Eat This to Benefit That: Targeting Health Through Nutrition

Food is incredibly important for our health and wellbeing and can often help us battle other medical conditions or problems as well as medication. There are many foods that are great for your brain, for your muscles and even for your hair. Below are just some of the amazing foods that have some great health benefits for certain parts of your body.

Your Skin

We can moisturize all day long, but hydrating and promoting healthy skin starts from within. One of the biggest known foods for healthy skin is fatty fish. These contain omega-3 fatty acids which are necessary to maintain hydrated and supple skin. These fatty acids also protect the skin from inflammation, therefore if you often suffer with redness or acne, you may want to start upping your fatty fish intake. These include fish such as mackerel and salmon.

Also, if you need yet another reason to indulge in that chocolate bar tonight, this is it; dark chocolate has many great benefits for the skin. The cocoa contained in dark chocolate can improve blood flow to the skin, which in turns brings more vitamins and minerals to the surface. It also helps to protect from UV rays, which is incredibly important, especially for those with fair skin.

Your Heart

The heart is working overtime from the day you are born until the day you die; therefore, it has a lot of work to do and should be fed right. There are many foods that can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and reduce bad cholesterol levels. Although not technically food, red wine (a 4oz glass a day) can increase the number of good cholesterol in your body.

Anything that is derived from the ground or trees and in its natural form is best for the normal functioning of your heart. This means stocking up on fruits and vegetables, and not forgetting nuts.

Your Hair

If you want healthier hair or you are trying to make it grow thicker and faster, there are many foods that can help you with this. In order to promote healthy hair, your first step is to promote a healthy scalp. If you have a medical condition such as eczema or psoriasis, this can affect your hair growth and scalp.

Feeding the skin, as seen above, is the first step in promoting healthy hair. But to feed your hair, you must look for sources of high protein. This can be foods such as eggs as they are rich in protein and this is the essential building block of your hair. Ensure you get your daily dose of citrus fruits, whether through limes, oranges or lemons, as these are full of Vitamin C which is how your body makes collagen, another element that is essential for hair growth and strength.

Your Brain

You may have heard of brain food before, and there are certain foods that are great for your brain. If you enjoy your daily dose of coffee in the morning, then you’ll be incredibly happy to hear that it is indeed good for the brain. Antioxidants and caffeine that are present in coffee both help to improve your attention span and concentration, as well as your mood. Also, many of the foods listed above such as nuts, oranges and fatty fish all help the brain too. Even more reason to get eating.

Your health starts from within and we can get all we need if we choose the right foods. There’s no better time to start relaxing on the sofa with a glass of red wine and dark chocolate!