Holistic Hotness: How To Nourish Your Body For Optimal Beauty

However, oftentimes the investments women make in pursuit of beauty end up being counterproductive, making whatever problem they’re trying to fix worse. From acne creams to botox to weight loss pills, most of what’s marketed to people when it comes to aesthetics can ultimately end up masking the root cause of the issue and even exacerbate it in the long run. 

Attempting to make yourself beautiful from the outside in can place you in a perpetual loop of never-ending, expensive creams, treatments, and risky procedures, but this doesn’t have to be the only route to beauty. Luckily, we have the ability to beautify ourselves naturally by working from the inside out, literally. 

Did You Eat Your Vitamins Today?

A nutrient-dense diet is the most important building block for optimal health and beauty. All of the body’s systems depend on the proper fuel to function optimally, but unfortunately a large portion of the population today is chronically malnourished. Because the food we eat today is less nutritious than even just 40 years ago, it’s been said that we would have to eat about two to three times more food than our primal ancestors to obtain the same amount of nutrients. Coupling wide-scale soil degradation with diets and environments actively depleting minerals in the body, it’s safe to say almost everyone living in an industrialized country is operating at suboptimal levels of nutrients. 

A diet rich in inflammatory, poor quality foods and devoid of nutrients places a heavy burden on the body and causes it to stress its resources. This can lead to a number of issues like gut permeability, inability to properly detox, blood sugar dysregulation, mineral dysregulation, infertility, disease, obesity, premature aging, and dysfunctional or sluggish organs. The issues that arise from malnutrition can result in dull skin, acne, weight gain, dry hair, brittle nails, dark undereye bags, poor dental health, loss of collagen and elasticity, wrinkles, bloating, inflamed skin, and hair loss. 

Malnutrition can result in dull skin, acne, weight gain, brittle nails, and dark undereye bags.

The good news is these signs of premature aging and malnutrition can be reversed with proper nourishment. Ensuring adequate intake of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and their cofactors is crucial in beautifying the appearance. 

Tips on Eating a Nutrient-Dense Diet:

• Assess and avoid food sensitivities. 

• Vitamins C and E act as antioxidants and are essential in the production of collagen. Eat foods rich in vitamin C (citrus fruits and berries) and in vitamin E (avocados and olive oil). 

• Collagen and biotin support skin and hair health. Eat foods rich in collagen and biotin such as animal organs, bone broth, eggs, and raw dairy. 

• Consume a variety of different vitamins and minerals in organic, nutrient-dense whole foods such as herbs, honey, and wild, grass-fed, or pasture-raised animal products.

• Fertility is known to brighten the appearance. Consume foods and herbs that support fertility health such as mollusks, bee pollen, organs, and raw dairy. 

• Consume fermented foods to support gut microbiome health like sauerkraut or kimchi. 

• Magnesium plays a critical role in the body and is the most common mineral deficiency today. Since it’s difficult to acquire magnesium from food alone due to soil depletion, consider daily ingestion of a magnesium supplement.

• Thymoquinone is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory bioactive compound. Black seed oil is known to be one of the most concentrated sources of thymoquinone. Consider daily application and ingestion of black seed oil.

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

Premature aging and the appearance of dull skin can be attributed to a number of different factors, but the high rates of dehydration are likely a large contributor. According to the Lay Press, about 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. 

About 60% of the human body is composed of water: the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, the lungs are about 83% water, the skin is about 64% water, muscles and kidneys are about 79%, the bones are about 31% and blood is about 82% water. We are quite literally run by water! However, despite it being the most important nutrient, water is often overlooked and it comes at a price. 

Your skin is about 64% water.

Water plays numerous important roles in the body, including improving oxygen delivery to cells, transporting nutrients, enabling cellular hydration, moistening oxygen for easier breathing, cushioning bones and joints, absorbing shocks to joints and organs, regulating body temperature, flushing toxins, improving cell-to-cell communications, and maintaining normal electrical properties of cells. 

According to researcher and author of Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, F. Batmanghelidj, M.D., “Chronic cellular dehydration of the body is the primary etiology of painful degenerative disease.” Considering the critical role water plays in the body, it’s no surprise chronic dehydration is likely a contributing factor to many health ailments today. 

Water deficiency in the body can lead to a number of issues that can ultimately cause the organs to become dehydrated and the body to age prematurely. Dehydration can also cause circulation to the scalp and face to decrease, causing the hair and skin to look dull. But luckily chronic dehydration doesn’t have to be a life sentence. Rehydration has been shown to make the skin and hair look more supple and lively. One systematic review states that “a slight increase in stratum corneum and ‘deep’ skin hydration was observed after additional water intake....reductions of clinical signs of dryness and roughness were observed. The extensibility and elasticity of the skin increased slightly.” Proper hydration is essential for overall body function and a lively, glowing appearance. 

Tips on Hydrating:

• Avoid tap water and water with a high toxic burden.

• Research good filtration systems for both your drinking water and your shower.

• Avoid diuretics (substances that deplete the body of water) like coffee, energy drinks, and alcohol.

• Make sure to get adequate electrolytes through electrolyte solutions and unrefined sea salt to ensure proper absorption of water.

• Hydrate with water sources that haven’t been stripped of their minerals like fruits, vegetables, and raw milk.

