The Wellness Scoop - The Extra Scoop: Can You Eat Your Way to Glowing Skin?

Episode Date: April 24, 2025

Is glowing skin all about luck, or can your diet really make a difference? In this 15-minute conversation, we’ll dive into the buzzwords, nutrients, and so-called "skin superfoods" that claim to transform your skin. We’ll also explore lifestyle factors like stress, hydration, and sleep, and ask whether supplements and trendy fixes really live up to the hype. Plus, we’ll reflect on the pressures and unrealistic beauty standards that impact how we feel about our skin. We’re joined by Dr. Thivi Maruthappu, Consultant Dermatologist and Nutritionist, to discuss how diet and lifestyle impact skin health. In This Episode, We Cover: Whether diet truly affects skin health or if it’s more about genetics Key nutrients and "skin superfoods" that can make a difference The role of stress, hydration, and sleep in skin health The effectiveness of supplements, including collagen and beauty gummies Whether quick fixes like face sculpting devices and LED lights actually work Dr Thivi Maruthappu is the author of SkinFood: Your 4-Step Solution to Healthy, Happy Skin Live Show Tickets - https://cadoganhall.com/whats-on/the-wellness-scoop-with-ella-mills-and-rhiannon-lambert/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Conditions apply to all benefits. Visit pcfinancial.ca for details. Welcome to the Extra Scoop, our expert-led bonus episodes, giving you the need to know on the topics everybody is talking about. That's right, from gut health to sleep, hormones to skin, we are cutting through the noise with top

experts. So there is no fluff, just facts. Exactly. It's all quick, practical, evidence-based advice to fit into your busy lives. So this is The Extra Scoop. Let's get started. So today we've got Thibaut Marathapu with us who's going to be talking about everything and whether trendy fixes really live up to the hype or whether or not we're just all

putting way too much pressure on ourselves for totally unrealistic beauty standards. And Thibaut, I think if we start by saying, look, diet and skin health, we hear it all the time, but is that actually aside from the usual, you know, I'll eat your vitamin A or have your healthy fats, is there a way of eating for glowing skin or is it mostly genetics? You know, those people that just seem to eat whatever they want and have great skin. Is there a link? It's such a good question and I get asked about it all the time. So, you know, your skin health, it's multifactorial. There's so many different things that are playing a role here. So, it is your diet. Your diet is an important part of general skin health. Your skin is supplied by all the nutrients from the food that you're eating. They do reach the skin. So, what you're eating is reflected in your skin. But also,

of course, your genetics. Some people are going to be prone to certain skin conditions like eczema or breakouts. It doesn't matter what they eat. Although eating a really good balanced diet is important as an anti-inflammatory part of taking care, even if you have a skin condition. And of course, your skincare routine matters, how you live your life matters, whether you're doing lots of exercise or whether you're getting good sleep, whether you're keeping hydrated, whether you have lots of alcohol. It's actually all of it together that plays a really important role in how your skin looks and feels because your skin is so important how you feel about yourself as well. Yeah, I definitely agree with that. It's amazing the impact it has on your self-esteem. And I think

that's something we can all relate to. I know every time I open a magazine or I'm doom scrolling social media, which I do more than I don't care to admit. You see things like the 10 things you've got to eat for glowing skin or the eight skin superfoods and all sorts of quite click-baity headlines. Are there, as you said, it does matter what we eat, but are there specific nutrients or specific superfoods, things in our diet that make a really big difference, what should we be thinking about adding?

So when I'm in the clinic and I'm talking to people about what should you eat to look after your skin, and obviously in the clinic I'm using it in conjunction with sometimes with medical treatments, sometimes with skincare routines, I always use my little acronym GLOW, and it just helps people to remember what other nutrients are and try and think about how they want to build their plate because it's all about bringing good food into your diet rather than cutting things out. So the G stands for greens and all the colorful fruits and vegetables full of antioxidants. L is lean protein. That could be chickpeas. That could be tofu, whatever sources you want to get it from, but you need that protein for healthy skin. O is your oils and healthy fats, your omega-3.

