Healthy Skin - Diet Makes All the Difference

Here is a salad recipe with 10 skin boosting ingredients that will have you glowing.

Having personally had adult onset acne, and generally troubled skin I am always looking at ways of boosting skin repair and preventing breakouts. A factor that plays a very important role in healthy skin is what we eat. The following recipe is full of rich nutrients that will feed the skin, helping it to repair, hydrate and keep clear.

Healthy Skin Booster Salad:

Such a complete meal you won’t need anything else!

2 Eggs

1 cup Kale (thoroughly washed to remove all dirt)

Whole eggs and Kale contain the amino acid lutein. Lutein is a carotenoid best known for eye health but in the skin, lutein works to fend off free radical damage as well as boost skin elasticity. Kale is also full of skin boosting Vitamins A, C and K. Eggs are also a great source of complete protein, which is so essential because skin is made from protein. Protein in a meal is also important because it is going to keep you full for longer and will therefore keep you from snacking on junk food.

1 Tomato

Tomatoes are packed with lycopene, an antioxidant that helps prevent against the sun damage that contributes to wrinkles, acne, red spots and brown spots. Lycopene is more easily absorbed by the body after it is processed with heat, so that is why we poach them for this recipe.

1 Carrot

1 white or orange sweet potato (I adore the flavour of the white)

Carrots and sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A, a potent anti-aging ingredient. Vitamin A helps repair skin tissue and protects against free radical damage from the sun and environment.

½ Cup of Rocket

Rocket is a great bitter leafy green, it stimulates digestion, and is full of vitamins and minerals like Magnesium and Vitamin C.

Optional: 1 clove Garlic, pink salt, pinch of cayenne pepper, pinch of oregano, lemon juice and ½ cup water for poaching (or just ½-1 cup of salty water if you like it simple)

Dressing:

3 table spoons cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 table spoon organic flaxseed oil

Pink Salt to taste

½-1 lemon- juiced

This healthy dressing is rich in Omega 3, and good fats to hydrate and plump the skin. With the addition of pink salt you boost the mineral content and lemon boosts digestion and Vitamin C content.... And it makes the salad finger licking delicious!

Directions:

Julienne or peel the sweet potato into strips, then put into a frypan or wok, add 1 clove garlic, pink salt, pinch of cayenne pepper, pinch of oregano, lemon juice and ½ cup water for poaching (or just salty water), turn heat to medium and add kale after 2 minutes of cooking sweet potato. Remove kale and sweet potato using a skimmer (a curved spatula with holes) once sweet potato is cooked (approx 4 minutes) and place into ceramic or metal salad bowl- drain excess juice from the bottom before putting anything else in the bowl. Leave the poaching juices in the pan/wok, add more if needed. Pop the two eggs into the pan/wok onto the poaching juice (liquid should not be more than 1cm high in the fry pan- a shallow poach). Slice tomatoes into 4 circles, pop into the fry pan once the eggs are a little white (turn the heat up slightly). Peel and grate carrot into salad bowl and wash, de-stem and chop Rocket, and pop it into the salad bowl and dress the salad. Serve salad out into 1-2 bowls. Remove the eggs and tomato from the pan using the skimmer and place them on top of the salad.

Serves 1-2 people and takes approximately 15 minutes to make.

by Sarah Chambers

Technical & Regulatory Affairs Associate | Herbal Hotline Advisor