September 04, 2023
4 min read
Guest blogger and author Amanda Brocket of The Raw Food Kitchen busts some myths about raw foods, and gives us some amazing insider tips on how to get your glow on from the inside with a raw food diet, and how your skin will thank you for it!
We all know how important organic skincare is for our skin, the old saying if you can’t eat it then why put it on your skin?
Your skin is the largest organ of the body and is permeable so therefore anything you put on your skin inevitably ends up inside your body.
Similarly, anything you put inside your body inevitably ends up showing up on your skin.
Getting healthy skin is a two-pronged approach, what you put on it and what you consume. Using LAMAV products topically (I’m a huge fan of LAMAV products!) and to get your glow on from the inside, to get that hydrated, dewy look means
consuming high water content fruits and vegetables, along with superfoods and fermented foods, which thankfully all make up the basis of a raw food diet.
How Does This Work?
Raw foods that have a high water content are nutritionally dense but also contain structured water, that is water molecules that are structured in such a way the body recognizes and can easily get into your cells to hydrate them and draw toxins out.
Raw foods that have not been altered by heat (over 44° – 48° degrees Celsius) are super high in minerals enzymes, antioxidants, vitamins such as A, C and E,
nutrients that help repair cells and contribute to the glow.
Eating mainly raw foods allows your body to rest from overwork digesting and allows your body to easily eliminate free radicals, and free radicals contribute to premature ageing.
Now, let´s see how you can add more raw to your day to start seeing the benefits?
Juicing
Start by adding a green smoothie or juice into your day, think, superfoods of your choice (my favourites, are camu camu for vitamin c, maca for energy, hormones and spirulina for chlorophyll – oxygen for our blood!) and adding minimal low sugar fruit (we all know how too much sugar can break down collagen) and your favourite greens.
Juicing is a great way to get those high water content veges in! Think celery, cucumber, oranges, limes, lemons, green apples, fresh herbs, watermelon,
pineapple, spinach. And, don´t forget – always choose organic!
Tip: Make a plan to juice for a week – take a picture of your skin on Day 1 and take another photo on Day 7 and compare the difference!
Beetroot, spinach and oranges together make great blood builders so if you have low iron levels, think about adding these in every day, as low iron can contribute to sallow looking skin.
Then lunch can be a wonderful salad with the rainbow: Shredded beetroot, carrot, capsicum, corn, rocket, cucumber, bok choy, broccoli, celery, kale, wheatgrass and other bitter greens, tomatoes.
They have specific minerals and are nutrient-rich which all add up to beauty!
Vitamins & Minerals
Eating raw food makes it easy to get enough of important minerals like silicon, which also strengthens hair, nails and skin.
We love nuts on a raw food diet, and with the added extra good fats, great for the glow, you will be receiving precious zinc which aids in the restoration
of collagen in the body, and iron, which improves your skin tone by giving you
better circulation.
Consuming fermented foods as part of your raw food diet (we are huge fans of homemade coconut yoghurt and sauerkraut) means these foods increase the vitamin and mineral content of what you are eating as well help your body digest and metabolise fats, proteins, carbohydrates. Healthy digestion is important for great skin (think acne) so for acne prone skin you may want to seriously consider consuming these foods on a daily basis.
To help your body detoxify and cleanse, consuming an adequate amount of magnesium and potassium is important too.
Apart from consuming foods high in Vitamin C, think Mangoes, Oranges, kiwifruit, broccoli, leafy greens, papaya, tomatoes, acai, we love to add in the superfood Camu Camu. Throw into your smoothie as just 1 teaspoon has 720mg and because it is sourced from a wholefood, and dried for concentration, the body easily absorbs and utilizes this for collagen building and immune boosting properties, unlike synthetic versions which are not easily recognized or absorbed by the body.
Edible seaweeds like nori or arame are loaded with essential trace minerals, a fundamental element in healthy skin, so try and add these into your salads or snacks in some way.
Good Fats
Don’t forget your good fats – they are full of essential fatty acids, called omegas,
which reduce the creation of inflammatory compounds and provide necessary natural oils that your skin (and body and mind) needs. Think coconut oil, hemp seed oil, nuts, seeds and avocados, not to mention good fats help you manage stress, and stress can be one of our biggest contributors to premature
ageing!
So as you can see, consuming a mainly raw, plant-based diet is way more nutritionally superior than the average standard Australian diet and can really help slow down or even reverse the ageing process.
Much raw love,
Amanda Brocket
Raw
Food Teacher, Chef, Coach and Pug lover J
