8 Habits That Are Messing Up Your Complexion

There’s no point making grand skincare resolutions that you’re likely to toss out in a week or two. Instead, weed out easily missed everyday habits that are the real culprits behind your skin problems, such as being glued to your smartphone, yo-yoing sleeping time and overindulging your sweet tooth.

- Pearlyn Tham

Screw-up #1: Hopping from one fad diet to the next

In an era of Paleo menus, green cleanses and acaibowls-for-breakfast, not only are you what you eat, your skin is also what you eat. In fact, your skin bears the brunt of your everchanging diet.

As Jaclyn Reutens, dietitian at Aptima Nutrition & Sports Consultants, puts it, fad diets often miss out on important foods such as whole grains, fruit, chicken and red meat, which are high in vitamins A and C, and minerals such as zinc and selenium. “These vitamins and minerals improve collagen formation, protect against acute photo damage and [aid in the regeneration of] skin cells.”

Jaclyn adds that the different nutrients across food groups work together to help maintain the skin’s barrier function – its first line of defence – which is subject to environmental and internal stressors every day.

“If you keep trying fad diets ever so often, you will not [have a] constant supply of [certain] nutrients and your skin will likely suffer the consequences.”

If you must go on a diet, don’t do it for more than four months, advises Dr Eileen Tan, dermatologist at Dr Eileen Tan Skin, Laser and Hair Transplant Clinic. She adds that a deficiency in nutrients such as zinc, folate, iron and vitamin B12 is also the reason for hair loss and brittle nails.

“Individuals who jump from one fad diet to another also tend to have yo-yoing weight. Large swings in body weight can cause skin laxity and disrupt your hormones,” says Dr Calvin Chan, medical director at Calvin Chan Aesthetic & Laser Clinic.

Screw-up #2: Overindulging your sweet tooth