Feeding Your Skin to Keep it Looking Young and Healthy

Is it really possible to eat and then look young? There are foods that will keep your skin looking and feeling great. Aside from that, there also food lowers the risk of skin cancer. There are certain foods that can protect your skin from damage inside and out.

A study of the Journal of the American Academy of published in March 2010 supports the idea that certain vitamins do help in protecting our skin. The same foods that can boost your defenses against skin cancer also helps keep your skin looking younger and smooth and ward off wrinkles.

Vitamin C

If you want to ward off your wrinkles and avoid age-related dryness, you have to eat more vitamin C-rich foods like strawberries. In 2007, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition conducted a research about the effect of strawberries in our skin. The skin-smoothing effect of vitamin C may be due to its ability to mop up free radicals produced from ultraviolet rays and also its role in collagen synthesis. The fibrous protein content of collagen keeps skin firm and vitamin C helps in the production of collagen.

Coffee

A single cup of coffee daily may lower the risk of developing skin cancer. A study conducted on 93,000 women, published in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention said that those people who drank one cup of caffeinated coffee a day reduced the risk of developing non melanoma skin cancer by about 10 percent. And the more they drink : up to 6 cups per day, the lower their risk. Decaf coffee didn't seem to have that kind of protection.

Omega 3

Omega 3 is an essential fatty acid known for its heart protecting properties. But this nutrient is also needed for keeping the cell membranes healthy. It blocks toxins from entering the body and strengthens skin cells. It helps your skin looking younger longer.

Lycopene

Lycopene is a nutrient that we get from tomatoes. This is the carotenoid that makes tomatoes red. It protects our skin from sunburn. In a study conducted, participants exposed to UV light had almost 50 percent less skin reddening after they ate 2 ½ tablespoons of tomato paste or drank about 1 2/3 cups of carrot juice daily.

This is in addition to their regular diet for 10 to 12 weeks. Those who take lycopene supplement or synthetic lycopene weren't significantly protected against sunburn.

Isoflavones

Preserving skin-firming collagen is what tofu does to our skin because it is rich in isoflavones. The study of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition where they fed mice with isoflavones and exposed them to ultraviolet radiation had fewer wrinkles and smoother skin than mice that were exposed to UV light but didn't take isoflavones. They believe that isoflavones help prevent collagen breakdown.