Benefits of Juicing for Skin Health: How Fresh Juice Leads to Better Skin

Everybody knows how good fresh juice is for your body but did you know about the numerous benefits of juicing for skin health? Yup, regularly drinking fresh juice can actually produce visible results in the appearance of your skin. Curious how? Let’s delve deep into the connection between juicing and better, healthier skin.

Is Juicing Good for Your Skin?

The short answer is: Yes. And when you dig into it, it’s pretty obvious why. After all, fresh fruits and veggies have heaps of antioxidants that protect your cells – including your skin cells – from toxins and damage. Not to mention the fact that fresh fruits and vegetables are packed with vital vitamins and minerals that nourish your skin.

So it’s not a matter of whether juicing is good for your skin – that’s a definite, resounding YES. But let’s count the ways how juicing benefits skin health.

A Rosy Complexion

A new study proves that eating more fruits and veggies can indeed lead to a healthier, rosier complexion.

Over a six-week period, researchers tracked the fruit and vegetable intake of 35 participants with varying levels of fruit and veggie consumption to try to figure out exactly at how many servings of produce a day produced a noticeable boost in beauty.

“Our study suggests that an increase in fruit and veggie consumption of around three portions, sustained over a six-week period, is sufficient to convey perceptible improvements in the apparent healthiness and attractiveness of facial skin,” says lead researcher Dr. Ross Whitehead of the University of St. Andrews School of Psychology.

“Conversely, the participants that worsened their diet became paler.”

The researchers found that higher intake was associated with noticeable changes to skin color.

Specifically, the participants eating more fruits and veggies saw an increase in red and yellow tones in their skin, which the researchers attributed to the carotenoids found in many plants such as carrots, yams, pumpkins, apples and spinach.

The main carotenoids focused on in this study were beta-carotene, which gives beetroots their brilliant hue, and lycopene, which gives tomatoes their bright coloring.

Juicing Protects Your Skin

The benefits of both of the above carotenoids are well-known. Studies have linked beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant, to its ability to counter a specific type of UV radiation from sunlight.

Lycopene has also been shown to protect the skin from within from the damaging effects of sun exposure, including sunburn.

Want to know which fruits and veggies contain the most carotenoids? When you’re juicing for skin protection, be sure to include:

• Sweet potatoes
• Carrots
• Dark green leafy greens
• Squash
• Cantaloupes
• Sweet red peppers
• Peas
• Broccoli

Just make sure you don’t overdo it with carotenoid-rich foods…in large amounts, they can come with some pretty weird side effects!

Antioxidant Power

We said it before and we’ll say it again: antioxidants are a make-it-or-break-it for your overall skin health.

Free radical damage from the sun, environmental pollutants and from your diet can make you look years older than your actual age. Wrinkles and fine lines are often caused by damage to your skin from free radicals in your bloodstream.

Antioxidants are wonderful agents that will reduce and even help erase some of the damage done to your body by free radicals. This will help make your complexion better and give you a healthy glow.

Clearer Skin, Naturally

If you’ve ever struggled with acne, you probably already know how much adding certain vitamins – like Vitamin A and Vitamin C – can help. Except, it’s not so easy to overhaul your entire diet so that you’re eating your way through enough fresh fruits and vegetables to really see a difference.

That’s where juicing comes in.

Juicing simply makes it really easy to get a huge amount of skin-boosting ingredients into your body. Stat. Becuase let’s face it: eating your way through all the fruits and vegetables your skin needs is no easy feat. Most experts recommend that we include six to eight servings of fruits and vegetables in our daily diet.

Which, I’ll be the first to admit, is easier said than done. Most of us have tried at least once to meet those recommended servings day after day and it usually results in a few fruit snacks – a banana here, an apple there – but how much veggies are you actually including in your diet this way?

It’d be great if we could all eat our way through those daily six to eight servings of fruits and veggies, but the reality is that most of us simply do not have the time nor motivation to prepare and cook various vegetables. Not to mention that some of us don’t even like the taste of and don’t want to have to consume veggies.

Juicing simply provides an easy, convenient way to circumvent these typical blocks – time, motivation, rebellious taste buds – so you can get all the fruits and veggies required to make your skin glow from within, without the struggle.

What’s the Best Juice for Skin Health?

If you’re more than ready to reap all the benefits of juicing for skin health – here are the best recipes to start with. They’re easy on the taste buds and come packed with the best that fresh produce has to offer for your skin!

We love this yummy take on V8 Juice – it’s fresh and natural and is super packed with vitamins A, C and skin-boosting minerals to boot.

This is a personal favorite – it’s an odd recipe but it comes together nicely and it’s so good for giving your skin a boost of Vitamin A and getting your circulation going.

Ever wanted to give your skin a huge boost of vitamin C? Here’s a lovely little juice recipe for skin health.

Extra Skin Health Boosters

If you want to give your skin a little extra something, add some oomph to your juice recipes with these skin boosters!

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published way back in 2012 and totally revamped and updated in April 2021. Enjoy!