HOUSTON – It's been said you are what you eat, but what about what you drink? Coffee, milk, even alcoholic beverages can have a dramatic impact on not just your health, but your skin as well.
From coffee to cola, the things you drink can show on your skin.
"The first sign of dehydration in our skin is on our lips," said Dr. Heather Woolery-Lloyd, a dermatologist.
If your lips feel dry, that means you're not drinking enough water, which is vital for keeping skin looking soft.
"When you're dehydrated the skin looks dull, it feels dull it's not as supple as you would like," Dr. Woolery-Lloyd said.
When it comes to robbing moisture from your skin, alcohol is a prime offender. For every glass of alcohol that you drink, you lose more than one glass of water.
"So if you're drinking a lot of alcohol it's especially important the next day you have to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. You have to make up for all the lost liquid you lost from the alcohol," said Dr. Woolery-Lloyd.
While milk may do a body good, but it can be bad for people prone to acne.
"Multiple studies show the more milk you drink the more acne you're likely to have and the more severe that acne is," Dr. Woolery-Lloyd said.
Instead of cow's milk, consider alternatives like soy, rice or almond milk. Sugary drinks like soda can also cause break-outs.
"Sugary drinks are problematic because they significantly raise your insulin levels and when your insulin levels go up, so does a hormone associated with acne," Dr. Woolery-Lloyd told us.
Caffeinated coffee can pack a powerful punch on the positive side.
"In one study, drinking three cups of coffee a day reduced your risk of skin cancer by 21 percent and this is likely due to the antioxidants we have in coffee," said Dr. Woolery-Lloyd.
Green tea is another beverage rich in antioxidants and while it's unclear whether drinking it will help your skin, a study did show that using a topical cream and taking a supplement with green tea extract helped skin look younger and healthier.
Red wine has two substances that actually prevent aging: grape seed extract and resveratrol. But too much alcohol increases free radicals, which age the skin.