We all want to look good. And the global beauty industry is happy to help — providing and marketing products that earn $579 billion in revenue per year.
However, this pursuit is not without its pitfalls. The use of certain chemicals in many mainstream beauty products has raised concerns, with studies linking them to serious health issues such as cancer, hormone disruption, and other problems. And while there are “clean beauty” alternatives, the lack of regulation in the beauty industry makes it difficult to assign a universal definition to the term.
It’s also worth noting that the approach taken by many beauty treatments tends to be, quite literally, skin-deep, addressing only the outward symptoms without tackling the underlying causes. Sometimes, beauty treatments don’t even work — or require risky procedures. This mirrors the way Western medicine tends to treat disease symptoms, often failing to address the root cause of health issues. And, in many cases, failing to resolve the issue entirely (or causing more problems in the process).
Remarkably, often it’s preventative care, or nourishing your body from the inside out, that turns out to be the most effective. There are things you can do to prevent premature wrinkles and brittle nails, just as there are things you can do to stave off chronic disease.
While there are no guarantees in life, there are natural strategies that not only promise to enhance your appearance but also contribute to your overall well-being. You can feel good, live well, and by extension, look better, too. By approaching beauty and vitality from a holistic point of view, one that encompasses both diet and lifestyle, you can forge a path toward inner health and outer radiance.
7 Expert Natural Beauty Tips from Food Revolution Summit Speakers
Let’s explore some natural beauty tips from some Food Revolution Summit speakers, including doctors, nutritionists, and best-selling authors with deep expertise in eating well, feeling good, and looking good. Read on to hear what they had to say.
And be sure to tune in to Episode 4 of the 2024 Summit on April 27, 2024, to hear more advice on how a healthy diet and lifestyle can support your natural beauty.
1. Dr. Shayla Toombs-Withers Uses Food Internally and Externally for Radiant Skin and Hair
Shayla Toombs-Withers, DO, is a family physician and the founder of Essence of Health Wellness Clinic in Chattanooga, TN. She combines her deep knowledge of medicine, plant-based nutrition, and athletic training to provide comprehensive care to her patients.
When asked about the diet and lifestyle choices she utilizes in her own life and recommends to her patients to support healthy skin, hair, and teeth, she focused in on coconut oil.
While coconut oil has been called a “miracle cure” for a myriad of ailments, Dr. Toombs-Withers sets the record straight. “Coconut oil goes in your hair or on your skin, not in your mouth. Coconut oil is high in saturated fat, and we know that this can contribute to cardiovascular disease. Oily foods can also contribute to acne.”
“However,” she went on, “Coconut oil is light and moisturizing and is wonderful for soothing the skin and giving your hair a nice healthy glow.”
(To find out more about the health effects of eating coconut, read our article Is Coconut Good for You?)
So what foods does Dr. Toombs-Withers recommend to help you shine from the inside out?
“When it comes to what we do put in our mouths, it’s important to consume foods with a sufficient amount of vitamins C and E for healthy skin. Some great ways of getting these nutrients naturally in the diet are by starting your day with a smoothie. I like to add frozen pineapple to my smoothies as it serves as a natural sweetener and is high in vitamin C. I also like to add dark leafy greens like spinach or kale, which are great sources of both vitamins E and C.”
For more on vitamin C’s health and beauty benefits, check out this article.
And to read more on vitamin E, click here.
2. This Protein Is What Dr. Joel Kahn Credits for His Youthful Appearance
Dr. Joel Kahn has triple board certification in internal medicine, cardiovascular medicine, and interventional cardiology and is widely known as “America’s Healthy Heart Doc.” He is the founder of the Kahn Center for Cardiac Longevity and a clinical professor of medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine.
“After exclusively eating a diet of whole plant foods for over 46 years, I am proud to have a crop of dark hair on my head and fairly tight, youthful skin. I credit this in part to understanding collagen synthesis, the backbone of hair, skin, and even blood vessels,” Dr. Kahn tells us.
Both “vitamin C and the amino acid lysine are needed to manufacture collagen in the body,” says Dr. Kahn.
“Vitamin C is easy, as I eat 3–4 servings of fruits daily and lots of greens.
“Lysine is an essential amino acid that we cannot manufacture. Fortunately, legumes, nuts, seeds, and leafy greens are great sources of lysine. Dried seaweed is actually the highest source of lysine, and I enjoy snacking on it as a treat. Pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, and pistachio nuts are the next highest in lysine, and you will find these in the super salad I eat daily. Chia seeds, flax seeds, and soybeans are also great sources and part of my daily diet.
“With those foods in my diet, I feel like a collagen machine spitting out healthy hair, skin, nails, and blood vessels. You can get some delicious recipes using these foods in my book The Plant-Based Solution.”
Collagen supplements don’t help your body build collagen. To find out what does help, read our article on How to Build Collagen Naturally.
3. Dr. Apple Bodemer Uses These Diet and Lifestyle Strategies to Promote Skin and Hair Health
Apple Bodemer, MD, is board-certified in dermatology, integrative medicine, and lifestyle medicine. Her mission is to educate people to take care of their skin and hair through a healthy diet and lifestyle.
