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Beauty foods

Just as certain foods can affect how we feel, what we eat can also influence how we look. Anyone who has binged on sugar and chocolate or greasy fish and chips, only to break out the next day in spots, knows this to be true. But food doesn't only have a negative effect on our appearance. 'A sufficient intake of nutrients from our diet can affect our internal health, which is in turn reflected on the outside through clear skin, strong nails and glossy hair,' says Dr Sarah Schenker, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation.

Certain vitamins and minerals are essential for maintaining healthy skin, hair and nails. Ensuring that sufficient quantities of these are in your diet can make a noticeable difference. So if you want to achieve supermodel skin and hair, a balanced diet is an essential starting point. Take a look at the following overview of what you need to keep you looking young and beautiful:

Vitamin A
Function: important for growth, development and maintenance of healthy skin and teeth, vision in dim light and effective functioning of the immune system.
Deficiency: a deficiency disturbs the delicate balance of the skin and results in the loss of the cells that produce lubricants to keep the skin soft and supple. This in turn leads to infection, irritation and flaky skin.
Source: retinol from animal products and carotenes - mainly Beta (b) carotene - from fruits and vegetables. Great sources of retinol are liver, fish liver oils, kidneys, dairy foods and eggs, while b carotene is found in carrots and dark or yellow vegetables (the darker the veg, the more carotene it contain).
How much: the daily recommended amount is 700 micrograms (ug) for an adult man and 600ug for an adult women. This can be achieved by eating either one medium boiled sweet potato, one large slice of mango or one medium chunk of cheese, a glass of semi-kimmed milk and a medium portion of boiled cabbage.

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