Eat Protein For Skin Repair and Plumpness
In my previous posts, you may have noticed I put emphasis on eating plenty of vegetables and drinking green juices. Well, that is more to calm the inflammation down. You will also need to eat oily fish to repair your skin from eczema induced damage.
Depending on your height and weight, you need to eat protein at least twice daily. And at least 2 handfuls per meal. Why so much? Because your skin is the largest organ of your body and takes at least a full month to change its texture from rough and scaly to smooth and toned. It also gets nutrients last. Your internal organs are fed first.
As our body repairs at night, it is a good idea to eat your protein and salad for dinner (evening meal). Always eat the salad first to prime your body for the protein. Basically, to wet your tongue and whet your appetite.
As you will be increasing your protein by at least twice as much daily until your skin fully repairs itself, you must drink plenty of vegetable juice or juiced blends containing fibre. This is a very good way of repairing skin quickly.
The Different Ways of Cooking Your Protein
You can make roast chicken, fish stew, steamed fish, etc. However, please stay away from chicken or fish cooked in batter. You know, traditional fish and chips style meals. Which are absolutely loaded with fat and lard.
Make sure to eat avocados with your chicken as it is rather more dry than oily fish. Also, when you do cook your fish, ensure you only lightly cook it for 10-15 minutes if steaming. You can cook it slightly longer if roasting your fish, although don’t turn into burnt offerings! You know what I mean – blackened barbecue style cooking
And that applies to the chicken as well. You want it to be juicy, yet cooked through. Mid-heat temperature is alright. Too high and the outside burns while the inside is under-cooked. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Eating for skin repair is really simple – juicy protein of your choice and salad. If you are eating chicken, add avocado as the chicken is on the dry side and lacks omega 3 fatty acids unless organic and free range. You can buy this type of chicken from Farmers’ Markets in your area. Or even better, visit your local farm and strike up a monthly deal with them.
I have just eaten the cheaper non-organic chicken with avocado. I kid you not – the avocado and tomato tasted better than the chicken, even with apple cider vinegar and stew added….The mind boggles. I could even suggest rearing your own chickens for fresh eggs, but I think that is really pushing it too far…
Drink Collagen and Bone Broth for Fast Results
Bone broth is something my Mother made every week. She would make a batch and put them in the freezer using containers.
It was very easy to make and she simply skimmed off the liquid fat of any meat she boiled. Especially chicken legs and feet. And organ meats like kidney and liver.
As our skin, hair and nails are 90% collagen, the reason why we seem to age as we get older, is that we are simply deficient in this protein. We are 30% collagen and 70% water.
Think about that for a minute. Yes – we as adults are walking around being dehydrated and undernourished when it comes to collagen.
However, I lived in Nigeria for 8 years as a teenager and noticed that even my grandfather looked young for his age and so did many people his age. He lived to 106 by the way.
You might be interested in this video on collagen loading by Dr Axe. It really answered a lot of questions I had, and maybe the same will go for you….
As you can see here, Dr Axe recommends you take 3 servings of collagen or bone broth daily. Or even a mix of both. Just for the first month to replenish your collagen stores. Then take a maintenance serving once daily to keep your levels constant.
I will be making more bone broth (best to use organic bones and bone marrow from your nearest farmer’s market, as they have more minerals and other beneficial nutrients).
As for purchasing liquid collagen, I did some research and found out about Absolute Collagen, made in Britain. You can see the youthfulness of the lady who founded the company even though it seems she is in her 60s.
If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.
This is an update:
Today is March 26, 2020 and I noticed that after having the luxury of a bath 2 weeks before, my skin became really dry like a prune on my neck and arms. At first I thought I would oil up with coconut oil, but after using a whole 453g tub in 2 weeks and not much difference in texture, I thought of this post and collagen loading.
This is what I will do for a month – drink plenty of bone broth made from cow feet and pig knuckles. I cook it in water for 1 hour then add plenty of blended tomatoes, ginger, garlic, onions and pepper to it (about 5 cups worth) and simmer for half an hour.
The result is a delicious soup with chewy cow skin that falls off the bone. Here is a picture of what it looks like:
I took a picture of my neck today….My face looks very smooth and toned, while my neck looks like I’m turning 80….Lizards beware!
