Eat your way to radiant skin worthy
of a close-up with our A-list beauty secrets
If you’re seeking the secret to supple,
glowing skin and wobble-free, toned thighs, take a look in your fridge.
Celebrity nutritionist and beauty expert Kimberly Snyder, whose impressive
client list includes some of Hollywood’s biggest names (think Fergie, Dita Von
Teese, Hilary Duff and Drew Barrymore to name a few), reckons a few sensible
diet tweaks are the solution to most beauty woes.
Eat
your way to radiant skin worthy of a close-up with our A-list beauty secrets
‘I try to shift clients’ perspective of
foods to evaluate them in a more holistic way,’ she explains. ‘I help them
choose nutrient-dense skin-nourishing foods that support the body’s natural
detoxification functions so the cells and blood stay as cleansed as possible.’
Kimberly’s new book, The Beauty Detox
Solution ($20, Harlequin), reveals the nifty tricks she uses to keep the A-list
looking red-carpet ready and we’ve persuaded her to share her best-kept
secrets. ‘You should notice a difference in the brightness and an increased
glow in your skin within three days,’ she says. ‘Weight also starts to melt
away because your body will be more balanced and healthy.’ Let’s get started!
The perfect balance
Kimberly’s approach is based around
clearing up the nasty in your diet and replacing them with top-quality carbs,
protein, healthy fats and lots of fruit and vegetables. ‘Skin looks older when
there is a build-up of toxins, but eating to prevent toxicity amassing in your
system can result in beautiful skin and radiance in a way that skincare
products alone could never do,’ says Kimberly. Factor in a few simple eating
rules and you’ve got a failsafe formula for success!
It’s important to bear in mind that beauty
is an inside job. So if you want to shift stubborn weight and stop fine lines
from creeping up, start boycotting takeaways and sugary treats and watch what
you’re putting in your mouth. According to Kimberly, maintaining the correct
acid and alkaline balance in your body is absolutely key to fighting those
pesky wrinkles and keeping your weight stable. ‘If you eat food that is filled
with chemicals, preservatives, various fillers and toxins, your body and skin
will be out of balance and won’t reflect your full beauty potential,’ she says.
Kimberly’s
approach is based around clearing up the nasty in your diet and replacing them
with top-quality carbs, protein, healthy fats and lots of fruit and vegetables
Different areas of the body have different
pH requirements, so while your tissues should be slightly alkaline, your colon
should be slightly acidic. When your body is faced with an acid overload, often
caused by a diet heavy in animal products and processed foods, it tries to
compensate by leaching alkaline minerals out of the tissues. This can have a
knock-on effect on what you see in the mirror, contributing to premature
wrinkles, dark circles, lifeless hair and brittle nails. The best way to keep
your body at its perfect pH is by eating a mostly alkaline diet of green
vegetables and ripe fruit with no more than 20 per cent acidic foods such as
dairy and caffeine.
Sugar rush
We hate to break it to you, but if you want
to look every bit as flawless as Hollywood’s biggest names, sugar needs to come
off the menu. Kimberly swears that cutting down on sugar and banning
sweeteners, such as sucralose and aspartame, from your diet can torch pounds in
record time while ensuring a super-healthy glow. ‘Sugar and sweeteners are
acid-forming in the body, which is ageing,’ she says.
‘Sugar
and sweeteners are acid-forming in the body, which is ageing,’ she says.
Sweeteners also play havoc with the
appetite-controlling hormones insulin and Leptin, as well as reducing good gut
bacteria. If you can’t curb your sweet tooth, Kimberly suggests using natural
substitutes such as stevia and xylitol.
Team work
We often don’t realize the impact of
digestion on skin health, but Kimberly says that in order to snap your body
into celeb-worthy shape and maintain a glowing complexion, you need to keep
your digestive system in good order. She recommends combining foods that
naturally go together. Why? Because your stomach secretes different juices when
you eat different foods. Non-starchy veggies are considered neutral as they’re
simple for the body to digest, so a good pairing might be a grilled chicken
breast with leafy green veg. On the other hand, eating two proteins together
can put a strain on your digestive tract, making a pairing of eggs and sausages
a no-no.