We want to have lots of olive oil, flax seeds, nuts and seeds. And finally, W is whole grains, which always seems to be something people are trying to remove from their diet, but actually is so important for your gut health and your gut is linked to your skin. And so I really try and make a balanced plate. And I really talk to people, you know, when you look at your plate, have you got all those nice things in your plate? It doesn't have to be every meal of the day,

but throughout the day, think about including all of those nutrient dense foods. And what I love about what you've just said is it's not just go and have an avocado or just go and eat a handful of nuts for skin. You've literally discussed what I would call a balanced plate as a nutritionist. You know, this is how to eat most of the time. It's not fatty, it's not expensive, this is your

everyday balanced plate. So I guess a thought and a question is if we've got this skin microbiome as well with gut health and there's lots of posts out there and people talking about these individual nutrients, how true is that when it comes to somebody saying, well, you're not eating enough vitamin E, therefore your skin isn't going to be plump and look lifted and hydrated? So there are deficiencies that will show up in your skin. So say iron deficiency might get dry, itchy skin,

low vitamin D is linked to lots of different skin conditions actually. But picking out those nutrients doesn't automatically give you better skin if you're actually generally quite healthy. You don't need to supplement with specific things to improve the health of your skin. I really feel that actually you should be getting it from the food that you're eating and you might end up wasting money.

Really the focus shouldn't be on supplementing all the time. It should be getting your diet right and then supplementing as you need it. I love that as well, because what you're recommending to people, as Rhi was just saying, is not particularly expensive. It's just normal, normal food that are delicious and easy to cook simple meals with every day. And if we look beyond our diet, how much do our other lifestyle factors play in? So what we eat is really important, but do we see stress, hydration, sleep, do we see that showing up in our skin as well?

Absolutely. So sleep deprivation can worsen itching from eczema. It can impair your skin barrier. So it actually has measurable effects on the skin. Keeping hydrated, you can see more fine lines and wrinkles if you're not fully hydrated. So yeah, all of those things are super important for skin health. And it's not sort of just my word for it. Actually, there's science that backs it up. There's science that backs up if you eat more brightly colored fruits and vegetables, you will eventually age better and have less fine lines and wrinkles in the long term. Isn't that really amazing? So it's actually, there's good research that backs up that actually

looking after your overall health is very important for the health of your skin. Not to be negative, but on the flip side, things like alcohol, do we see that or potentially over consumption of ultra processed foods? Do we see, and I'm not demonizing having a Margarita lover, but like like a consistent more excessive consumption of alcohol foods like ultra processed foods, loads and loads and loads of sugar. Does that have a negative impact? So excess alcohol consumption is linked with flares of skin conditions and also accelerated ageing, particularly the upper part of the face. So I always encourage people, you know, enjoy your wine, enjoy your margarita, but moderate it.

Do you know what I mean? When you said the upper part of the face, do you mean some people that drink around their eyes and their forehead? Yes, exactly. It's an American study and they actually found that the upper part of the face had more fine lines and wrinkles than people who were drinking

more than what they are recommended to, yeah. And of course, does that come out differently with your different genetic makeups? Have you got different skin colors, textures? Yes, yes. So some people do age better. Yeah, exactly. Of course, some people, you know, they will,

they can get away with sort of lifestyle habits a bit more easily, but you know, we talk about general trends and the general trend is, you know, alcohol isn't the best for skin aging and general skin health. And you know, if you've got eczema, rosacea, psoriasis, eczema, you know, all of those things can flare with alcohol. And what about food? Because I think as well as reading like eight things that will change

your skin, sometimes it's the flip side of like trying to say never eat these things ever again. Is there any truth in that? No. So I think you've got to balance it all. I mean, there has been some recent research that showed that ultra processed food were linked with more severe psoriasis, but that is people who are really consuming a lot of it. So it is part of everybody's diet. You don't need to demonise it, but you do want to be eating fresh, healthy homemade meals where possible. So there'll be lots of people listening to this that at home experience severe acne or

it's something they've had their whole lives lives they've had to go on various medications. Is there any advice for listeners out there that are going through that or they've been on, is it Roacatine that some people take for their skin or they get- Roacatine, yeah. Yeah, it's a strong medication for acne. So as I said in the beginning, skin conditions are multifactorial and for some people, a lot of it is driven by genetics and even if their diet is so good, they're still going to have acne, they're still going to have rosacea or psoriasis or eczema. And I see so many people who've tried to cut lots of food out of their diet. And actually, really, that isn't the way to cure, in inverted commas, any skin condition.

If you've got a good balanced diet, you're meeting your nutritional needs, we need to go in with some effective medical treatments, a really good skincare routine. There are so many options that you shouldn't sit at home and suffer trying to sort of make your diet smaller and smaller in order to get results. That's a very empowering statement. So thank you for sharing that because I think that because it's such a hot topic skin, it almost feels like it's your fault. And I think it's really empowering to know. I think it's a big part of skin, it almost feels like it's your fault. And I think it's really empowering to know.

