Creams and facial treatments can only do so much. If you look pretty on the outside but feel crappy on the inside, chances are, interior factors like stress can paint your face tired and close to dead. Cue the beauty drinks.
With the rise of easy, healthy edibles—from smoothies to food deliveries—people have embraced new, thorough alternatives to boost their skin. When beauty shots were a thing, for example, people glugged their way to younger skin—no matter the price tag.
Today, people are becoming more practical, turning instead to stuff already stored away in their kitchens, cupboards, and fridges. Drink these, and look, or at least feel, the results.
#1 Coconut oil in your morning coffee
Coconut oil is not your mom’s favorite for nothing. It keeps skin hydrated, plump, and soft—it’s also a good topical moisturizer. For a dose of good, healthy fats, add a teaspoon of pure, virgin, and unhydrogenated coconut oil to your coffee.
Up the dosage to a tablespoon in time for the colder months when the skin can feel extra dry. A regular intake of coconut oil fights inflammation, which is one of the major causes of acne.
#2 Bone broth
If actress slash pretty hippie Shailene Woodley swears by this, trust her—and what it did to that face. Bone broth is just the fancy term for the average, bland nilagang baka sa buto you use to ignore. This time, it’s different, though.
Not a lot of Filipinos are aware of how bone broth is quite rich in calcium and magnesium. It promotes strong, healthy bones and is a rich source of nutrients that strengthen skin tissue. The high collagen content also promotes good health for joints, hair, skin, and nails.
#3 Nightly glasses of wine
Alcohol can be good for you—but there’s a catch. Get your dose from red wine, and make sure it’s only a glass at a time. It has a much higher concentration of antioxidants including resveratrol, which combats skin aging and skin cancer, compared to plain ol’ grape juice. This will give you a healthy glow.
Be warned, though: Drinking daily and more than the allowed amount—we’re talking by the bottles here—is going to have the opposite effect. It can be destructive to your health by raising your blood pressure and your risk of developing some kinds of cancers.
#4 Water, water, water
Yes, no matter how old you are, you deserve this reminder: Drink more water. It’s a simple tip that really benefits your skin. Hydrated skin means plumper, youthful-looking skin. However, recent studies acknowledge that water may not affect the outermost layers of your skin. But note that water helps fend off a few internal problems like constipation and kidney stones.
Water—a recommended dose would be two liters a day—also helps flush the toxins out of your body. In case you missed it, skin is an organ that eliminates toxins, and when there is toxicity in the body, it definitely shows in there, too.
Art by Tristan Tamayo
Source: Beverly Dalton for Southern Living, “Beauty Beverage,” September 2015.
