We all know how hard it is to keep your skin healthy and blemish-free, especially when you’re leading an active and busy life. The good news is that most of these issues are treatable with the right products and a commitment to caring for your face.
When it comes to wrinkles, a lot fewer people know the best practices for treatment and prevention. Many people feel helpless when it comes to fighting wrinkles and other skin damage that comes with time, and as a result, don’t try to do anything about them.
Though wrinkles are an inevitable part of aging, there are many different ways you can slow them down. One of the ways that often gets overlooked is a healthy diet. Extensive research shows that a diverse diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and lean protein can be a critical part of keeping your skin healthy and preventing wrinkles.
In this article, we are going to detail how a healthy diet, in particular, can help you reduce the appearance and advancement of wrinkles on your face, as well as help you have consistent, healthy-looking skin. Luckily for us, many studies have been conducted on what the best foods and eating practices for healthy skin and wrinkle prevention are. For this guide, we’ve pulled 7 of the best facts from these articles to help you make your best possible choice when it comes to making your diet serve you and your skin.
Eating Low-Glycaemic Foods Can Help Prevent Wrinkles and Breakouts
WebMD recently detailed 7 of the best anti-aging foods for a healthy diet. What was on the top of their list? Oats. So, what do oats have to with the health of your skin? A lot more than you think. Oats are included in the category of low-glycaemic foods, which means they don’t cause spikes in your blood sugar like white bread, refined pasta, and other simple carbohydrates. Plus, oats possess a chemical in its structure that can help prevent damage to skin cells and soothe any skin irritation.
Eating low-glycaemic is generally good for your skin because higher glycaemic foods are well documented in causing acne and wrinkles in the skin, like in this study that showed the impact of low glycaemic diets on acne. Since oats have other benefits for your skin, not to mention being part of a nutritious diet, they are an excellent addition to your healthy skin diet. If you don’t happen to like eating oats, though, your best bet is to eat complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, whole wheat, or barley. These are all low-glycaemic foods that will help keep your skin from experiencing breakouts and developing more wrinkles and can easily be incorporated into your comprehensive healthy skin diet.
Low-Glycaemic Foods:
- Oats
- Brown Rice
- Whole Wheat
- Barley
- Sweet Potatoes
- Corn
- Peas
- Legumes
Getting All Your Nutrients Helps Skin Stay Healthy
This may seem like a no brainer but filling your diet with a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, and other food will ensure that you get all the nutrients your body - and your skin - needs to stay healthy. Studies are backing up this up, such as this study that showed how fruits and vegetables containing vitamin C, beta-carotene, and fibre helped reduce the occurrence of skin cancer.
Healthy food, such as a diet that includes low-glycaemic and nutrient-rich food, is beneficial to the human body and skin. Including fruits and veggies like oranges, kale, broccoli, and green bell peppers in your diet mean you’ll get plenty of vitamin C, which helps keep collagen levels in your skin at good levels. Another important nutrient for your skin is healthy fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids, which help keep your skin well hydrated while also protecting against skin cancer, according to this study. Salmon, mackerel, and most fish are great sources of omega-3s, which you can include in a diet of healthy fats. Good sources of healthy fats include avocados, cheese, dark chocolate, oily fish, and eggs.
If you still feel like you’re lacking all your essential vitamins and nutrients, you can take a multivitamin every day, which will help fill in gaps in your diet. Go over the vitamins you’ll be taking in your pill and make sure it includes those helpful skin nutrients, such as collagen and omega-3s. This will help you catch up even when your diet is lacking.
Vitamin C Rich Foods:
- Oranges
- Kale
- Broccoli
- Green Bell Peppers
Omega-3 Rich Foods:
- Salmon
- Mackerel
- Trout
- Fish in General
Foods Rich in Healthy Fats:
- Salmon
- Cod
- Eggs
- Avocados
- Dark Chocolate
- Cheese
Vegetables Can Help Protect Your Skin
Along with keeping your skin full and healthy, some vegetables can also help protect your skin against the elements, especially the skin-damaging radiation of the sun. One of the most beneficial compounds is beta-carotene, which is a nutrient that is found in many plants. Essentially, beta-carotene functions by converting into vitamin A in your body after you consume any food containing it. As part of the family of carotenoids, beta-carotene helps naturally protect your skin against sun exposure, which is one of the leading factors in causing wrinkles and skin damage.
Some great sources of beta-carotene include oranges (also a good vitamin C source) as well as spinach, carrots, lettuce, squash, and various types of bell peppers. Sweet potatoes are also a great source: a half cup of them will give you 4 times the vitamin A you need in a day. Making sure you incorporate these fruits and veggies into your diet will go a long way in ensuring long-term skin health, helping to protect against sunburn and dry, wrinkled skin. This doesn’t mean you should not wear sunscreen, though. Even with a healthy diet, sunblock is an important part of your defence against damaging UV rays and should be part of your daily routine.
