Ladies, your skin truly reflects the saying, “You are what you eat.” If you eat a healthy diet, full of fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins, with less red meat and processed food, your skin will look healthy. However, there are some foods that actually work better ON your skin.

Let’s look at a few common skin problems. I have researched and identified what foods will help make your skin look better quickly.

Food Fix for Crow’s Feet: Sweet potato and yogurt mash.

Sweet potatoes are a brilliant source of so many good things. They are super high in vitamin A, which boosts collagen. They are also a surprising source of minerals such as copper, which helps the formation of new collagen to reduce wrinkles. They are rich in selenium, and diminish the wrinkles.

This is how you can make your own mash: Boil the sweet potato with the skin on for 20-30 minutes; make a few cuts in the skin and then rub the skin off the sweet potato. Mash with a fork or potato masher. Stir in a quarter cup of full cream plain yogurt. Allow it to cool until it is comfortable to touch.

Together, the sweet potato and yogurt will smooth and moisturise the skin, and your crow’s feet will look better right away. You can also use the formula on your hands and neck.

Food Fix for Flakey, Scaly Skin: Avocado and honey.

Flakey skin can be the result of dry skin, eczema and even psoriasis.

How can you resolve this? Mash an avocado with one tablespoon of honey. Taste it too, it is AMAZINGLY yummy!

When the avocado and honey have become a paste, spread the mixture over the dry, flakey areas and cover with a cool facecloth, which you have soaked with green tea. If you are very flakey, you can crush an aspirin into a powder and mix this into the avocado and honey paste.

The avocado is lush with fatty oils that will seal the skin surface and begin the healing process. Unprocessed honey will exfoliate away the dead skin, protect against bacterial infections, and reduce inflammation. Leave this on for 10-20 minutes and wipe off gently. You can gently cleanse with an alcohol-free baby wipe, but don’t wash with soap for a few hours so your skin can stay moisturised. You will feel the difference instantly. Try to do this mask every day when you are having a flare up of flakey skin. Avoid harsh soaps because they will destroy all of your progress!

 Food Fix for Rosacea: Cottage cheese and pineapple.

Rosacea is a condition where one suffers from red, sensitive skin that flushes easily with stress, embarrassment, changes in temperature, wind, exercise, sunlight, and certain food or drink triggers it, such as wine or spicy food. When your skin flushes, it causes a vicious cycle of inflammation that creates more redness and acne-like papules. It can even make your pores more noticeable.

What will help you? Try mixing one cup of full-fat cottage cheese with a quarter-cup of minced pineapple and apply it like a mask to your cheeks and nose for 10 minutes a day, twice a week for one month. Place a nice cool facecloth soaked in green tea over the mask to soothe your skin.

The milk fat in the cottage cheese will moisturise and heal your skin. The pineapple will decrease redness.

 Food Fix for Puffy Eyes: Tofu.

The quickest trick is to place extra firm tofu patches, cut a cm thick, under each eye for 10 minutes a day for two weeks.

The soy in tofu has been shown to increase collagen. Also, soy contains flavonoids that have been shown to decrease sun damage. Both of these ingredients will smooth and heal your skin.

The weight of the tofu patch will help press the swelling out of the area.

Bonus: Try doing some jumping jacks after the process to rev up your circulation and say goodbye to the puffiness!