Raw Skin Food

Nourishing the Skin with Raw Food Nutrition

A raw food diet can replenish, hydrate and nourish your skin from the inside out. But still, most people are also going to provide some form of skin nourishment from the outside as well. Some of us can relate to the overwhelming feeling experienced after spending far too many minutes in the beauty section of the local health food store perusing product labels. So many ingredients, so many claims, such prices! But what does the skin really want and how many moisturizers can one family reasonably claim to need.

Using Raw Foods to Create Face Masks for the Skin

If you are tired of overspending in this department and want a simple, raw-food solution to your skin’s every whim and prayer, head for the produce department! All of these foods and more can be mashed up, blended up or sliced up in a jiff, and for little expense. They are so gentle you can leave them on as long as you like and they rinse away easily (you may want to rinse off in the kitchen sink!). Leave the extracts and unnecessary packaging at the store and keep all that expendable income for your other indulgences.

Natural Face Masks Using Natural Raw Food Ingredients

Papaya – These tropical fruits are found more and more in grocery stores across the U.S. The fleshy fruit is so full of Vitamin C, carotenes, and flavonoids that it is an anti-aging regimen unto itself. Papayas contain an enzyme called papain which acts as a digestive aid when eaten and, when applied directly to the skin, will munch on your dead skin cells. Just mash up the fleshy fruit and apply it directly to your skin for an all natural raw food and vegan face mask. This luscious goop exfoliates as it moisturizes and is renowned in the beauty care industry for its skin cell renewal properties.

Pineapple – Not just for smoothies anymore, pineapples soften the skin and fight free radical damage caused by the sun (and seemingly everything else). It’s most famous enzyme, bromelain, is a powerful anti-inflammatory and cleansing agent that can relieve swelling. Remove the skin and blend up a little bit of the fruit for a quick natural facial or as a follow-up to the papaya. You’ll feel it tingling as it digs deep into your pores. Pineapple makes a powerful raw food face mask.

Orange – Anything with this much Vitamin C and anti-oxidants is bound to improve your complexion. But this wonder fruit is being studied as well for its ability to stop the growth of cancerous lesions on the skin. The beauty industry will extract the perillyl alcohol that does all the work and sell it back to you in a fancy package, but you can buy a whole pile of them at the store for 99 cents a pound. Just slice and rub directly on your skin.

Cucumber – Like pineapples, cucumbers have an anti-inflammatory quality that can reduce swelling, plus cukes are super safe to rub over your eyes. Cucumbers soothe and soften skin tissue. They are an excellent source of silica, a trace mineral that strengthens skin’s connective tissue. Peel the skin off and slice them thinly, then rub them over your skin. This feels amazing when you have a sunburn.

Avocado – The powerful anti-aging combo of Vitamin C and Vitamin E is what avocados can offer you. While the high-fat content moisturizes and prevents future drying, avos will keep your skin youthful. The sterolin found in the oil can reduce age spots, heal sun damage and scars and increases the collagen in your skin. Mash up avocado with a fork, a mortar and pestle, or in a mini food processor. Apply it to clean skin, leave on as long as desired before rinsing, and kiss expensive moisturizers good-bye.

Aloe – An unlikely member of the onion and garlic family, this succulent plant can do wonders for your flesh. The sludgy stuff in the middle is responsible for reducing wrinkles, stretch marks, and pigmentations. It is also an anti-inflammatory full of vitamins and essential minerals. It slows the aging of skin by delivering oxygen to your cells while still allowing the skin to breathe and perspire normally. An amazing skin cell rejuvenator, well known as a treatment for burns and sunburns, aloe can also shrink warts and reduce psoriasis.