Two dehydrating processed foods that harm your skin

All people but especially women crave for that radiant and glowing skin complexion. But weather adversely affects the skin and makes it dry. Winter months are the worst. Skin cracks, chaps and peels. But having a well-hydrated skin requires extra skincare along with hydrating diet. This will support a supple, radiant and glowing skin with no dryness. There are two dehydrating processed foods that diet experts advise to avoid.

Foods and skin

Well-hydrated skin that glows and radiates is a dream for many people especially the women. Winter brings with it dryness of skin. The skin looks faded and sick. It loses its sheen. Moisturizing skincare lotions such as Vaseline and other oily topical preparations take care and help reduce the dryness of skin. But diet also plays a major role in hydrating skin and keeping it supple not only in winter but in other seasons of the year too.

Diet experts advise to have plenty of water daily. Moreover, have watery fruits and vegetables. And they say to avoid these two dehydrating processed foods that can harm the skin. Which are these foods? Dr. Simran Sethi provides an insight into these foods and their effects on the skin.

Two dehydrating processed foods

High sugars and salts are notorious in leading to skin dehydration. Both lead to body water loss via urine and hence are dehydrating. The two processed foods that dehydrate are:

Sweet treats of refined sugars

These sweet sugary foods dehydrate the skin especially if taken in excessive amounts. Cane, sugar beet and corn go into making of refined sugars. These are sucrose, glucose and high fructose corn syrup. These sugars are highly processed foods items. And these refined sugars damage the collagen and elastin of the skin. They form Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) with the skin proteins. Simran explains:

“This reduces the integrity and elasticity of skin, making it prone to dehydration and wrinkling,”

Then what is the alternative? She suggests:

“Alternatively, fruits can satisfy a sweet tooth and also hydrate the skin due to their high water content.”

Salty snacks

Be it pretzels, potato chips or French fries. All these processed foods are loaded with salt. Their sodium content is extremely high. And this dries, cracks and peels your skin. The salt has high osmotic pressure and draws water from the body and skin. Dr. Simran elaborates:

“Due to osmotic pressure, salt draws water out of cells, including skin cells, leading to dry skin,”

There are better alternatives to these salted foods that leave you dehydrated. Herbs, lemon juice and spices will keep your skin moist. Simran states:

“Try seasoning foods with lemon, black or red pepper and dried herbs.”

This will lessen the need for salt in foods. And they make the food tasty too. Further she adds:

“And over time, the body will stop craving higher levels of salt while remaining more hydrated.”

Also, read Beet root juice: benefits for heart, liver, gut, and skin!

Try these useful tips to avoid skin dryness throughout the year and get a glowing and radiant complexion that you and everyone else will love.