concentrace Mineral Drops and Master Mineral Drink by Mitigate Stress (use code PRETTYHEALTHY to save 10%!) are my favorite products I keep on hand at all times. I give both to my son as well. Adding a pinch of sea salt is another great and inexpensive way to add minerals to your water!
Squeeze lemons or oranges in your water. My son loves lemon-flavored water now!
There's a multitude of different things you can do to nourish your skin and hair but I believe these are the most important, easiest to implement, and you can use what you already have in your home.
Here's a list of a few swaps you can make!
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