9 Best Foods for Your Skin and Hair
An ideal pro cheerleader is made up of 25% confidence, 25% athleticism, 25% talent, and 25% beauty. That 25% of beauty includes skin and hair health. Keeping your skin healthy gives it a radiant and young glow while maintaining hair health makes it easier to toss around during arena performances.
These two aspects of pro cheer beauty are essential to every cheerleader because they add overall glamour and grace to the pro cheer team. While it’s good to follow a good skin and hair care routine, it’s also better to start taking care of your skin and hair by making healthy food choices. These are the foods you should include in your diet.
1. Fatty fish
Salmon, mackerel, herring, anchovy, and trout are prime examples of fatty fish. They are called so because these fishes are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids. This fatty acid is important for maintaining skin health because it helps in keeping your skin thick, supple, and moisturized.
2. Avocado
Like fatty fish, avocado is also rich in its own healthy fats which help keep your skin moisturized and flexible. The only difference is that avocado has more vitamin E to protect your skin from free radicals caused by UV exposure.
3. Eggs
Eggs are packed with protein and biotin. These are two nutrients that promote strong hair growth. Hair is made of keratin - a type of protein. To grow strong hair, you need protein for keratin synthesis and biotin for growth stimulation.
4. Berries
Any kind of berry is high on vitamin C. Ascorbic acid doesn’t only boost your immune system, it’s also used for collagen production. Collagen is a structural protein that strengthens your skin making it more elastic and hydrated. For your hair, collagen also strengthens it preventing brittleness and breakage.
5. Lean red meat
If you’re tired of eggs, you can always go for a tastier protein source like lean red meat found in beef, pork, poultry, veal, and lamb. It may not be a rich source of biotin like eggs, but lean red meat is high on iron which increases oxygen carried by your blood. This results in your hair more resistant to falling off and your skin getting a rosy white glow.
6. Leafy greens
Don’t go for lean red meat alone to get your daily iron needs. Include leafy greens like kale, spinach, cabbage, romaine lettuce, and collard greens to your dish. Leafy green vegetables are also rich in antioxidants that fight free radicals that promote skin aging and vitamin C.
7. Shellfish
Shrimp, clams, oysters, or any other bounty of the sea that isn’t fish are rich in zinc - an essential nutrient to fight skin infections such as acne and aid its recovery. Just keep in mind to not eat seafood that causes your allergies.
8. Nuts and seeds
Nuts make your skin smooth when eaten and aside from having them as an add-on to your desserts or simply for a snack, you can also grind them for a skin exfoliator especially walnuts. So on your next trip to the grocery, buy some almonds, pistachios, and cashews as a snack stock.
Seeds like sunflower, chia, flax, pumpkin, and sesame are rich sources of protein, vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids, and zinc as well. That’s most of the vitamins needed for skin and hair health found above!
9. Dark chocolate
Chocolate often gets the disapproval of many health experts due to its high sugar content. We also at pro cheer life discourage you from eating too much of it. Unless it’s dark chocolate with 85% cocoa kept at a 60g/day dosage.
Cocoa has more antioxidants than berries, particularly flavonols - a metabolite that protects your skin against UV damage while increasing its density.
Food for beauty isn’t found in processed, junk, and sugary food. High sugar foods are a major cause of acne breakouts while junk food doesn’t give your body enough nutrients to grow strong and beautiful hair.
Know what it takes to eat healthily for beauty by reading the blogs below:
- 6 Energizing Vegan Meals for Your Active Pro Cheer Lifestyle
- 9 Healthy Low Sugar Recipes to Start the Year Right
- 8 Delicious and Healthy Infused Water Ideas for Pro Cheer Fitness
- 9 Simple Ways to Fight Sugar Cravings
- Add These Foods to Your Grocery Store List for Weight Loss
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