This time of year my skin is always at the top of mind, what about you?

Here are some fun facts about your skin, along with a list of foods to avoid, and foods you should be eating to support skin health.

At the bottom you can download a Free 3 Day Meal Planner to Show Your Skin Some Love. The meal planner comes complete with a grocery list and 15 recipes to make getting started easy. A download link is provided in the registration response.

Fun facts about the average person’s skin. It:

• is the largest organ in your body
• protects your body from infection and diseases
• surface is about 2 square meters  - Wow no wonder my body is wrinkly
• weighs about 9 lbs or 15% of your body weight
• has about 11 miles of blood vessels running through it
• contains about 19 million cells per square inch with 300 sweat glands
• sheds about 30,000 cells every minute
• completely renews itself every 28 days - thank heavens
• changes in your skin can actually signal changes in your health

Foods you should be avoiding to support Skin Health

• dairy products  - allergen and linked to acne breakouts
• gluten - allergen and linked to skin conditions like eczema
• eggs - allergen possibly linked to eczema
• soy products - allergen possibly linked to eczema
• refined grains and sugars - ​high glycemic index and low fibre
• anything with a high glycemic index
• anything deep fried - causes free radical damage and inflammation
• alcohol - can lead to dry skin as it is a diuretic

Foods you should to be eating to support Skin Health

• Cold water fatty fish like salmon and haddock. These are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and keep skin supple. If you are deficient in omega-3 fatty acid your skin will be very dry.
• Avocados are high in fatty acids which have been associated with more supple and springy skin and are thought to help protect your skin from sun damage.
• Walnuts, especially the brown skin that surrounds the nut itself, are high in both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and are high in zinc for healing as well as battling bacterial and inflammation.
• Sunflower seeds, like nuts and seeds in general, are high in vitamins E, selenium, zinc and protein, all good things for supporting skin health.
• Sweet potato contains beta carotene which is converted to vitamin A in the body and acts as a natural sunblock. As an antioxidant it may help prevent sunburn, cell death and dry wrinkled skin.
• Red and yellow peppers are again a great source of beta carotene but are also a fabulous source of vitamin C, which aids in the production of the protein collagen and helps keep skin strong and firm.
• Broccoli is full of vitamins and minerals including zinc, vitamin A and C necessary for healthy skin.
• Tomatoes are a rich source of vitamin C and all the major carotenoids like lycopene and lutein, which have been shown to protect skin against sun damage. Eating carotenoid foods like tomatoes with a healthy fat like olive oil increases the absorption of the carotenoids.
• Dark chocolate which we always need another reason to eat daily, has been proven to make skin thicker, more hydrated, less rough and scaly. When 20 gms of dark chocolate was consumed each day studies showed the skin was able to take twice the amount of UV rays before burning.
• Green tea contains catechins which work to improve the overall health of your skin in regards to roughness, thickness, and elasticity. Note it should be consumed without milk to allow for maximum absorption of nutrients.

Putting this all together can seem like a challenge, so to get you started off I have for you a downloadable Free 3 Day Meal Plan to help you Show Your Skin Some Love.

If you would like more guidance once you have completed this 3 day meal plan please make sure to reach out to me. I am here for you!

​Exploring the World of Food with you.

Diane Couse, Certified Culinary Nutrition Expert and The Food Sensitivity Coach

I love getting all the fresh veggies this time of year.

There is no doubt that time farm to table affects the nutrients of the foods we eat. This time of year I am are able to source fresh produce close to home vs. in the winter when my produce must come from far away.

I have to admit that knowing that produce sourced in winter has a higher carbon foot print as well as less nutrients affects the choices I make.

Did you know that food flash frozen within a short time from harvest contains almost the exact  amount of nutrients as fresh produce? So in the winter I often look to purchase frozen produce to meet my desired nutritional needs.

But it is summer and fresh produce grown locally is in abundance.

The other day when I was making a delicious fresh cabbage slaw salad, I was stunned by how beautiful the waste cuttings looked. I just had to take a photo to share.

Now these beautiful cuttings could go into the garbage to break down at the dump, or if my city had a program, it could go into green waste to be converted to compost, but it would be such a waste to loose those beautiful nutrients.

Year round I keep a container in my freezer to put my waste cuttings in. I collect them until I am ready to make a delicious veggie broth, or better yet to use them to add flavour to an even more nutritious bone broth.

Did you know that bone broth contains 9 grams of protein per cup and is an easy way to bump up your protein intake to assist with healing, cell repair and to grow new cells?

I use my InstaPot to make my broths. It is quick, easy! You don’t need an InstaPot to make your broth, you could use a slow cooker or just a pot on the stove simmering away on a low heat for a couple of hours.

Once the broth is finished and cooled, I strain out the spent veggie cuttings to then go into green waste or garbage. The remaining broth that holds all the vitamins and minerals spent from the frozen veggie cuttings. The broth is then used where ever I would use water in the cooking process. I use broth to make things like rice, quinoa, soups, stews, gravies and more.

I usually keep a litre jar of broth in the fridge ready for use when the need arises.

The excess broth goes into mason jars filled to about 2” from the top, sealed and placed on the side in my freezer to allow for expansion during the freezing process. Once frozen they are stood up and kept in my freezer door.

Some of the veggies I save for broth are garlic and onion skins and cuttings, ginger skins and fibres left from grating, plus herb stems and cuttings, not to mention all the other veggie cuttings like carrot tops and peelings, potato peelings, cabbage leaves. The list is endless.

Literally, just wash, drain the cuttings and of course take out any spoiled bits, then into the freezer they go.

So the next time you are preparing dinner or any meal involving vegetables, I hope you notice how beautiful those cuttings are, and think about what you could do with those extra nutrients.

Maybe they are too ugly to eat, but maybe, just maybe you will take advantage of the abundance of nutrients and make yourself a delicious broth.
​
Exploring the world of food with you.

If you are unsure how to do this on your own, I will be hosting an online workshop in the fall on How to
Make an Immune Boosting Broth.
Looking forward to meeting you there!
​Click the link below to keep up to date with what is being offered. ​