Health Foods can work the magic! They are the ones with the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that have a direct effect on your entire system. Vitamins and minerals are organic substances that our bodies cannot make for the most part, and that we have to acquire from what we eat. The trick is to select the foods that contain the right balance of these nutrients, because if you skimp on any, your body will let you know.

The foods that provide the highest concentration are those we think of as "beauty foods". They are the natural, fresh, and unrefined products we talk about in this book, and they are the foods we'd like to encourage you to eat more of. We've provided recipes in Chapter Two that use lots of beauty foods in appealing dishes. But before you turn to these, you'll want some information about the vitamins and minerals themselves. To make it easier and to show you at a glance where you can find the beauty components, we've included a chart at the end of the chapter that lists many of the foods that contain these components. You'll learn how they affect your body.

Once you realise that increasing your beauty vitamin intake can give your dry, greasy, or muddy-looking skin a dewy radiance and that increasing the amount of whole grains you eat can make your dull hair gleam, then you can take charge. You have the means to live up to your beauty potential right on your own grocery list. And not just your external beauty potential. Providing your body with the beauty food components keeps your entire system in balance. At the most regular level, your mental and emotional well-being are directly affected by the regular intake of certain vitamins.

Vitamins and minerals are the building blocks of all the complex mechanisms that insure the body's metabolic function. Vitamins, after all, were so named because "vita" means life. Each makes its contribution to our well-being, but the key is that they work together.

Vitamins & Minerals

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is involved in the body's growth and healing processes and is also needed for good vision, especially at night. It is one of the major skin vitamins because it plays an active role in the metabolism of the skin cells. It helps to slough off dry cells and therefore keeps skin soft and smooth. Vitamin A protects the skin against dryness and premature ageing (i.e., the formation of wrinkles and the development of irregular pigmentation). A proper supply of vitamin A also guards the skin against infection.

According to Dr. George Wolf, a nutritionist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, vitamin A is an anti-infection vitamin because it strengthens walls of skin cells, making them less susceptible to penetration by microorganisms.

Vitamin A is found chiefly in green and yellow vegetables, and in milk, eggs, liver, fish-liver oils, and many fruits.

B-Complex Vitamins

The B-complex vitamins are essential for a properly functioning nervous system and for maintaining healthy skin and hair. Vitamin B is the "Big-Beauty B." It simply helps everything. It nourishes your skin, and soothes away tension lines. Too little vitamin B results in skin problems, lip hair, fatigue, nervousness, and even depression.

There are more than ten B vitamins. While they have specific individual functions, they occur together in many of the same foods and work together as an efficient team.

For example, Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) is essential for strong, lustrous hair and healthy skin. It helps your body to convert carbohydrates, proteins, and fats into energy. A B2 deficiency shows up in the form of dull, oily skin, hair loss, hypersensitive areas around the nose and mouth, a tendency to pimples, and hypersensitivity of the eyes.

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxin) is necessary for the production of collagen and elastin, which keep your skin smooth and maintain its elasticity.

You might think of B6 as the anti-ageing vitamin. An adequate supply of B2 protects you against eczema, dandruff, and other skin problems that interfere with looking your best.

Another B vitamin that is important to good looks is vitamin B12 (cobalamin), which protects against anaemia, helping you to look healthy and have good colour.

In order to get enough of the B vitamins, make sure you eat whole-grain products, yeast-rich foods, wheat germ, fresh fruits and vegetables, liver, nuts, and dairy products.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is probably the most important vitamin for maintaining health and beauty. Vitamin C is essential to the production of collagen, the connective tissue that holds cells together. Because of its role in producing collagen, this vitamin promotes smooth and elastic skin. Vitamin C helps to prevent wrinkles and is also used very successfully for the treatment of acne, eczema, and other skin problems.

In addition to maintaining the skin, vitamin C helps to develop healthy blood vessels, to form the dentine layer of your teeth, to harden bones, and to heal burns and wounds. It strengthens the immune system and protects against colds, infections, and painful swollen joints.