According to Dr. Bodemer, “Our food choices are perhaps the most powerful ways that we can promote health, well-being, and vitality (not to mention beauty!).
“I am a fiber fanatic, and there are so many reasons that high-fiber diets are good for our skin. Fiber helps promote a healthy gut microflora which impacts general inflammation, including inflammation of the skin.
“Fiber also increases GI transit time (yes, I am talking about poop!), which helps maintain a healthy hormone balance by removing old, used-up hormones so they can’t be recycled and sent back into circulation. Hormones play a variety of roles in skin and hair health, and when they are out of balance, we start to see issues including hair loss, dryness, dull skin, inflammation, and blemishes.”
For more on the relationship between fiber and hormones, check out our article here.
Diet is not the only way to protect your skin, however.
“What we expose our skin to also impacts the function and appearance of skin. UV radiation is the strongest external promoter of the aging process. I happen to be fair-skinned, so I am especially sensitive to the effects of UV radiation. I wear sunscreen (mineral-based) when it is necessary, but I view sunscreen as a backup plan and focus on timing my outdoor activities, looking for shade when I can, and wearing protective clothing as my primary UV protection tools.”
Find out How Food Can Naturally Protect Your Skin From the Sun.
Additionally, Dr. Bodemer recommends managing stress for better sleep, as both play a role in skin function and appearance.
4. Nutritionist Andy Bellatti Nourishes His Skin by Eating These Foods
Andy Bellatti, MS, RDN, is a Las Vegas-based dietitian with a plant-centric and whole-food focus who takes an interest in food politics, deceptive food marketing, sustainability, and food justice. He also founded and was the strategic director of Dietitians for Professional Integrity — a group that advocated for ethical and socially responsible practices within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
As a dietitian, food is the number one health and natural beauty tip Andy swears by.
“Leafy greens are full of nutrients that support skin health, including vitamin A, folate, and vitamin C (which stimulates collagen synthesis). They’re also an excellent choice for bone health due to their calcium and vitamin K content.
“Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids (flax seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and walnuts) are also my go-tos to help maintain skin elasticity.”
For more on leafy greens, check out our article Leafy Greens: How to Source, Wash, Store, & Prepare Them.
And for a guide to fatty acids, check out Omega-3s: Why Are They Important — And What Are the Best Sources for Your Health?
5. Prioritize Good Food, Exercise, and Sleep with Dr. Vanita Rahman
Vanita Rahman, MD, is the clinic director at the Barnard Medical Center and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, where she leads clinical research, educates medical students, and provides patient care with an emphasis on plant-based nutrition. Dr. Rahman believes nutrition and lifestyle play a crucial role in the prevention and management of many diseases, and that it is important to treat all aspects of a patient’s health, including diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management.
“What is my secret to maintaining healthy skin, hair, and vitality? That’s easy: minimally processed plant-based foods, regular physical activity, and eight hours of sleep every night.
“I love to start my day with a workout, which varies between weight lifting, running, and yoga. I follow that with a wholesome breakfast, such as a whole grain waffle topped with peanut butter, bananas, and loads of berries or no-cook muesli. For lunch, I usually pack something that keeps well at room temperature, such as a couscous salad with chickpeas, tomatoes, and cucumbers. One of my favorite dinners is tofu curry with corn, carrots, and a side of sticky rice.
“I make it a point to dim the lights and turn off all ‘screens’ an hour before bedtime and get to bed on time. When I sleep enough, eat well, and exercise, my skin glows from the inside out — and I feel energetic and ready to take on the day!
You may find the recipes for these meals and more in my cookbook, Simply Plant-Based.”
6. Food Revolution Network CEO and Summit Host, Ocean Robbins, Utilizes Cold Plunges for Health and Vitality
Ocean Robbins was born in a log cabin built by his parents and grew up eating food they grew on the land together. At age 16, he co-founded an organization called YES! (Youth for Environmental Sanity) that he directed for the next 20 years, and now serves as cofounder (with his dad, John Robbins) and CEO of Food Revolution Network.
While some people utilize heat therapy in the form of saunas and steam rooms, Ocean’s recommendation for outer radiance has a very chilly source!
“When I was growing up, my family had a custom that after every shower, we would wrap up in a towel, run outside the house, and ‘plunge’ in a plastic wading pool — no matter the season. Sometimes, in the winter, we’d break up the ice with a hammer. And sometimes, in the summer, we’d plunge just as a way of cooling down on a hot day.
“Recently, my wife and I took the next step in this family tradition, by getting a proper refrigerated and self-cleaning ‘plunge’ tub. I go in it pretty much every day now.
“We have studies telling us that cold plunges can enhance mood and focus, reduce inflammation and muscle soreness, improve recovery and physical performance, support immune function, improve resilience, and accelerate metabolism. And perhaps most important for this conversation — a cold plunge can trigger collagen production.
“Collagen, as we know, is critical to skin elasticity. And more collagen reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Cold immersion might also lead to the temporary constriction of blood vessels, which can lessen swelling and impart a vibrant youthful radiance to the skin.”