I do not believe that when you reach middle age, you features have to droop. Whether you have bad skin or not, you can repair it to even better than before it experienced any trauma.
My mother is 80 and has gorgeous skin. But then, she loves her chicken, mackerel and plenty of stews and soups which contain natural bone broth from the animal protein they contain. So she is obviously doing something right don’t you think?
Further Update – June 30:
I had to stop drinking the bone broth as it really made me smell even though I was having weekly baths. Funnily enough though, it the collagen firmed up my knee cap which I was able to run on with no problem!.
2 months off the bone broth and my knee cap is struggling again….Hmm!
I have been sticking to 1 jar of bean sprouts in my meals and plenty of avocado smoothies and green juices to drink.
It seems I am now more used to beansprouts with brown rice than meat based meals. No matter how tasty they are. My skin also looks better when eating beansprouts than not. Beansprouts can reset your DNA and keep your brain sharp. However, it requires eating at least 2 jars worth daily to see consistent results.
You made need a bigger kitchen space to sprout your beans, lentils in tandem! But at least you won’t be smelling!
Eating for skin repair is a very decent way of repairing our skin .
A good way of eating chicken is to steam them instead cooking it . I like the choice of avocado as avocados bring a range of health benefits to our body such as healthy fatty acids to our body. It is also loaded with antioxidants for our body.
I like the fact that you mentioned bone broth as a form of protein. Not only it is nutritious for the body, it is easily absorbed by the body as well.
Looking forward for your next post.
Thanks! I am glad you enjoyed it.
I don’t have eczema, but I do have psoriasis. Healthy eating has done so much for my psoriasis than anything else. I rarely have to deal with the symptoms, and I get a fair amount of protein in my diet too; Maybe that has played a role in keeping it at may.
Good article, though. If someone has psoriasis or eczema, then they should take a look at what they are eating and go from there.
Totally agree Nate,
Very well said!
Hi Stella,
This is a very informative post, thanks. I am all for trying to cure or improve any ailments by natural methods. Would eating protein like this be good of other conditions too? Bone and collagen broth doesn’t sound too pleasant to me. What is it like? Also, is there an equivalent, that might be suitable for vegetarians or vegans?
Hi Tom,
Bone broth is just liquid collagen and a little fat you get from boiling the bones for a time. You need a pressure cooker to save time and if you add vegetables and apple cider vinegar, it is actually really delicious!
I actually grew up on it as my Mother saved the broth, froze it and added it to soups and stews she made every week So my eczema was only confined to back of neck and joints. Apart from that my eczema was minimal and it hardly bothered me.
Fast forward to 2019 and I forgot about the bone broth! So I have had several bad eczema flare ups over the years as a result.
Now we know how to repair our skin. Yay!
Hi, I must say that this article is very helpful and informative. Eczema is very common today and I know by myself that eczema appears when I am under the stress. I agree that men should also use collagen because why not? Both men and women have the right to look beautiful and satisfied with their body and skin. I will definitely start using collagen, I never did that but you convinced me.
Oh great Daniel!
You will probably age very well as a result…
hello there…
Your article is so nice and informative. It is ok to have proteins in a regular diet as it is very much important for our body. And protein can easily be found in our daily meals like vegetables, meat, pulses. Last one is rich in protein. Eczema is a skin disease that causes loss of skin continuation and integrity. so I agree with you that protein is need to prevent it.
You also said about bone broth being a protein source. But it is costly and time consuming. Everyone can not afford this. Also do not know how to prepare it. Rather vitamin C, Vitamin D, and also vitamin E is very much useful for our skin and these are easily found in nature. No tension of cost.
Anyway, Thank you for your nice informative article. Keep serving like this.
Bone broth is easy. Just boil bones with a little meat on them! To save time, use a pressure cooker. Collagen peptides and liquid collagen is way more expensive.
Glad you enjoyed the article though!
Thanks for your article on treating eczema naturally. I am vegetarian and my eczema like many of my alergies such as ashtma actually cleared up after going vegetarian almost 10 years ago. However my sister still suffers quite badly but she doesnt eat many vegetables and does eat a lot of processed foods and red meat.