The best sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits of all kinds, leafy green vegetables, peppers, tomatoes, and blueberries. It is present in all fresh fruits and vegetables to some degree.

Vitamin D

We need vitamin D for strong bones and teeth and for good vision. It is also necessary for proper processing of calcium and phosphorus.

The body actually makes its own vitamin D when exposed to the sun. But, since healthy skin demands that your exposure to the sun should be limited, you can get vitamin D from fortified milk; certain fatty fish (like tuna and salmon); and fish-liver oils, egg yolks, and liver.

Vitamin E

Like vitamins A, B, and C, vitamin E is also essential for lasting beauty. This vitamin increases the oxygen intake of cells, which allows faster healing and regeneration. In connection with exercise, vitamin E aids muscle development. It also helps to prevent varicose veins; large quantities of vitamin E are used to treat varicose veins.

Vitamin E is present in wheat germ, seeds and whole-grain products, cold-pressed vegetable oils (olive and sunflower), green leafy vegetables, as well as eggs.

Vitamin K

While vitamin K does not appear to have a direct effect on appearance, it is absolutely essential for proper blood clotting and helps to maintain normal bone metabolism. Doctors increasingly believe that vitamin K keeps you younger longer because it provides energy for your cells.

Eat yoghurt, milk, and eggs to maintain your vitamin K supply, as well as leafy green vegetables, liver, and cereals. Vitamin K is also found in fish-liver oil.

Fatty Acids

Fatty acids are not official vitamins, but since they help to promote proper skin metabolism, the process of forming and sloughing cells at the right speed and in the right amounts, they are included here. Fatty acids are necessary for healthy skin and properly functioning glands and mucous membranes. You shouldn't ever eliminate unsaturated fatty acids from your diet, even when you're trying to reduce your fat intake. A lack of these substances will become apparent very quickly, because your hair will be dry and you may develop dandruff, your nails will be brittle, and your skin will lose its radiance.

The body cannot form these fatty acids, so you'll have to get them from your food. Nibble nuts and seeds (like sunflower and pumpkin), sprinkle wheat germ on your cereal, use a little butter. Vitamin F also occurs in lecithin and fish-liver oil.

Beauty Minerals

Now let's consider the beauty minerals that you need to maintain good looks and good health. Certain minerals are essential for the development of healthy skin, muscles, blood, bones, and nerves. And, of course, your body's good health will be reflected in your glowing skin and gleaming hair.

As is true of the vitamins, there are certain minerals that are especially important to maintaining good looks. These beauty minerals are calcium, copper, iodine, iron, potassium, sulphur, selenium, and zinc. Other minerals, such as chromium, fluorine, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, phosphorus, silicon, strontium, tin, and vanadium are important for a healthy body, but they do not appear to have any particular effect on our appearance (except for fluoride, which will make teeth less susceptible to cavities when used on a regular basis).

Calcium

Like vitamin A, calcium is a must for healthy skin. It is important for our overall well-being because we use it every day for many bodily functions. It promotes strong bones and teeth and a healthy heart. Calcium is involved in the transmission of nerve impulses and in the contraction of muscles.

Calcium is very important for everyone, but it is especially important for women after menopause. If you don't have enough calcium, your bones will become brittle and have a tendency to break at the slightest impact. This condition is known as osteoporosis and, while it can affect everyone, women are afflicted more often than men. It's a condition you should and can guard against by making sure that you get enough calcium, starting at an early age. If your food doesn't provide an adequate supply, your body will try to maintain a proper level of the mineral by taking it out of your bones. It's an insidious process and it makes your bones fragile long before anything shows up on x rays. So, to prevent your bones from softening, make sure that your calcium intake is adequate.

Calcium is found in all dairy products, in green leafy vegetables, in whole grains, and in certain fish, such as salmon and sardines. The bones of these fish are a superb source of calcium. They're so soft that you can crush them up when you're making salmon salad or a sardine hors d'oeuvre.

Copper

Copper is important to beauty because it helps to maintain natural hair colour and keeps skin elastic. It is involved in the development of red blood cells and is needed for the proper formation of respiratory enzymes.

