It’s easy to guess the types of foods that are bad for your skin, live on a diet of fatty foods, takeaways and chocolate and you can’t complain if your face is littered with pimples. Finding the foods that are good for your skin isn’t difficult, but what you might not know is there are some really unusual items that are great for your complexion, please let us elaborate.

• Nettles: Normally nettles are nasty, get stung by them and you’ll know what we mean. So the last thing you’d want to put anywhere near your body is nettles right? Wrong! Nettle tea is a refreshing tonic that helps to calm a range of skin conditions. It’s great for eczema, helps to eliminate acne and it’s good for detoxifying too. Fresh brew anyone?

• Peppermint: If you can’t get your head around the idea of drinking nettle tea try a refreshing cup of peppermint tea instead. It’s a good stress reliever, stops headaches and it’s also fab for your skin. If you like mint you’ll adore a cup of peppermint tea, why not serve it for elevenses?

• Tomatoes: Fruit or veg? Some say veg but tomatoes are actually a fruit and they’re packed with vitamin C. That on its own is a good reason to throw extra tomatoes into your salad but the other selling point is they contain lycopene which helps to stimulate circulation around the skin. Eat them on their own or make a home-made soup for a scrummy lunchtime treat.  

• Beetroot: Another salad favourite, beetroot has a high concentrate of vitamin A along with vitamin E too. It contains other healthy nutrients as well and together they provide a powerful, natural formula that helps to flush toxins from the body. Be careful how you eat beetroot though, it stains, so it’s best to be on your guard.

You could eat or drink all these items on a regular basis, introduce them to your diet and see what they do for your complexion.