I will be showing her your article. At least if I can encourage her to replace red meat with chicken and fish and replace some of her processed foods with vegetables I’m convinced it will help her.
Thanks once again, really useful information
Very interesting!
It is normally men who take time before they change their eating habits!
You are a good example for your sister. Hopefully, she will change her mind when she reads this article
I wish you both the best.
Emerging research suggests that flavonoids (plant molecules) can help torebalance the immune system and have been found to be beneficial for people with eczema. but please, i want to ask a question.
is Banana good for eczema? and i heard these foods triggers an eczema flare-up
citrus fruits.dairy.eggs.gluten or wheat.soy.spices, such as vanilla, cloves, and cinnamon.tomatoes.some types of nuts.
How true?
Hi Bibian,
Yes we need vegetables and flavinoids from them, but it is protein that repairs skin. Animal protein, especially fish, repairs and builds back damaged skin to look young again.
Banana is fruit and is also carbohydrate. The banana doesn’t cause an allergic reaction Rather, it is the pesticide and fertilizers that it was sprayed with while it was growing, that causes the allergic reaction.
Citrus and dairy are definitely bad triggers. Basically any processed food made from flour and also sugar.
If a person is really toxic like I was, you can end up being allergic to even wind, rain and sun!
However, when the body is cleansed of toxins, and also had a liver flush, the skin returns to normal and the allergies disappear.
I am living proof.
All the best,
Stella
Wow, I had no idea you could purchase liquid collagen over the counter. I definitely will give it a try. I am 68 and who know, it might help look younger right? Since the product was apparently a UK product, I will try to find something like it here in the US. Possibly Amazon will carry it.
It’s interesting that the body repairs itself over night. That’s an excellent argument for getting enough sleep each night. The discussion on eating salad first at the evening meal is a new concept to me as I always ate it for lunch instead. I may not be getting all the benefits from it unless I switch to the evening meal. Good idea and worth trying.
Several months ago I watched a great presentation on PBS about bone broth and how healthy it was for you. The presenter was an MD and was very adamant about the health benefits of broth. She was selling a cook book with broth as one of the main ingredients in her recipes. I did purchase it and never heard about it again until I read your article. Now I’m hooked.
It’s really all about leading a healthy life and eating right to make sure we are doing all we can to maintain our health. Your article is clearly about good health and I appreciate learning form it. Thank you.
Tim,
You can eat salad for lunch or dinner, the main thing being to eat it with protein as they complement each other.
Protein is good, but if you add juicing to the mix, you definitely will look 20 years younger and that is the truth.
Remember, we are 30% protein and 70% water. If you swap your coffee or alcohol for vegetable juice, see what will happen in 3 month’s time!
That would be 3 months of repairing during the night.
Do tell me how you get on, alright?
Ooooh oooooh ooooh!!!! Protein, vitamins are so oh so helpful in our skincare! I have noticed major change in mine ever since i returned in taking vitamins (after 8 years of not taking any) my skin is smoother than it had been in years. It looks repaired. I guess we just need to make sure all our sources contain protein if I’m not mistaken. God is good. He made these natural vitamins. Now i just need to learn to cook properly.
Hi Linda,
Cooking is the easy part. Just practice until you are close to perfect!
Yes protein, especially fish, calms down inflammation in our skin and we do not feel bloated or look bloated either. Perfect for keeping that youthful glow.
All the best!
Thanks for your whole website
I kind of got stuck on your site as I have been dealing with skin problems for many years now.
Reading your articles makes me want to take a more proactive approach to take care of my skin, as I really haven’t done anything beneficial before.
I pretty much have just accepted that my skin is just going to be messed up and there is nothing that I can do about it. I have known that changing my diet could really help me but had no idea what I should do.
Now after visiting your site, I am hopeful that I might be able to have clear skin again. I know my biggest problem has been all the fatty garbage I consume.
I have looked online for solutions before and never found what your site has given me thanks again. I have you bookmarked now so I will be following your articles.
Hi Michael,
Glad to be of service. I am sorry to hear that you felt down about your skin and was about to give up on it.
I hope you make a full recovery and that your skin returns to normal. Because it can.
All the best!
