If you’re looking for ways to take better care of your skin, reexamining your diet is a good place to start. Many foods contain antioxidants that help keep our skin supple, dewy, healthy and young-looking, but unfortunately, there are also foods that can have the opposite effect. Margarine is one of these, and many health experts agree that it should be avoided if you want to maintain a more youthful-esque complexion.
We caught up with doctors and skincare experts to learn more about why margarine is so bad for your skin, how it can lead to premature aging, and what type of butter substitute you should use instead.
Read on for tips, suggestions and insight from Dr. Gabriela Rodríguez Ruiz, MD, PhD, FACS, board-certified bariatric surgeon at VIDA Wellness and Beauty and Robyn Newmark, skincare expert and founder and CEO of Newmark Beauty.
How Margarine Can Dull Your Complexion and Lead to Premature Aging
Margarine, Newmark says, is one food you should always avoid if you "want to prevent wrinkles and dry skin" prematurely. This common butter alternative, she adds, is frequently made with "partially hydrogenated oils," one of the most prevalent trans fats. "While trans fats contribute to heart disease, they may also accelerate the skin's aging process," she warns.
Trans-fatty acids make the skin more "susceptible to ultraviolet radiation," Newmark continues, which can cause damage to the elastin and collagen in the skin. Additionally, she points out, margarine can cause "chronic inflammation," speeding up "the formation of wrinkles."
Rodríguez Ruiz agrees, and says that margarine is the "unhealthiest type of butter" thanks to its hydrogenated vegetable oil ingredients, which are "high in saturated fat and can also lead to weight gain."
Healthier Butter Alternatives For Glowing Skin
Rather than choosing margarine or a fatty butter spread that can wreck havoc on your skin as we've learned, Rodríguez Ruiz suggests opting for olive or avocado oil-based products.
"I would recommend using olive oil or avocado oil instead of margarine," she says. "Both are high in healthy monounsaturated fats," she continues, which "increase your HDL cholesterol levels and improve your insulin sensitivity," which can decrease any dreaded inflammation that margarine can so often cause. The more you know!
Additional Foods That Promote Healthy Skin
There are a lot of high-protein meal ideas that can help in promoting glowing skin, Newmark says, and she notes that it's "beneficial for people to not only look into meat but also in plants that are also high in protein."
For animal-based protein, she suggests trying to add more salmon into your diet, as it has "20 grams of protein per three-ounce of serving with omega-3 fatty acids." Eggs also are a great choice, she continues, "given that these are solid sources of protein and at the same time contain two powerful antioxidants."
Plain Greek yogurt contains "not only 25 grams of protein, but also B vitamins." Other skin-loving foods that are high in protein include "almonds, tofu, lentils, goji berries, walnuts, and hemp seeds," Newmark concludes. These snack ideas do not only contain protein, she notes, but also "other vitamins and minerals that act heavily on skin health."