7. Time-Restricted Eating Keeps Susan Peirce Thompson, PhD, Looking and Feeling Young and Healthy
In the 1990s, Susan Peirce Thompson, PhD, went from a drug-addicted teenager to a food-addicted young woman. In a quest to reclaim her life, she got clean, stopped eating sugar and flour, and went from size 16 to size 4. Now, as a professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, president of the Institute for Sustainable Weight Loss, and CEO of Bright Line Eating, she and her team are on a mission to help one million people achieve long-term, sustainable weight loss by 2030.
As part of Susan’s science-backed program for weight loss and food freedom, she not only focuses on what to eat but also when to eat.
“Research shows that when I eat has huge implications for autophagy, the healing and repair of each cell and organelle in the body. And when deep, cleansing, cellular repair is happening each and every day, my skin, hair, nails, eyes, and organs all stay young and healthy.
“Autophagy kicks in when the body is fully fasted, so here’s the structure I follow: I eat three abundant meals a day — breakfast, lunch, and dinner — and I don’t snack in between. I also aim to eat dinner on the earlier side (usually around 4 or 5 pm), which leaves a nice long fasting window before breakfast. I heard recently that snacking between meals is like putting more clothes into the washing machine in the middle of a laundry cycle, and I love that analogy.
“Never eating after dinner also ensures that all the digestive organs are aligned with the brain’s central body clock, making for a robust circadian rhythm. This results in deep beauty sleep every night and brilliant energy all day long. It’s so simple, and so powerful: Eating three bountiful meals a day is a huge key to beauty, health, and vitality!”
Recipes to Help You Shine from the Inside Out
Tap into the internal “fountain of youth” with these mouthwatering recipes inspired by the natural beauty tips from our Food Revolution Summit speakers. Each one is filled with plant-powered ingredients designed to enhance your cognitive function, promote restful sleep, and provide the energy you need to thrive throughout your day — the wholesome way. The cherry on top is that each of these recipes is also crafted to boost the health of your skin, hair, and nails, allowing your natural radiance to glow from within!
1. Buckwheat Muesli
Buckwheat Muesli is a breakfast our FRS speaker Dr. Vanita Rahman is sure to love. Filled with protein-packed buckwheat and nourishing nuts and seeds that are great for your skin, brain, and overall health, this wholesome breakfast is the ticket to natural radiance and vitality. It’s also quick to prepare (though the buckwheat does need presoaking). Regardless, Buckwheat Muesli is a wonderfully nourishing start to the day that’s fueled by the power of plants!
2. Nutty and Seedy Kale Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette
Nutty and Seedy Kale Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette is brimming with nutrients that are great for your skin, specifically vitamins C and E, which are abundant in nearly every ingredient in this superfood salad. What’s more, this salad is also rich in vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene from kale (it’s true what they say — kale is a superfood!). This colorful dish will keep your skin, body, and mind looking youthful and feeling vibrant with ingredients that support collagen!
3. Tofu and Broccoli Stir-Fry
Tofu and Broccoli Stir-Fry is a protein-packed and phytonutrient-rich dish you’ll be enjoying time and time again. The crunchy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside tofu, and slightly sweet and spicy stir-fry sauce are the perfect complements to the crisp broccoli. With plenty of vitamins C, K, and A, as well as folate, potassium, iron, manganese, and calcium, this savory dish is full of the essential nutrients you need to harness natural beauty and vitality. Plus, this powerhouse meal is one of the most nutritious (and delicious) stir-fries around!
4. Blueberry Chia Oat Crumble
We, like Dr. Apple Bodemer, are also superfans of fiber. And this Blueberry Chia Oat Crumble is packed with wholesome fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and plenty of anti-inflammatory ingredients to help your gut thrive and your skin shine. Enjoy this fruity crumble as an energizing breakfast to begin your plant-powered day!
5. Strawberry Pistachio Iced Matcha Latte
If you don’t have the ability to take an icy cold plunge (and even if you do), our Strawberry Pistachio Iced Matcha Latte can go the extra mile to help support healthy, glowing, and radiant skin. Matcha, strawberries, and pistachios offer triple anti-inflammatory support, plus aid in healthy collagen synthesis to help slow down the signs of aging. Teeming with plenty of antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, this creamy, fruity, and naturally sweet latte has plenty of plant power to keep your skin, hair, and nails looking youthful, healthy, and vibrant!
Treat Your Body Well to Stay Youthful and Radiant!
Turning to natural beauty and vitality is an invitation to rethink our approach to personal care. Guided by the wisdom of Food Revolution Summit speakers, we can see the connection between our dietary choices, lifestyle practices, and the health of our skin, hair, nails, and overall radiance.
The key to unlocking this natural beauty is nurturing our health from the inside out — and utilizing techniques that focus on optimizing our bodily systems. By considering how our daily habits impact our overall health and appearance, we can adopt a more health-focused approach, and foster a sense of wellness that radiates from within.
Learn how to eat for beauty, vitality, longevity and a healthier and more satisfying life.
Tell us in the comments:
- Do you have a beauty routine?
- What is your approach to beauty and vitality from the inside out?
- What are your favorite collagen-boosting foods?
Featured Image: iStock.com/supersizer
