Loose Skin after Weight Loss? 5 Diet Tips to Tighten Skin

March 9, 2010

After a significant weight loss, the next major goal that a lot of people face is the challenge of trying to tighten skin. Before you hit up the Hollywood plastic surgery circuit, try these tips to get your skin tight and supple. Keep in mind that skin is a live organ, turning over and becoming new everyday.

1. Add Coconut to Your Diet

Raw coconut, and other raw foods will improve skin’s elasticity. The antioxidants and enzymes in raw fruits and vegetables help control toxins that are inhaled or consumed daily. Toxins leave the body through the oil glands and hurt your skin. Coconut oil is a saturated fat, which is made up of fatty acids. It is not easily broken down, so it works as an antioxidant, protecting the skin from free radicals. Consuming raw coconut or coconut oil does your skin plenty of good. Think about all of the grandmothers that live in tropical countries and look so young–no sagging skin!

2. Put Lotion on your Skin: Aloe Vera Extract

Aloe vera has been known to help skin for ages. Remember slathering it on your sunburn as a child? Now you are older and wiser, and hopefully not getting sunburned, but keep some aloe vera in your medicine cabinet. Aloe vera extract helps make skin more taut by charging up your body’s collagen production. Use aloe vera gel on the skin to help increase collagen production.

3. Get Some Hyaluronic Acid

This component of connective tissue is crucial to the body because it cushions and lubricates body tissues. It also has been shown to repair connective tissues, heal injured ligaments, repair cartilage, and improve the look of wrinkles–a form of loose skin. Hyaluronic acid is not found in many foods, but could be obtained through animal food parts that do contain it, like joints and cartilage. Of course you aren’t going to eat that, so consider making stock or broth by boiling those parts and using it in soups, rice, boiling potatoes, etc.

4. Magnesium

Magnesium works hand in hand with hyaluronic acid to speed muscle growth. That stock that was previously mentioned can be used to boil your magnesium-rich potatoes. The two elements combined equal a slam dunk of magnesium. Nuts, peanut butter, halibut, soybeans and spinach are among the many magnesium rich foods that are easy to add to your healthy diet.

5. Supplement with Soy Protein, Yeast Extract and Spirulina

These three herbal remedies can work wonders for your skin’s elasticity. These elements build collagen and stunt the aging process. They are super-rich in antioxidants, grabbing on to those free-radicals and keeping them from damaging the skin.

So, before you do anything drastic for your loose, sagging skin, keep in mind that doctors will generally suggest that you wait two years to be sure that you’ve done all you can naturally to tighten up the skin. And while you’re busy doing everything that you can to help improve the look of your skin, keep in mind that you’re doing helpful things to prevent aging as well!