Low carb, no carb, raw or vegan, how do you determine which is working wonders for your waistline but doing a disservice for your skin?  The word diet typically means that the way we eat and what we eat will change. Since the health of your skin is closely associated to what you eat, I thought I’d chat about the “popular diets” and how they affect African American Skin.  We’ll do this in a series of Three and talk about the pros and cons of each. Today we’ll begin with the Low Carb, High Protein Diet.  You know, the one where all things white in the body are useless.  White Sugar, white bread and pasta.  With this diet the body is fueled by protein, chicken, fish, turkey and lean red meat.   You then combine them with small amounts of wheat grains and this allows your body to loose weight quickly. According to nutritionist, Dr. Oz Garcia,  “high protein diets make you feel full longer, so you loose weight easier”.  Why do you stay full longer?  Because proteins are harder to digest in the body. Just because you loose weight quickly, doesn’t mean that your beautiful black skin is going to benefit. OK, so how does the low carb, high protein diet affect your skin?

• Diets that are low or void of carbohydrates exhaust your body of glycogen (this is glucose that’s stored in your muscles and liver).  Not enough natural glucose in your body and dehydration sets in.

• Your next thought is, well I’ll just add more moisturizer to compensate for the dehydration.  But this doesn’t do much internally to add hydration to your organs and blood that feed your skin.

• For “Some” of you low carb diets may aggravate breakouts on your skin.  According to Dr. Sobel, low carb diets can minimize the production of insulin which increases cortisol (the stress hormone level).  Guess what!  This could be a catalyst for blemishes because your skin could become more oily.

• A diet that doesn’t have glucose doesn’t fuel your muscles and tissues.  And what does this cause?  Saggy skin that lacks proper tone.

OK, so now what?  Instead of eliminating carbs altogether, how about eating them in moderation.

• Eat whole grains like sweet potatoes and brown rice, to keep your collagen levels active.
• The carbs in fruits and vegetables (yes they have them) are antioxidants that control free-radicals that damage your skin.
• Stay away from anything white ( white bread, pasta, cookies, muffins and cakes) they are full of sugar.

Our skin is a living organ that needs a healthy diet for optimum reproduction.  As African American’s,  caring for our beautiful black skin is a necessity.   When we don’t feed our skin the right foods internally and cleanse, tone and moisturize it externally, we get that dull, gray, ashy look.  You’ve seen it. So the next time you decide to go on a diet, ask yourself, how will it affect my beautiful black skin?

To Your Beauty,

Juliette Samuel,

Esthetician/President-NYRAJU Skin Care

www.nyrajuskincare.com