Don’t Fear Fats

Despite the mainstream scare on fats, adequate fat intake actually plays a crucial role in overall health and appearance. Fats play a number of roles in the body including providing a source of energy, serving as a protective lining for the organs of the body, acting as building blocks for cell membranes and hormones, aiding the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, increasing satiety, and allowing for the proper use of proteins.

Fats also play a crucial role in our brain health as our brain is made primarily of saturated fat. Fats are essential for overall health but play an especially important role in fertility and hormonal regulation in both men and women. And because hormonal issues are the main cause of acne problems, ensuring proper fat intake for hormonal regulation is crucial for clear skin. Additionally, studies have shown that women are more attractive when they’re fertile. Fats also contribute to collagen production and the appearance of younger and more supple skin. 

Ensuring proper fat intake is crucial for clear skin and collagen production.

Today, most people have opted for fat-free and low-fat foods and consume diets high in omega 6 fats due to fear of saturated fats. This has caused many people to become deficient in fats, and people oftentimes end up worsening their deficiency by denaturing fats with heat and consuming imbalanced fat ratios. It’s essential both for our internal and external health that people consume an adequate amount of healthy fats.

Tips on Using and Consuming Healthy Fats:

• Focus on the cofactors for prostaglandin (hormone) production and fatty acid absorption (enzyme production, healthy liver, gallbladder, and digestive function, taurine, vitamin C, inositol).

• Consume “healthy” fats such as olives and olive oil, black seed oil, coconut oil, tallow, ghee, lard, butter, duck fat, eggs, meat, avocados and avocado oil, animal fats, and raw dairy and raw fish.

• Consume a balanced 1:1 ratio of omega 3 (raw fish, salmon roe, sardines, grass-fed meat, flax seeds) and omega 6 (black seed oil, butter, brazil nuts, eggs).

• Use natural fats as a nontoxic skin, lip, and facial moisturizer.

Get Your Beauty Rest

When it comes to nourishing the body people often only think about diet, however, the body requires other forms of nourishment to truly thrive. Although diet is the foundation of optimal health and beauty, you can’t outeat the negative effects of poor sleep, limited movement, and improper posture and breathing habits. 

1 in 3 American adults doesn’t get the recommended 8 hours of sleep.

According to the CDC, 1 in 3 American adults doesn’t get the recommended 8 hours of sleep. Restlessness due to underlying health issues, blood sugar dysregulation, sleep disorders, and increased usage of cellular devices, known to throw off the circadian rhythm and damage skin cells, all contribute to today’s sleep epidemic. A lack of sleep can result in an increased risk of gut issues, insulin resistance, impaired brain and nervous system function, fatigue, deep eye bags, lackluster skin, and weight gain. Adequate sleep, on the other hand, promotes collagen production, detoxification, gut maintenance, neurogenesis, tissue repair, and increased blood flow.

Tips on Sleeping:

• Eat foods rich in casein protein (cottage cheese, raw milk, yogurt, cream) before sleep to enhance sleep and the body’s recovery process overnight.

• Eat tart cherries (rich in melatonin) or drink tart cherry concentrate before sleep. 

• Supplement oral and topical magnesium before sleep.

• Meditate and wind down before sleep.

• Diffuse and apply sleep promoting essential oils.

• Avoid blue light at least 2 hours before sleep to avoid circadian rhythm dysregulation.

Move Toward Your Beauty Goals

In addition to sleep, a lack of movement and improper posture and breathing habits are problematic when it comes to health and beauty. A lack of movement can stunt the lymphatic system, a part of the body’s detox system that depends on movement in order to circulate toxins out of the body. A clogged lymphatic system can cause pain, bloating, brain fog, weight gain, and acne. 

A lack of movement can also lead to postural imbalances which can then lead to improper breathing habits. Low oxygen levels caused by improper breathing habits can lead to an array of health issues and decrease oxygen flow in the skin, causing the skin to look dull. Improper breathing habits, such as mouth breathing, can also meddle with jaw development and cause the tongue to hang low, giving the appearance of a setback jaw and a double chin. 

A lack of movement can stunt the lymphatic system, a part of the body’s detox system.

Moving throughout the day and incorporating lifestyle practices for better posture and breathing habits are essential in optimizing your health and appearance. Studies have shown that movement can positively impact the pancreas, promote healthy gallbladder function, and benefit the gastrointestinal tract. 

Tips on Movement and Breathing:

• Consider floor sitting and sleeping to strengthen and realign the spine.

• Opt for barefoot to strengthen the foot arch, widen the toe splay, and connect with nature’s healing frequencies.

• Avoid factors that promote a forward head posture such as pillows and excessive screen time.

• Work with a movement coach to assess and strengthen postural needs.

• Avoid lifting heavy weights with improper form. Focus on the quality of the lift rather than the quantity. 

• Practice breathing exercises like left nostril breathing and the Wim Hof breathing method.

• Move throughout the day (doing dishes manually, taking dance breaks, going on walks, etc.).

• Practice mewing and chewing mastic gum to strengthen jaw and better posture and breathing habits.

• Strengthen the lower core to better support the spine and overall posture.

Closing Thoughts

Beauty quite literally starts from the inside out – internal healing leads to external healing and can leave a person with longer-lasting results. So ditch the endless cash grabs and allow your natural beauty to shine by enhancing what you already have through holistic lifestyle practices and nutrition – it will give you a glow that can’t be bought. 

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