Stella
Bone broth, lived on it for years while healing the gut. I agree with you to add the chicken feet to add the extra collagen and have a jellied broth. I would make mine in the slow cooker overnight and wake up to a hot cup of broth before breakfast. Thanks for the informative article
Ah, that is why you have lovely thick snowy hair!
Glad you enjoyed reading this
All the best!
Hi Stella,
I must admit this is my first visit to your site, and I read this article along with several others. You information is wonderful, and I will be getting some bone broth right away! I had no idea about the connection between collagen and our bodies, especially the skin.
I always had severe acne as a kid and still suffer adult acne. But, recently I have developed some kind of exzema on my chest that comes and goes. But each flare-up is getting worse. Now after reading this article, bone broth and avacado’s are going on my daily diet. I will make sure to eat enough protein as well. Thank you!
Hi Chas,
I am glad you enjoyed this article…The good thing is that our body will heal itself once cleansed internally and fed nutrients it can use to repair with.
I will do my best in bringing out more helpful articles so we can keep looking handsome and beautiful.
All the best!
Stella
You mentioned eating fish proteins. I’ve heard that a lot of fish tend to have high levels of mercury in them that they acquire by eating other fish. Are certain fish better than others? Also, do you have any tips for finding local farmers and making deals with them? Are farmers even open to that? Will any type of pressure cooker work for making collagen? Do you know of any US-based companies that sell liquid collagen?
Hi Thomas,
It has been said the benefits of eating fish far outweigh the negatives. As for mercury, just do not eat king mackerel swordfish or shark! Ordinary mackerel is alright though. Just ask the fishmonger about the difference between the two kinds.
Wild atlantic salmon is safe but expensive so I eat farmed salmon. They taste exactly the same but wild salmon flesh is firmer to the touch. And almost three times the price!
I do not know any local fishmongers as I live in London. A very big city. People near the coast will be more likely to have a local fishmonger nearby.
A pressure cooker is just the opposite of a slow cooker. Collagen is in bone broth boiled in a pressure cooker. A pressure cooker should be made from stainless steel as aluminium is a bad metal to have in our bodies. Maybe I might do a review about the best kinds and even collagen supplements.
You have really made me think more deeply about this subject, and I appreciate it.
Thanks! At the time of writing I have not researched any US based liquid collagen supplements, but I am sure Absolute Collagen ship to the US.
All the best,
Stella
Thank you for this excellent article, I was aware that eczema was effected by inflammation but I until I read this I was not aware of just how important adequate protein was to help to strengthen the skin.
The information on collagen is really helpful as it seems like a significant way to boost up protein intake and it seems like an easy way to add it into your diet. I’m going to start making some bone broth as you’ve outlined here. Having a family member living till they are 106 is a major clue that it helps well being. Thanks again!
Hi Judy,
I’m glad you enjoyed reading this…Yes, bone broth is easy to make and very good for your skin. I even havean acquaintance whose father told her to make vegetable soups. It doesn’t contain collagen, but think of it as mineral broth It has a similar effect and her acne cleared up!
So you can make bean soup, vegetable and bean soup and even Chinese White Wood Ear Soup which also keeps Chinese women looking young and healthy. Bone broth being another variation of homemade collagen soup…
I will be writing a post about Chinese White Wood Ear soup shortly.
All the best!
i have come to realise that some of the major skin issues I see can be taken care of by just some very common things. Seeing that protein can fix an eczema skin has to be one of the most amazing things I have seen today on the Internet. I feel there would be so much more to find out about in times to come when visiting your site. Cheers
My pleasure Justin. I totally agree, eczema is very easily treatable no matter how chronic. But we have to find out the best method to use for our type.
Hmm, I agree on this and I am personally on a diet with some good amount of protein already so I don’t have any cause to be scared about that in that area. I guess that eczema is a skin issues so protein can help to clear it away quite easily which in my own opinion is a very good thing. I like this.
Yes Suz, protein with every meal is very important when rejuvenating the skin. And speeds up skin repair.
Glad you enjoyed reading this post!
Very well enjoyable post here and surely it is very making sense here. The overview of what you have shared here is quite enviable too. I like the fact that you have given so much information on how to aud better consumption of protein to enhance our health against eczema. Thank you so much
My pleasure Nath!