Copper is found in whole-grain products, fish and seafood, yeast, and liver. Practically no one in the developed countries has a copper deficiency, because there are minute quantities in our tap water.

Iodine

According to Leslie Kenton, nutritional editor for Harper ~ Queens magazine, iodine is important for beautiful hair. It keeps hair strong and glossy and protects against rough and wrinkled skin. We also need iodine for our metabolism and to regulate our energy supply. We can satisfy our iodine requirement by eating fish and seafood and even, occasionally, seaweed (kelp).

Iron

Iron strengthens our hair and nails. An inadequate supply of iron makes us pale, weak, and extremely sensitive to cold. A proper iron supply promotes healthy red blood, which is reflected in proper skin colour.

Iron is present in egg yolks, liver, and red meat, green leafy vegetables (remember Popeye and the instant energy he got from a can of spinach), whole-grain products, and fish. Cooking in cast iron pots also adds iron to your diet.

Potassium

Potassium protects against dry skin and blemishes. It maintains the body's acid-base equilibrium. Potassium is essential to the production of energy and it also helps in the removal of waste materials (through bowel movements) which helps to keep our skin looking clear.

Potassium is found in citrus fruits and bananas, many vegetables, fish, meat, and in all whole-grain products.

Sulphur

Sulphur is essential for lasting beauty because it keeps skin, hair, and nails healthy. Very often, a lack of sulphur in the diet is the cause of brittle nails. Sulphur is present in fish, eggs, beef, and some vegetables, especially the cabbage family and onions.

Selenium

Selenium helps to keep skin young-looking and elastic. It is found in eggs, brewer's yeast, onions, garlic, and tuna.

Silicon

Silicon is another skin smoother. It also makes your nails strong and your hair glossy. Eat apples, avocados, and honey to fill your silicon requirement.

Zinc

Zinc is also important for lovely skin. Like the B vitamins and sulphur, it is involved in collagen production, and collagen contributes to supple, elastic skin. Because zinc helps to maintain the elasticity of your skin, it can help prevent stretch marks on your stomach and hips. You might think of it as the anti-sag mineral.

Zinc is also necessary for good digestion and for insuring a good oxygen supply for every part of the body. Again, like the B vitamins, it is active in the growth and healing processes.

We can get zinc from whole-grain products, nuts, legumes, oysters, and meat.

Fibre - A Health Bonus Known to Our Grandmothers

In addition to vitamins and minerals, which have such obvious effects on our beauty, there is another beauty substance you'll want to know about. It's a non-nutrient that our grandmothers used to call roughage, i.e., the fibrous portion of food that is not digested and that is eliminated by the organism in approximately the same form in which it's ingested. We consider it a beauty bonus for the following reasons:

• Fibre itself contains no calories. So, when you eat food with a high-fibre content, it doesn't pad your total caloric intake - or you.
• Your stomach and small intestine work harder to separate digestible material from indigestible dietary fibre. This slow digestion insures an even flow of calories, which keeps you from feeling hungry for longer periods.
• Once the indigestible fibre has been separated out in the stomach and small intestine, it passes through the large intestine very quickly, which causes the rapid elimination of waste products. The result of this rapid elimination, or short transit time, is clear skin, sparkling eyes, and a feeling of well- being.

Rapid elimination of waste products is now also thought to provide some protection against bowel and colon cancer. The shorter the transit time of waste material through the large intestine, the less time there is for the formation of toxic substances that are thought to be carcinogenic, or cancer-producing.

Fibre is found in all raw vegetables and fruits and in natural grains. The outer layers of grains such as oats, wheat, and sesame consist primarily of Fibre; they also contain more vitamins and minerals than the inner layers. Dr. Jan de Winter, director of the Cancer Prevention Foundation in England and the author's father, says: "We could live by bread alone - provided it's whole-grain. It has protein and complex carbohydrates and could form the basis of our diet.... It takes eight white loaves to produce the Fibre content of one whole-grain loaf."

Since the beauty foods consist chiefly of raw vegetables and fruits, whole grains, nuts' and seeds, they also supply the body with the necessary Fibre.