Winter not only impacts your social calendar, energy levels and immune system, it also affects your skin.
Cold air, dry indoor heat, low humidity and harsh winter wind can all zap your skin of moisture, leaving it less radiant. Over the warmer months, most people are able to make all the vitamin D they need from sunlight, but during winter, the sun plays hide and seek and can leave you low in vitamin D which can also cause your skin to suffer.
Our skin shows what’s happening on the inside
Damaged winter skin isn’t inevitable. By making changes to your eating habits to ensure the correct balance of foods and vitamins, you can feed your skin from the inside out.
Taking care of skin through diet
If you want glowing skin, the old adage ‘you are what you eat’ is absolutely right.
Older cells are constantly being shed and replaced, so a steady supply of key nutrients is vital for soft, supple and blemish-free skin. Radiant skin needs beta carotene, vitamins B, C and E, and selenium while zinc helps repair skin damage.
Maintaining good skin health over winter can be done with a diet tweak, some sensible tips for winter skin care and a little help from us here at GrowEatHeal.
Winter warmers
Winter is a time when we feel less energised and more inclined to stay home in the comfort of our own couch, which is perfectly fine. And just as we slow down, so does our digestive system. It’s a time when we crave comfort foods, so by ensuring those winter warmers contain antioxidant-rich vegetables along with B vitamins, fats and zinc from meats, poultry, fish, shellfish, seeds and nuts we can help our skin.
Fats can prevent dry skin, inflammation, and premature aging. As our cell membranes are made of about 50% fat, eating the fats we’re made of keeps them healthy. For example, beef fat is structurally similar to sebum, which is the lubricating oil secreted by our skin.
Oily fish, red meat, liver and egg yolks also vitamin D. As skin ages it is less able to make vitamin D from the sun, so we need help from foods or supplements to get the vitamin D we need.
Feeding your skin
Treat yourself and your skin kindly and optimise your nutrition by eating antioxidant and vitamin-rich, delicious warming foods. Read on for some good tips for winter skin care.
Great winter recipes that are good for skin in winter
Lamb and cauliflower curry
Try our gorgeous lamb and cauliflower curry made from leftover roast lamb. It is gluten-free, dairy-free, contains those wonderful spices that we need to warm us over winter and meat for those important nutrients such as iron, zinc, B vitamins, and fats to add flavour and keep skin smooth and firm.
The recipe
Leftover lamb and cauliflower curry
Carrot and beetroot soup
Both vegetables are loaded with vitamin A, carotenoids and antioxidants. They help tighten facial tissues and help regulate blood flow – good for hydration and elasticity. Carrots are loaded with vitamin A and help maintain shine and youthfulness. Being rich in vitamin C and iron, both vegetables help prevent pigmentation and discolouration.
The recipe
Ingredients
- 500gms beetroot, peeled and quartered
- 250 gms large carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise
- 2 ½ teaspoons olive oil, divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups diced peeled apple
- ¾ cup chopped onion
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 2 cups organic vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 ½ teaspoons fresh lemon or lime juice
- ¾ cup Greek or coconut yogurt
- ½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
- ⅓ cup baby watercress, microgreens or coriander
Method
- STEP 1
Preheat the oven to 200°.
- STEP 2
Line an oven tray with baking paper. Drizzle beets and carrots with 1 1/2 teaspoons oil; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss. Bake for 40 minutes or until tender, stirring once. Remove from oven, cool slightly and then chop into smaller chunks.
- STEP 3
Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil; swirl to coat. Add apple, onion, and garam masala and cook 1 1/2 minutes. Add the vegetable mixture, stock, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- STEP 4
Put the beet mixture in a blender or kitchen whizz, and blend until smooth. Pour soup into a bowl. Stir in lemon or lime juice. Seve and then top each serving with yogurt, chopped walnuts, and a small handful of microgreens, watercress or coriander if you prefer.
Winter help from GrowEatHeal
Winter can be tough, which is why we have a range of helpful supplements to make sure you get through the colder months healthy and ready to take on the world. To absorb all the vitamin D and B12 your body needs, you need good gut bacteria. Our probiotics aid in nutrient digestion and absorption and support a healthy immune system.
If you’re not getting outside enough, we can help you top up your vitamin D levels with a supplement.
If you do lose the battle against the sniffles, then sniffle’eze’ tea is ideal. It helps clear the head, the sinus and the respiratory system.
The benefits of microneedling in winter
Microneedling treatments over winter can help repair the damage to your skin caused by the lack of UV exposure, the high central heating temperatures indoors, and harsh weather outdoors. It can rejuvenate your skin.
In the winter weather, facial skin can become dull and dry.
It can dehydrate, and microneedling helps replace dead and dry skin with new fresh skin cells for a smooth, glowing result.
Combine our Dermapen microneedling treatment with nutrition tailored for your skin and watch the changes happen.
You deserve great health and great skin. So, eat great food made up of antioxidant-rich vegetables along with B vitamins, fats and zinc from meats. And call me if you need support, advice or tips for winter skin care. I can help.
Mid Winter Dermapen4 Micro-needling Special – pay only $756
Book our mid-winter skincare special during June and July and save $500. A fabulous skin treatment for anti-aging, pigmentation, acne and scars.
Book three Dermapen4 micro-needling treatments for your face, neck, OR decolletage, order the GrowEatHeal take-home product pack – our products can be varied to suit – and only pay $756
Total value $1256
Refer a friend.
They’ll come away glowing with health and happiness and you’ll also receive 1 free Dermapen4 micro-needling treatment for your face, neck OR décolletage.
find me
Grow Eat Heal Ltd
Jocelyn J Murray
Auckland, New Zealand