Eating Your Way to Healthy Skin

Summer is coming and most of us need to be concerned about what the sun is doing to our skin when we are enjoying the outdoors. Besides doing the obvious things like using the right sunscreen and keeping covered as much as you can handle (when it is hot who wants to be covered up?), the way you eat can help strengthen the natural protections that your body has against harmful UV rays.

Free radicals are the biggest foe in this fight, because they cause damage to cells, both inside and out. The best way to deal with them is to eat plenty of foods that are rich in anti-oxidants (yes, they come up again and again, no matter what health issue we are talking about). There are many varieties of anti-oxidants, but only three types; enzymes, vitamins, and phytochemicals. The body produces none of these.

Enzymes are found in the food that we eat, and require a co-factor in order to do its job properly. Co-factors are things like iron, copper, selenium, magnesium and zinc. Enzymes will still provide some benefit without a co-factor, but with one the benefits will be maximized. Enzyme anti-oxidants include superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and catalases.

Vitamins are also found in food, but do not gain benefits from co-factors. Anti-oxidant vitamins include A, C, E, and folic acid (B9).

Vitamin C protects the skin from UV rays by promoting better iron absorption. Foods that have Vitamin C include bell and chili peppers, citrus, tomatoes, peas, papayas, leafy greens, kiwis, broccolis, berries, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bok choy, pineapple, avocadoes, persimmons.

Vitamin E absorbs some of the energy from UV rays, helping to prevent free-radical damage from happening. You can find vitamin E in chili powder, dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley, paprika, toasted almonds, almond butter, roasted sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, peanuts, peanut butter, wheat germ, sockeye salmon, tuna, tomatoes, oatmeal, broccoli, green olives, asparagus, spinach, swiss chard, kale, rice, mangoes, kiwi, dried apricots, butternut squash, red bell peppers, and avocados.

Phytochemicals are something that plants use to protect themselves from the sun, and people who eat them gain some of those benefits. Whole grains contain phytochemicals, but processed grains have none. Phytochemical anti-oxidants include allyl sulfides (onions, leeks, garlic), carotenoids like lycopene and beta-carotene (tomatoes, orange vegetables, dark greens), flavonoids (berries, tree fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans), and polyphenols (black or green tea, grapes, blueberries, cranberries, pomegranates). Beta-carotene does a particularly good job against free radicals. The skin of tomatoes is packed with lycopene, which not only protects your skin from harmful UV rays, but also lessens how red you get.

Melanin provides very strong protection against UV rays, and there are ways to increase your melanin levels with food. There are two main elements that help produce melanin, elastin and copper. Foods that help promote melanin production are organ meat (liver especially), shellfish, nuts, dark chocolate, beans, whole grains, and seeds.

Omega-3s are important to good health for so many reasons, and good skin is one of them. It provides a healthy layer of fat beneath the skin that helps to protect against UV rays. Omega-3s are found in flax seeds, oatmeal, black or kidney beans, almonds, walnuts, fatty fish, fish oil, eggs, crab, lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, oysters, scallops, conch, and octopus.

The body produces melatonin naturally, and it not only protects the skin from UV damage, but also helps to repair damage already done, through new cell generation. Eating cherries, pineapples, oranges, bananas, sweet corn, barley, oats, rice, and tomatoes can increase melatonin production.

So avoid the sun when you can, cover up when possible, and eat with your skin in mind. Your future self will thank you.

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