5 Reasons Why Banana Peels Are Great For Your Skin

Rubbing banana peels on your skin helps reduce aging signs like wrinkles, age spots, and fine lines and soothe inflammation and itchiness due to acne, psoriasis, and eczema. Apart from that, banana peels can also moisturize your skin, reduce puffy eyes, and keep your skin protected from UV rays.

Bananas are great for you to eat. They’re abundantly healthy because of the many nutrients and vitamins they store. The fruit has also, for long, been in use to beautify skin. What’s interesting is that the peel can also be used on the skin for various beauty treatments. Wondering how? Here are 5 great ways banana peels are good for your skin.

5 Benefits Of Banana Peels For Your Skin

1. Reduces Signs Of Aging

The presence of free radicals in the skin results in cell damage. Banana peels are abundant in antioxidants, which when used on the skin combat these free radicals and prevent cell damage.1 The lesser the skin damage, the lesser the signs of aging like wrinkles, fine lines, and age spots. So, use banana peels to make your skin look younger and radiant.

How To Use

Rub the inner portion of a banana peel gently on your skin.

Leave it on for about half an hour and, then, wash with warm water.

2. Relieves Symptoms Of Acne, Psoriasis, And Eczema

Banana peels are said to reduce the inflammation and itchiness that accompanies severe skin conditions like acne, eczema, and psoriasis thanks to its abundant antioxidants and potassium. Besides being a natural treatment method for these skin conditions, banana peels are also said to be great for existing scars and marks.

How To Use

Cut a small piece from a banana peel.

Run the inside of the peel gently on the affected areas of your skin till the peel turns brown.

Leave the peel fibers on your skin for about 30 minutes; then, wipe off with a clean cloth dipped in warm water.

Try this thrice a day for a few days, and you’re likely to see your skin clearing up.

You could also choose to leave the peel fibers on overnight and wash it off in the morning.

3. Moisturizes Skin

If your skin is dry, try using banana peels to moisturize it. Banana peels contain potassium, which is said to be great for dry skin.

How To Use

Moisturize your skin by rubbing the inside of a banana peel on it gently. It’s a good idea to cut pieces of the peel to make a rubbing on the skin easier.

4. Eases Puffy Eyes

The potassium in banana peels helps get rid of the external salt on the skin below your eyes that causes fluid retention, which in turn gives you puffy eyes. The peels are also said to be great for getting rid of under-eye circles.

How To Use

Similar to how you would use cucumber slices on your eye, cut up a banana peel into pieces big enough to cover your eyes.

Leave the pieces on your eyes overnight to give you a fresh look the next morning.

Alternative Method

Scrape some fibers from the peel, and mix it with aloe vera gel.

Apply the mixture around your eyes, and leave it on for about 10–15 minutes; then, rinse with cold water.

Repeat this every day for a few days, and you’re likely to notice your eyes looking less puffy.

5. Protects Skin From UV Rays

Banana with its peel contains vitamin C. This makes it a great source of antioxidants, which prevent cell damage – even that caused by the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.3 So, banana with its peel is a great choice for a natural sunscreen.

How To Use

Rub the inside of a banana peel on your skin gently before you step out into the sun.

Besides these, you could also use banana peels to ward off warts and to get rid of any toxins in your skin. Simply rub a peel on your skin gently. The peels, in general, are said to be quite safe and shouldn’t cause any side effects. 

Remember to use fresh banana peels for beauty treatments.

So, put the peels you would normally throw away after eating the fruit to use and give yourself amazing, glowing skin.

                                                                                                                                                                                              source: BannanaTips

5 Signs Of Vitamin Deficiency That Show Up On Your Face

Vitamins are an integral part of our diet. Though they don’t provide energy like carbohydrates, fats and protein, they help the body with growth and to function optimally. Among other functions, vitamins boost your immune system, help in obtaining energy, heal wounds and strengthen bones in our body. Most often, we obtain these vitamins from our food but supplements are also available in medical and other health stores. Inadequate vitamin intake can result in lethargy, becoming more prone to infections, and in the worst cases, bring about serious health issues. Some signs of vitamin deficiency can show up on our face, reminding us to get the needed dose. Look out for these signs below:

1.   Puffy Eyes

If you’re low on a healthy supply of iodine in your body, you might be waking up with excessively puffy eyes each morning. A study that was conducted in 2006 showed that there was a link between thyroid disease and a low intake of iodine. The symptoms of thyroid disease are exhaustion, fatigue and puffy eyes among others; similar to some symptoms that come from low levels of iodine. Other symptoms include brittle nails, dry skin and weight gain.

Incorporating cranberries, yogurt, kelp, strawberries, potatoes and navy beans in your diet can help regain iodine.

2.   Pale Lips

Pale lips along with pallor, dizziness, fatigue and shortness of breath indicate that your body has low levels of iron, also referred to as anaemia. Anaemia can make you more prone to infections like the common cold, and can also weaken your immune system as time goes on, making your body more prone to external attacks. Heavy menstrual bleeding is one of the most common causes of low iron in the body.

Regularly eating foods like beans, dark leafy green vegetables, peas, iron-fortified cereals, seafood and red meat can keep your body in check.

3.  Dry Hair

All of us have our bad hair days but persistent dry hair and a lot of dandruff can be signs of low vitamin B7 or biotin in our body. This also leads to brittle nails and extremely thin hair. However, biotin supplements are widely available and can help to improve hair quality overall, and can even help with diabetes treatment.

Foods that contain biotin are eggs, almonds, nuts, legumes and whole grains.

4.  Pale Skin

Pale skin is implicated in different types of vitamin deficiency, but pale skin couples with a completely smooth tongue mean that your body low on vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is needed for the normal functioning of the brain and the nervous system, and also helps in the formation of new red blood cells.

While supplements are always available, foods like salmon, red meat, fortified cereals, Swiss cheese and yogurt are great options to include in your diet for vitamin B12.

5.   Bleeding Gums

Slight bleeding in our gums when we brush or floss is normal, but if you’ve had a lot more bleeding and highly sensitive gums recently, you could have dangerously low levels of vitamin C. The condition is called scurvy and was an extremely common disease in sailors who would go months without any vitamin C intake. Though the condition is quite rare today, you can still be prone to it.

Fruits like guava, grapefruit, gooseberry, oranges along with other foods like red peppers, kale, Brussels sprouts and broccoli are all rich in vitamin C.

                                                                                                                                                                                       source: Vitamins