It's all very well and good having a daily beauty regime of lotions and potions, spending ages applying serums and creams to get glowing skin. But that's only on the surface, what about nourishing the skin from within? If you have a crappy diet, then your skin - the largest organ of your body - is probably suffering. Why pay a shed load of money on skin products when you have a bad diet, you're only playing catch up.

I'm by no means an advert for healthy living day in day out, but I do include foods in my diet that will help the skin glow. It's a simple thing to do, you just have to make sure that you have a good balanced diet and eat particular foods that will benefit the appearance of your skin. There's no need to be a health freak to gain from this.

If you don't have a particular skin problem, but just want the best glowing skin you can have, then foods that will strengthen, nourish and cleanse are a great starting point.

Foods To Strengthen The Skin:

Peppermint, Garlic, Basil, Carrots, Apples, Olives, Radishes, Mushrooms, Ginger, Cinnamon, Water Chestnuts and Coriander.

Foods To Nourish The Skin:

Anything hot and / or spicy. It's great that I'm addicted to these kinds of foods as my Blair's Death Sauce hub will attest to. These kinds of foods stimulate the circulation and increase blood flow, which means that the amount of vital nutrients flowing around the body is improved. If you look at the bottom of the Blair's Death Sauce hub, you will see that the founder, Blair Lazar has created an intense anti wrinkle cream with capsaicin. The guy is good, not only am I hooked on his sauces, but now I'm using his cream too! Hot and spicy foods are definitely friends of the skin, if you can take the heat.

Foods To Naturally Cleanse The Skin:

Eating Oatmeal is a great way to flush toxins from the body. Less toxins = less blemishes.

If you suffer with dry skin, it can be due to a fat free diet, nutrient deficiency or dehydration. All of which I have had experience at one time or another. It sucks having get the skin back into good condition, but with a bit of effort: 4 Steps To Beautiful Skin, and some nourishing foods, it's attainable.

Essential Fatty Acids: It's essential to have good fats in the diet and these can easily be introduced by cooking with vegetable oils and eating seeds and nuts. I'm a big fan of sunflower seeds, and I love most kinds of nuts so I find these really easy to incorporate into my diet.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids: Oily fish such as mackerel, herring, salmon, sardines and anchovies are a great source of Omega 3. If you aren't a fan of fish, olive oil or corn also contain Omega 3 and are quite easy to include in your diet.

Zinc: Beef and Lamb are high in Zinc, but I don't eat red meat so I have to get my fill elsewhere. Prawns, poultry, eggs, milk, wholegrains and pumpkin seeds seem to do the trick. Liver is also a great source of Zinc but I personally won't go anywhere near that!

Hyaluronic Acid: This helps the skin retain moisture, a definite must for those who suffer with dry skin conditions. Cabbage is a great source, but I hate cabbage! The only way this gets into my diet is via Bubble and Squeak, then I find it delicious.

Lycopene: For anyone who is suffering with dry skin due to sun damage, this is a great way to start to repair the skin. Tomatoes and Cantaloupe melon will help here.

For obvious reasons, I try to stuff my face with as many of these as I can! All these foods are antioxidants which can help to protect skin cells from free radicals, the things that age us prematurely.

Vitamin C: Most people know where to get vitamin c from; Citrus fruits, broccoli and tomatoes are good sources. Though raw cabbage is a big boost, if you can stomach the stuff. I generally get my vitamin c from high quality fruit juices where just the fruit is used, no added crap.

Vitamin A: Also known as beta carotene. Foods rich in vitamin a are: Green and yellow vegetables, apricots, carrots, eggs, butter, sweet potatoes, liver and cantaloupe melon.

Vitamin E: Seeds and nuts, vegetable oils, blackberries and avocados.

Phytochemicals: I freaked out when I first heard about phytochemicals, they didn't sound like something I wanted to put into my body knowingly. After a bit of gained knowledge I found that they are just natural chemicals that come from plants. Panic over! Potatoes, garlic, citrus fruits, blackcurrants and leafy green vegetables such as cabbage are good sources of phytochemicals.

Selenium: Prawns, tuna, lentils, brazil nuts and kidneys. Thankfully prawns contain selenium, as I'm not too keen on much else with it in.

Foods For Acne: If you are prone to greasy skin, foods containing Vitamin E, Vitamin C and Zinc are essential. Leafy green vegetables and soya can help to balance the skin.

Foods For Extra Dry Scaly Skin: This is possibly due to a Vitamin B2 deficiency. Eating foods containing Vitamin B2 is a must. Milk, cheese, green vegetables, poultry and fish are a great source.

Foods For Pale Skin And / Or Itchy Patches: I have incredibly pale skin due to an iron deficiency that comes around once a month. Red meat is a great source of iron, but as mentioned above, I don't eat the stuff. Egg yolk, dried fruits such as prunes, raisins and apricots, wholegrain cereals, potatoes, dried beans and green leafy vegetables are also good sources.

No doubt, some of these foods are already in your diet so you're already doing your skin a favour. But for anyone who does have a really bad diet, it isn't that hard to introduce at least some new foods to benefit the skin and make it glow.

I've purposely gone for everyday foods that anyone can pick up at a supermarket, so if you're looking to improve the appearance of you skin via your diet, now you have no excuse! Make sure that you drink plenty of water too, that's a must for glowing skin.

I still use my beauty products and I'm constantly looking out for new and improved ones, but working from the inside out by eating certain foods works for me alongside this. You can't beat a bit of nature to work wonders.