The Clear Skin Diet: What to Eat for Acne-Free Skin

Your digestion is not what it could be, and that this is having a knock-on effect on your skin. In this case, you may want to seek the advice of a qualified nutritionist to take you through a full nutritional program or any changes you wish to make. Because of the diverse nature of skin disorders and all the different underlying causes it is impossible to give blanket dietary guidelines which apply to everyone. So below are broad guidelines for an optimum diet:

                                         

Do's

Water: Have six glasses each day.

Colourful fruit and vegetables: Have five daily servings, including red/orange/yellow vegetables and fruits, purple foods, green foods, onions and garlic, and ‘seed’ foods such as peas.

Fresh seeds: Each day have one tablespoon of mixed fresh seeds, e.g. pumpkin, sunflower, sesame or ground hemp/linseed.

Essential fats: Have a tablespoon of cold-pressed seed oils daily and oily fish three times a week.

Fiber-rich foods: Eat plenty of whole grains, root vegetables, lentils and beans.

Organic foods: Eat organic as far as possible.

Alternatives to dairy products: Try sometimes using alternatives to milk and cheese such as Soya, milk and tofu.

Vegetable sources of protein: Include some Soya, beans, lentils and sprouted seeds. Yoghurt: Have low-fat, live, organic yoghurt.

Alcohol: Avoid completely or limit your alcohol intake.

Tea and coffee: Have no more than two cups a day.

Vegetable oils: Limit vegetable oils to a little olive oil and/or cold pressed sunflower or other oils.

Red meat: limit red meat to no more than three times a week. Have fish, organic chicken or game instead.

Grain foods: Limit foods made from wheat, oats, rye, etc. to one or two portions each day.

Don'ts

Sugar: Don't add sugar to drinks and cereals, and avoid sugary foods such as soft drinks, sweets, jams, many cereals, biscuits, cakes and desserts.

Refined carbohydrates: Don't have foods containing white flour, such as bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries and pasta.

Chemicals: Don't have foods containing chemical additives. This includes most canned, preserved or processed foods.

Fried foods: Don't have fried foods. Boil, steam, bake or lightly grill them instead.

Fatty foods: Don't have foods like butter, cream and ice cream.

Processed fats: Don't have processed foods as most of them contain trans-fats.

Smoking: Don't smoke at all.

Following these guidelines, a day's meals might look like this:

Breakfast: Natural, live yoghurt with chopped fresh fruits and a handful of pumpkin seeds or a muesli made from oats, fresh hazelnuts, sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds and raisins with natural yoghurt and some apple juice.

• Lunch: A baked potato with tuna fish, tomato, celery and spring onion, with olive oil and lemon juice or a big rice salad with many types of fresh vegetables, cottage cheese, pumpkin seeds, olive oil, lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper.

• Dinner: Grilled fresh fish, chicken or lean meat or a vegetarian alternative made from beans, lentils or Soya. Serve with a large helping of freshly steamed or lightly stir-fried vegetables. You can also 'steam-fry' vegetables by using just the tiniest drop of oil and adding a couple of tablespoons of water, to, in effect, steam them.

• Snacks: Fresh fruit, raw nuts and seeds (e.g. almonds, hazelnuts, Brazils, pumpkin and sunflower seeds); raw vegetables (e.g. carrots, broccoli, celery) with hummus.

• Drinks: At least six glasses of water, herbal and fruit teas (beware of artificially flavoured or sweetened ones), fresh fruit and vegetable juices, occasional 'smoothies' - freshly made with fruits/fruit juices and yoghurt or Soya milk.