I think it's a big part of this show for us is just showing, be that suffering with some skin challenges, be that anxiety, etc. These feelings are so normal and it's so normal our life ebbs and flows and there's nothing wrong with you or what you're doing. And I think it's quite easy to feel like that in the online world where we're just so bombarded with other people's lives. So much of it's not even true. It's certainly an augmented reality. And so much self-blame around food as well, isn't there? You know, oh my goodness, I ate this dark chocolate last night, that must be why I have a breakout the next day.

You know, you cannot go down that route. There are people who'll be eating sweets and sugary fizzy drinks all day and not have one pimple. So you can't underestimate what genetics is doing. I'm excited to quickly share with you all that you can pre-order my new book, The Unprocessed Plate now. And Ella and I discuss this all the time that the world of food and nutrition is currently full of conversations surrounding ultra-processed foods and this is for good reason and in my book The Unprocessed Plate I dive into what UPFs actually are, explore the latest evidence on how they impact our health and most importantly how we can reduce

our reliance on them without overhauling our entire lives and remember there's a lot of nuanced guides, there's a privileged conversation, lots of things here but I want to cut through the noise and offer actual practical solutions. There's incredible diagrams of nuanced guides, there's a privileged conversation, lots of things here. But I want to cut through the noise and offer actual practical solutions. There's incredible diagrams to make the science more accessible and there's 60 amazing recipes, family friendly, everything from breakfast, weekday dinners, quick lunches, simple swaps and snacks and things you can have on the go that makes such a difference. And trust me, whether you're a busy parent or you're just trying to reduce these in your diet on your everyday workload, this book is here to support and empower you to get back to basics with food without the pressure of this perfectionism. So if you want

to feel more informed and inspired in the kitchen, then you can pre-order your copy of the Unprocessed Plate now. It's out June the 19th. And back to me and Ella. play now. It's out June the 19th. And back to me and Ella. When it comes to supplements, again, that's something that we see people talking about a lot, collagen in particular, or beauty gummies, for example. What is your view? I know you said earlier, your kind of first port of call for everybody is thinking about that balanced diet. Do you believe in all these various different supplements? So I think there's some really important supplements. Vitamin D, I think is essential.

We don't get enough. We need it for our skin barrier to work properly and general health of our skin. So definitely your vitamin D. Some people will need it only through the winter months. Some people that I see in the clinic, if you've got a skin condition and you're covered up, you need it all year.

I think omega-3, if you're not able to get it through your diet, I have some people who are allergic to the foods that contain omega-3, or they just don't find them very palatable. So then I think an omega-3 supplement is really good. I think women can run low on iron very easily because of our menstrual cycles, pregnancy, breastfeeding, all of those things just kind of seep the iron out of our diet and sometimes it's difficult to top it up just through food alone. And sometimes iron supplements are really good to think about as well, especially for hair, really important for hair.

Can I ask, and before we go on to collagen and the big ones that I know that everyone's desperate to hear, but you're quite a rare health professional in the sense that you're a qualified registered nutritionist and you're a qualified registered nutritionist and you're a dermatologist. So you've got the combined approach which I absolutely adore. And when you mention supplements, it's obviously important, isn't it, to say don't just go out and suddenly take a high dose of iron supplement because that could be quite detrimental. So I work off the blood test. So if someone has come in with symptoms of low iron, like feeling really tired, they're losing

their hair, their skin is dry, and their skin might be itchy, I'm always going to check the iron, and then I'm going to replace it depending on what I'm seeing. So it is important to get those things tested. Yeah, and then can you give us, so Ella and I have been itching about it. I mean, look, we're 30s now. I think I feel like when you hit your 30s you're just bombarded with this kind of aging messaging it's everywhere it's at the school pick up it's in every algorithm collagen for aging I know there's some research for joints what about aging? So I mean if you for prevention of aging number one is sunscreen I mean that is going to trump everything else so good diet good skincare routine and sunscreen everything else on top of that is a little bit of extra.

You can do a little bit of collagen if you want to and try it and see if you see an improvement. Some people really do notice hair and nails growing more quickly if they're taking collagen supplements, but you have to remember to look at the source of that collagen and you know, what is the original source of it. And you have to think about whether that's something that you're happy with.

I think there are lots of other things that you could do on top of collagen. If you're getting adequate protein, that is what is making the collagen in your skin. And most of us actually don't need to supplement on top of that. Well, that will save everyone a lot of money, which is absolutely brilliant news.