Summary of Items With Beta-carotene:
- Sweet Potatoes
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Carrots
- Squash
- Bell Peppers
Pair Healthy Foods with the Right Beverages to Battle Wrinkles
Eating the right food is important for healthy skin, but you can also maintain a vibrant glow throughout your skin and fight wrinkles by drinking the right beverages. There are several different things you can drink, such as green tea and red wine, that, along with being delicious and enjoyable, offer benefits to your skin.
Green tea is an extremely popular drink in many parts of the world, and for good reason. Green tea contains many important antioxidants known as epicatechins. These compounds are known to inhibit skin damage inflicted by ultraviolet, or UV rays. By adding green tea to your diet along with the skin-protecting beta-carotene found in sweet potatoes and other veggies, you can protect your skin even more. Also known as polyphenols, these compounds can be combined with sunscreen to protect your skin against damage and the appearance of wrinkles.
Green tea has also been shown to be anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory, meaning that it can help reduce the effects of skin damage. The sort of inflammatory response to sun damage from UV rays can be very harmful to the skin and lead to more wrinkles on your skin in the future. With the help of green tea, you can help fight this problem and protect against further skin damage. Also, you don’t necessarily have to drink it. In many cases, green tea has shown to be an effective skin protector in topical use. That’s why many cosmetic companies have started to include green tea extracts in their products.
Red wine is another drink that contains skin-aiding compounds. The skin of red grapes contains resveratrol, a compound that is known for being associated with a variety of health benefits. Studies have suggested that the compound helps slow the production of harmful free radicals, which often damage your skin cells and lead to more signs of aging, such as wrinkles. You don’t want to drink red wine in excess because of resveratrol, though, as heavy drinking comes with its downsides. But as far as alcoholic beverages go, red wine is a good one to drink in moderation.
You can, of course, always eat more grapes to boost the levels of resveratrol in your system.
Opt for Lean Protein to Keep Skin Strong
Everyone needs a good source of protein in their diet. As one of the most important factors in a healthy diet, protein has long been linked to health, being a key ingredient in maintaining a fit body and building strong, functional muscle mass. Some may not know that it’s also helpful for the skin, as it helps build collagen, a function that vitamin C also does. Studies have shown that collagen, the most abundant protein in your body, is a vital part of a healthy skin structure. Collagen helps keep your skin hydrated and elastic, a state that hinders the formation of wrinkles.
Fish is also a great source of lean protein for your body and skin. In addition to being tasty and plentiful, fish also contains plenty of helpful omega-3 fatty acids that are beneficial to, which makes this protein source something of a double bonus as far as your skin is concerned. Salmon is a great fish to eat, mostly because it’s available everywhere and is full of omega-3s. When cooking fish, beef, or other sources of protein like chicken, make sure you don’t burn the outside, which can counteract all those benefits you’re counting on.
Try Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting has caught on a health craze for the last few years, for very good reasons. The practice of eating only during a short window in the day and fasting for the rest of the time is very beneficial to overall health.
Intermittent fasting has been shown to extend the lifespan of rats. This slowing of deterioration means that you can keep your skin looking healthy longer by including fasting in your regimen. Fasting, especially intermittent fasting, has also been shown to reduce inflammation, which can be a big help to your skin. Inflammation fuels many skin ailments such as acne, and by reducing breakouts you can keep your skin healthy.
NaD+ Helps Fight Aging
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a coenzyme that is finding traction as a popular supplement for anti-aging. It is critical in the process of metabolism as well as with maintaining the health of DNA. Studies have shown that it can reduce the degenerations of muscle as well as improve cognition function, all of which have made it a very promising supplement for fighting some of the problems of aging.
Since NAD+ helps power your cells and keeps them healthy as you age, you can expect every part of your body to benefit, including your skin. A new study suggests a stronger link between cell health and aging symptoms such as hair loss and wrinkles, which means that the power of NAD+, which tends to decline with age, can help keep your body healthy from the inside out.
A Healthy Diet for Healthy Skin
As you can tell, there are plenty of ways in which your diet can affect the health of your skin. It helps keep your skin strong, hydrated, and elastic, all of which are crucial factors in preventing wrinkles. The key, as we’ve documented, is a mixture of nutrient-packed food and a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and lean protein. If you feel like you’re lacking, you can always tweak your diet and/or supplement your it with a multivitamin that will provide you with additional sources of collagen, beta-carotene, and a range of other nutrients.
