The motivation behind improving one's health and wellness through diet is often related to improving outer appearance, since your state of internal health will eventually show on an external level. Aside from weight, other external health complaints are related to blemished skin and dull, dry hair. When you prioritize getting enough nutrients in your diet from the proper foods, you'll notice your skin start to glow and see the texture of your hair improve.

Healthy hair and skin depend on vitamins, minerals and other nutrients from unprocessed, nutrient dense foods. When you begin to experience hair growth, improved hair texture and clear skin, it's a sign that your body is absorbing crucial nutrients to health at the cellular level. Aesthetics aside, healthy hair and skin are a sign of good health.

Green smoothies are one of the best ways to feed your cells (and therefore, your skin and hair) with life-giving nutrients because they require minimal digestive effort and are easy for your body to absorb. We recommend drinking your daily green smoothie alone on an empty stomach for best results. Here are 8 green smoothie ingredients to help you achieve shiny, healthy hair and glowing skin!

Omega 3 essential fatty acids are one of the most beneficial green smoothie ingredients. They are the healthy fats that are required for good health. We must get these fats from our diet because our bodies cannot produce them.

Healthy fats promote healthy hair and skin by moisturizing hair and skin cells. If you're lacking essential fatty acids in your diet, you may consistently experience dry skin or dry hair year round.

One of the best sources of omega 3's are fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel, but since you won't be making a fish smoothie (yuck), you can use avocado, chia seeds and ground flaxseed instead.

Note: Omega 6 essential fatty acids also promote healthy skin and hair, but in today's diet, we are consuming far too many omega 6's from vegetable oils and corn that are used heavily in processed, store bought and restaurant foods.^[1] For this reason, I recommend checking in with a qualified healthcare practitioner to determine whether or not you need to increase the amount of omega 6's in your diet, as each individual's needs will vary.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant vitamin that produces collagen to maintain skin elasticity and give skin a firm and smooth appearance. Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, citrus and papaya are all sweet green smoothie ingredients that are packed with vitamin C, making them an easy add to your creamy concoctions.

Chlorophyll is the green pigment that gives all plants their green color. Known in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as a powerful blood cleanser, chlorophyll is rich in magnesium and helps deliver oxygen to the blood. This mechanism can change the outer appearance of the skin to have the sought after healthy "glow” that comes from getting proper nutrition.

As a cleanser, chlorophyll helps the body neutralize toxins to be safely eliminated. By offering nutritional support to the primary organs of detoxification, such as the liver and kidneys, chlorophyll may help prevent toxins from coming through the skin, which can manifest as acne, rashes and other skin conditions.

You can add chlorophyll to your smoothies by including leafy greens such as spinach, romaine, kale and chard as well as wheatgrass and algae such as chlorella and spirulina.

Zinc is an antioxidant mineral with anti-inflammatory properties, which can help reduce the appearance of skin when acne, swelling, redness, rashes and other blemishes are present. If you experience on-going problematic skin, you may benefit from increasing the amount of zinc in your diet.

Although the most bioavailable form of zinc comes from animal sources such as poultry and seafood, you can include zinc from plant sources in your smoothies by blending a few tablespoons of pumpkin seeds, cashews, ½ cup of cooked oats, leafy green vegetables or by adding a few almonds.

Vitamin A is another important nutrient to keeping skin looking supple. A deficiency in Vitamin A can cause the outer appearance of skin to become dry and rough.

It's interesting to note that zinc may help increase vitamin A levels in the blood ^[2], which further explains how these two nutrients can help improve skin health. You can include vitamin A in your smoothies by adding dark leafy greens, romaine lettuce, cantaloupe and mango.

Iron is a hair mineral, needed for growth and to prevent hair loss. If you experience excessive hair loss, it may be a sign of iron deficiency. Dark leafy greens such as chard and nuts and seeds such as cashews and sesame seeds are plant based sources of iron that can be included in your smoothies.

Since your hair is made from protein, it makes sense that you need sufficient protein in your diet to keep your hair healthy! A lack of protein can result in split ends and dry, brittle hair.

There are several ways to include protein in your smoothies from plain organic greek yogurt, a high quality undenatured whey protein, hemp hearts, chlorella protein and brown rice protein or pea protein.