They say you are what you eat, and although it might sound cliché, there is a lot of truth in the idea – when you eat well, you’re healthy, and when you eat poorly, you’re sick. The results can even be seen in how you look, so when you look in the mirror and are not happy with the person looking back and their appearance, it could all be down to your diet.
That’s excellent news, even if it doesn’t initially seem like it. It’s great news because if it’s your diet that’s making you sick and causing you to look less than your best, you can easily do something about it. The key is to know what signs to look for that your diet isn’t great, which is why it’s helpful to understand how your diet shapes how you look. With that in mind, keep reading to find out more so you can always stay as healthy as possible (and look as healthy as possible).
Your Skin
The best place to start when you want to know more about how your diet is shaping your appearance is with your skin – it’s the largest organ in the body, after all, and it does tend to give people plenty of clues about their health (when you know what to look for).
If you eat a healthy, well-balanced diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other healthy food. Your body will get all the nutrients it needs to be healthy, including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Many of these things will make your skin look great and give you that healthy glow and smooth texture you’re looking for. Take vitamin C, for example, which you’ll find in citrus fruits and strawberries (as well as many other ingredients); this vitamin helps your body make more collagen, and that means your skin will look younger and smoother because it’s essentially more ‘elastic’ and the lines and wrinkles smooth out a lot more easily.
However, you eat a lot of sugary and processed food. In that case, you can cause issues with your skin, including acne and inflammation, because your body will produce more sebum (or oil) thanks to spiking insulin levels.
As you can see, the difference between eating a mainly healthy diet (perhaps with some treats) and a primarily unhealthy diet (perhaps with some fruit and veg) is vast, and your skin will show you if you’re getting it right.
Your Hair
Another good way to see if you’re eating well is to look at your hair and feel it. You’ll soon notice if there’s something wrong because your hair will be more brittle and dry, or it could be the opposite and get more oily. In either case, it means you’re either not eating enough or overeating something else, and those are both terrible things to do.
Your hair is made up of protein, so eating enough protein in your diet will help build strength in your hair. When you don’t have enough protein (which you can get from fish, poultry, and legumes, for example), your hair will look dull and lifeless, and you might even experience some hair loss.
Not all hair loss comes from a bad diet, and if you’re experiencing it because of genetics or some other reason, you can talk to the experts about a Harley Street hair transplant and ideally put the issue right. However, it could be that your hair loss is due to your diet, so it’s worth considering.
Even if you do get plenty of protein in your diet (as well as good levels of biotin – which comes from eggs and nuts – and iron and zinc – which comes from red meat and dark leafy greens), you might still undo all the good you’re doing if you also eat a lot of sugary snacks. These can cause your hair to dry out, become brittle, and break easily, leaving you with a problem you must deal with immediately.
Body Shape
It’s impossible to talk about how your diet shapes your appearance without talking about your body shape and weight. When you eat more calories than you need and don’t burn them off, you will lose weight, changing your overall appearance. That isn’t necessarily bad; sometimes, adding weight is positive (especially if you’ve been underweight before). However, being overweight has many health problems, and this is where the issue lies.
If you’re overweight, this can put pressure on your heart, cause problems with circulation, make it physically more demanding to exercise, and much more. That’s why it’s so important to have a balanced diet – treats are excellent (many people would say they were necessary because otherwise, you might binge on too much due to withdrawals). Still, they should be eaten in moderation, and a healthy diet needs to be a priority.
