Drink my skincare

Trend or science?

Both. Drink your skincare is a social media trend, and not everything you see there is right.

What is established: your skin renews itself constantly and needs nutrients to do so. For a few of them, the effect on skin is officially recognised by the EU: vitamins A, B2, C and E, zinc and copper. Those are the only ones you will find with the recipes here.

What is not proven: that 1 drink visibly changes your skin. The difference comes from a varied diet you keep up, just like your skincare.

When is a drink really good for your skin?

• Blend, do not juice. Fruit juice has lost its fibre. The World Health Organization counts fruit juice as free sugars, just like soft drinks. Without fibre, fructose reaches your liver quickly, and a lot of fructose every day is turned into fat by your liver. That is why you will not find juices here.
• More veg than fruit: at most 1 portion of fruit per drink.
• Always add protein or healthy fat, such as nuts, seeds or avocado. Your blood sugar rises more slowly that way.
• No added sugar, honey or syrup.
• How many a day? 1 drink with fruit a day is enough. Even when blended, the sugar from fruit is released faster than when you eat it whole. UK health advice (NHS) therefore counts smoothies as free sugars: at most 150 ml a day together with fruit juice. Drinks with only vegetables, and water, you can drink more freely.
• A drink does not replace your piece of fruit either: eat fruit whole, with all its fibre.
• A drink does not replace a healthy meal. Drink it alongside your meals, and water stays your basis.

Hype or proven?

You see these ingredients in almost every drink your skincare video. They are fine in your drink, but there is no proven effect on your skin (yet).

• Turmeric: Curcumin is widely studied, but your body absorbs very little of it. Studies on skin are small or done in the lab. The EU has not authorised a single claim yet: claims for plants have been on hold for years.
• Ginger: Tasty and warming, but there is no authorised claim for your skin. Here too, plant claims are on hold in the EU.
• Matcha: You drink the whole tea leaf, so you get more catechins and caffeine than with regular green tea. EFSA rejected the antioxidant claims. Drink matcha between meals, as it reduces iron absorption, and not too late in the day.