It’s good to always read more and more about how to better your health and understand how to take good care of it. I’ve heard a lot of people say eczema doest really cure, it goes and come which is very wrong. Eating protein helps rebuild the skin as you’ve said. This article is very resourceful and will be very helpful.
Yes, Bruce. Eczema can actually be cured for a long period of time. The only thing is keeping to a diet that doesn’t czeontain processed food is challenging to most people. That’s why the eczema may come back. Also, eating food containing sugar is a definite no-no.
But then – drastic results require drastic action. Which is what I did…
Good day,
This is very important and interesting. I was not aware that I will need to eat oily fish to repair my skin from eczema induced damage, as you outlined.
While I was wondering why we should eat protein depending on our height and weight, I got puzzled by the fact that our skin is the largest organ of our body.
It makes sense why it takes least a full month to change its texture from rough and scaly to smooth and toned, as you mentioned. This is helpful.
Yes, our skin is the largest organ of our body, we have a heart, spleen, liver, etc, but our skin is the largest organ and also receives nutrients last.
Hence the recommended dose of 6-8 glasses of vegetable juice daily to see a marked difference in tone and texture of skin. Within a month.
Basically, there are many causes of eczema from allergies, stress, microbes, hormones, and eating foods such as eggs, nuts and wheat. Eat protein rich foods such as fish and roasted chicken can help reduce inflammations in the long run. I would recommend drinking juice rich in fibre which really helps over time. Basically taking lukewarm baths night and moisturizing will reduce the itching and also keeping your fingernails short to reduce scratching effects.
Hello Kenny,
I totally agree with you. I’ve discovered that herbal colon cleanses (not irrigation, mind) and liver flushing also goes a long way in getting rid of allergies.
However, stress is an important factor – so listening to calming music is another way to keep stress away. Although that can’t be done at work, I hasten to add…
Thanks for this very informative post.
Many of us go around complaining about our dry skin, but never take the time to stop and do something about it. The steps that you give us here can be easily implemented by anyone and everyone can benefit from softer smoother skin.
I therefore think that we should all take this advice onboard
‘m glad you enjoyed the post, Geoff.
For smooth skin, it is best to do a herbal colon cleanse, as well as diet adjustments for smoother skin. However, this definitely works a treat.
And yes, everyone could benefit from this!
I really like the way you explained how is best to cook the fish and chicken. I am not a big fan of avocado, but I will give it a try with chicken on my future meals. Never thought, that is best to eat a salat before we eat the proteins. I’ve always had bot, and I find that quite usefully. About the late dinners. When is best to have our last dinner of the day? before or after 17? I really struggle with that since I have heard numerous ideas and suggestions.
In terms of protein and carbs, I think is best to have control on them and weight your food intake. Sometimes to much protein or carbs can lead to, to much fat intake and unhealthy diet. And about my previous question of when is best to eat your last meal? I believe that is best not to eat after 20:00 but if you do, eat an apple or anything easy to digest.
Thanks Radu, for the compliments.
The best time to eat dinner is before 6pm (18.00). The later you eat, the more fatter around the waistline you get as the food doesn’t have time to digest properly before sleeping.
Practice food combining – half a plate of protein and half a plate of salad. Eat that for lunch and dinner. You can have carbs for breakfast.
You will feel more energetic and fitter if you do this.
Hello there,
This is a fascinating piece, and I really like it. Who doesn’t want to better their appearance, skin, or overall health? Fish is my favorite and a terrific source of protein, but it’s fairly pricey to buy on a regular basis. Other protein sources, such as bone broth, will be included in my weekly diet. I had no idea that absolute collagen could restore one’s skin to its youthful appearance. You have earned my time to return to your blog for more of this.
Thanks for all the kind compliments! Yes, absolute collagen can restore skin elasticity as you can tell from looking at the founder’s appearance. Even her grey hair is bushy!
As for fish, mackerel and sardines are the cheaper kind as they are more prolific in nature. If you can’t eat fish three times a day, you will notice a change if you eat fish every day at dinner time.
Over the course of a month. You will notice a great change in the texture of your skin and also your beard….