What diet is best for your skin?

As boring as it may sound, the diet optimal for overall health is close to optimal for skin health as well. The main reason is that the diet optimal for overall health slows down physiological mechanisms of aging in all tissues, including the skin. While we believe that it's in everyone's best interest to adopt the diet optimal for overall health, we should point out that some aspects of a healthy diet are more important for the skin than others. The key guidelines are outlined below.
Balance and variety
The recommendation to consume a balanced diet is plastered on every corner these days. But what exactly does it mean? By balanced diet, nutritionists usually imply a diet that contains all necessary nutrients within a certain optimal range. This range is usually selected in such a way as to prevent protein malnutrition and vitamin / mineral deficiencies. Thus, in a strict sense, balanced diet is a diet allowing to avoid malnutrition and nutrient deficiencies. And, for many people, especially junk-food lovers, adopting a standard balanced diet would already be a great improvement. Keep in mind, however, that in order to "beat nature" and derive significant anti-aging benefits, one may have to consume some nutrients in greater amounts than those found in a basic balanced diet (see other articles in this section and Skin & Nutrition Infopack.
For most people, the simplest and probably the most practically feasible way to adhere to a balanced diet is to follow the recommendations of the Daily Food Guide developed by the US Department of Agriculture. Adults are advised to:
Consume a sufficient amount of fruits and vegetables while staying within energy needs. Two cups of fruit and two-and-a-half cups of vegetables per day are recommended for a reference 2,000-calorie intake, with higher or lower amounts depending on the calorie level.
Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. In particular, select from all five vegetable subgroups (dark green, orange, legumes, starchy vegetables, and other vegetables) several times a week.
Consume 3 or more ounce-equivalents of whole-grain products per day, with the rest of the recommended grains coming from enriched or whole-grain products. In general, at least half the grains should come from whole grains.
Consume 3 cups per day of fat-free or low-fat milk or equivalent milk products.
To ensure than all essential nutrients are consumed in adequate amounts, it is desirable to consume a wide variety of foods.