Before we go on to our final question, I actually wonder, we keep talking about aging and what's your kind of view on the term anti-aging or how do you describe it? Because again, I think everything about this show is we want people to leave feeling empowered and inspired and comfortable in themselves. And as we're talking about today, so much of what in the case of skin, but in everything we talk about, it's actually about these simple things. It's sleep, it's stress management, it's a generally balanced diet, it's a bit of exercise, it's quite simple tools but it feels like we're trying to make it all so complicated

and aging feels like one of those things when we're all trying to sort of Benjamin button ourselves and there's a lot of press out there of what is a 30 year old even meant to look like now? And it feels like we sort of lost a semblance of perspective on aging and we're trying to do the impossible. What's your view on that? So, I mean, I really have a holistic view on aging. I have a patient who inspires me every time I see her. She's in her 80s, she's still working, she does yoga every day. She's got loads of wrinkles, but she is just amazing. She is full of energy. She tells me

what she eats super healthy, all you know, loves her fruits, vegetables, you know, she's always cooking. And she jumps up the stairs to her appointment. And I think isn't that how we all want to age, we want to feel good, we want to be flexible, we want to feel positive, how our skin looks? Yeah, it makes us feel good. But I don't think we should be fighting every line and wrinkle. Because sometimes when you go down the route of just trying to fix everything on the outside, and you don't think about how you feel on the

inside, there can be a real disconnect. You might look, in inverted commas, like a 25-year-old, but you don't feel great. You don't like what you see in the mirror. You're tired. You need to look at the whole thing. Have you seen lots of people, have you have, you know, patients come to your clinic and your practice that have gone too far with that sort of thing, you know, and then you've had to give them advice to sort of, I don't know, dull it down a little bit in terms of all the measures that people take for anti-aging? I think people are doing it anyway, actually. I think the general trend is to

go a little bit more natural and look, you know, if you want to do a little bit of treatments here and there, why not? But make sure that you're doing everything else. There's no point doing all of those things if you're not, you know, using sunscreen and have got a, you know, balanced diet. You need to do the groundwork for your general health and well-being as well as taking care of your skin from the outside. So I mean each to their own if you want if those things make you feel good great but think of it all together don't just think of you know if I fix this wrinkle I'm going to be happy because chances are you might not be. But also as you're saying it's also normal to have a wrinkle there's

nothing strange about us. Oh absolutely yes yeah yeah yeah good and we just need to drink lots of water eat a balanced diet and that will be the most powerful thing we can do every single day. And you feel good too. Yeah. And what about things that we see again, a lot at the moment in the press and online, LED lights, face sculpting devices, a lot of these at home solutions. I quite like LED lights, actually. I think red lights quite good. I have one myself and I think it's been effective for me and I have patients in the clinic who really enjoy using them as well. I think it's quite an easy,

relaxing thing to do at home. It doesn't work for everybody. You'd have to try it to know if it's going to help for your skin but it's quite a nice easy non- invasive treatment to have. In terms of microcurrent devices, they do give a lifting effect, but it's not permanent, but they do give a little bit of a lift when you use it. What about having these massages that lift your face? Because I had one of these treatments and I could see a difference, I sent Ella my before and after picture,

I could see a difference in my face. I've shared it online and had so many people say, oh my goodness, but realistically, should we be working out the muscles on our face every single morning? Is that a beneficial thing to do? Massage is amazing for skin health, amazing, and I think it originates in Japan doesn't it? That amazing lifting facial massage technique and it is fantastic because it boosts collagen so it is a natural way to boost the collagen in your skin. So you can do it at home, you don't always have to go and have someone

do it. It's so good to have someone do it because you'll see some great results and learn how to do it. But you can definitely do it yourself at home. So even just two minutes at home with a gouache or one of those different tools or even just your hands worth doing every morning if you can. Yeah, it's worth doing. I love it. So it sounds like our take homes are, give yourself a couple of minutes massage in the morning if you can. LED lights definitely could be interesting to explore. But the big thing to focus on is a balanced diet with your GLOW acronym, which sounds like a very simple thing for people to follow. Really focus on hydration, on sleep, on looking after yourself, but also remembering that it's completely normal to get spots, it's

completely normal to get wrinkles and just embrace that holistic view of the way that we age, that it's fixing, as you said, which I just love, fixing one wrinkle won't fix. All our anxiety is about getting older. Yeah, so obviously all of those things are super important, but if you're struggling, if you've got a skin condition, it's really getting you down, go and see someone. We have so many different ways to tackle it nowadays. And a qualified person.

Of course. Yes. Thank you, Vivi. Thank you. Thank you guys so much for listening to us on the Extra Scoop. We are a community-based podcast. We want this to be helpful for you.

So any requests, we want to hear it. Absolutely. Let us know which experts that you want on the Extra Scoop. And we will see you on Monday. Can't wait.