Candice Kumai’s fave beauty-boosting breakfast recipes

This January, as part of Well+Good’s (Re)New Year, famed plant-based and classically trained chef Candice Kumai is providing five weeks of healthy recipes to help not only transform your eating habits, but set you up for year-long success. Week One, she curated recipes specifically meant to clean your gut. Last week, it was all about power and energy—AKA meals that are as packed with protein as they are flavor. And this week, she’s crafted a whole week of beauty recipes so you look and feel your best.

Some people just have a glow to them, you know? Even without an expensive highlighter or facial mist, their skin looks dewy and just, well, healthy. The secret? It’s because it is. Former model-turned chef Candice Kumai has spent her career experimenting in the kitchen with natural super foods and beauty boosters. She knows what works and what’s overhyped.

The breakfasts rounded up here are all made with ingredients she knows have an inside-out effect. Antioxidant-rich foods, like berries, help protect the skin against free radicals, which can damage and even kill skin cells. You’ll also see a lot of vitamin C-heavy foods, which have been linked to giving collagen a boost.

Then there are the special boosters, like spirulina (a powerhouse of vitamins), bee pollen (for immunity), and yes, the mother of all beauty powders, the aforementioned collagen, which has been linked for keeping skin plump.

And considering how hydration is essentially the number one beauty rule, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that almost all of Kumai’s fave breakfasts are served up in a glass. Also part of her beauty Rx: drinking eight to ten cups of water, trying yoga out this week for circulation, deep breathing, and clocking eight hours of sleep, each night.

Scroll down for five beauty-boosting breakfast recipes.

Monday: Blueberry beauty shake

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 cups unsweetened almond milk1/2 frozen banana2 cups frozen blueberries4 Tbsp (1 scoop) rice or pea protein powder

1. Add ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Tuesday: Greek yogurt and amaranth berry porridge

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 cup amaranth1 cup coconut milk or almond milk2 cups water1/4 tsp sea salt

To Top:
1 cup mixed berries1 Tbsp local, grade A honey, or agave nectar2 Tbsp almond butter2 Tbsp Greek yogurtFlaxseed meal

1. In a medium saucepan, boil the water and  alt-milk. When water boils, pour in the amaranth and reduce heat to a light simmer and add the sea salt. Cook for approximately 20 minutes or until a porridge like consistency forms.

2. When the amaranth is all cooked through, pour into a bowl. Top with the almond butter, yogurt, honey or agave, mixed berries, and more alt-milk, if desired. Sprinkle with some flaxseed meal. 

Wednesday: Berry breakfast smoothie

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups coconut water1 cup baby spinach1/2 cup frozen blueberries1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries2  tsp spirulina (optional)2 tsp collagen powder (optional)1  Tbsp probiotics/ acidophilus 
(optional)2  Tbsp resveratrol 
(optional)

1. Add ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Thursday: Raspberry beauty elixir

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups coconut water2 cups baby spinach1 cup organic frozen raspberries1 tsp fresh lavender (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)2 Tbsp resveratrol1 cup ice

1. Add ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Friday: Lavender blueberry smoothie

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 cups unsweetened almond milk2 cups kale1 frozen banana1 cup frozen blueberries1 Tbsp fresh lavender (or 1 tsp dried lavender)1 tsp bee pollen1 Tbsp green superfood powder blend

1. Add ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Here’s how to transform your year in more ways, including how to build strong, healthy habits year-round.