Healthy Aging: Body, Mind & Spirit

How to help your skin age more beautifully

February 11, 2010 on 8:21 pm | In Andropause, Boomer Health Issues, Diet and Aging, Health Psychology, Improvements in health care, Learning from our elders, obesity research, Weight gain | 2 Comments

Here are the results of my latest research into how our diet affects our skin:

Skin, Diet and Aging

Vitamin C: It is best to get this from your diet as too much vitamin C can be dangerous.  Vitamin C is critical for collagen formation, which is the foundation of your skin.

One recent study found that Vitamin C protects DNA by fibroblast stimulation as well.  In fact, some researchers believe it may actually help to heal the skin.  One ACJN study in women found that participants with the highest levels of vitamin C were 11% less likely to look wrinkled.

Legumes and Vegetables: Dietary legumes and vegetables are associated with less skin aging and damage.

Lutein and Xeaxanthin: Lettuce, broccoli, zucchini, spinach, peas, kale and egg yolks all have an abundance of these two phyto-nutrients.  According to one recent study, spinach and kale had excellent results, “increasing skin hydration by 60 percent, skin elasticity by 20 percent and the amount of superficial lipids present in the skin by 50 percent after adjustment for placebo, all while decreasing the oxidation of those beneficial lipids by 64 percent.”

Saturated Fats and Meat: Avoid these bad boys!  They are associated with additional skin wrinkling.

Sugar: Table sugar is composed of a molecule of fructose and a molecule of glucose and both are hard on your skin.  A good skin formula to keep in mind is:

Sugar = Wrinkles

No wonder researchers have found that both glucose and fructose increase the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs).   What are they?  These are by-products of digestion of sugars.  Especially fructose, rapidly accelerate the pace of AGEs.  Worse than that, these AGEs also damage your collagen, which is the backbone of your skin. This has been demonstrated in a study where rats were fed a control diet and a high fructose diet.

Fish: Fish was found to be skin protective.  Fish helps with just about everything else from the heart to the brain.  Just watch out for high mercury levels.  Sushi has one of the highest!

Berries & Nuts:   ellagic acid, a phyto-nutrient found in berries and some nuts, was given to mice and found to be photo-protective against UVB radiation.  This chemical decreases wrinkles and inflammation, and promotes collagen development.

Tea, Prunes and Apples: These nutritional powerhouses were associated with less skin wrinkling.  Any dark colored fruit or vegetable is packed with antioxidants.

High Flavanol Cocoa:  One study (on women) showed that high flavanol cocoa thickens the skin, increases skin hydration and protects against UV damage.

Lycopene: The lycopene in tomato sauce and paste has been shown to be very protective of your skin from sun damage.   Researchers gave participants the equivalent of 5 tablespoons of tomato paste per day and noticed 33% less damage from UV radiation, which is roughly the equivalent of SPF 1.3.

CONCLUSION:

Simply by eating a diet filled with antioxidants, your skin will improve dramatically.  Try eating more spinach, egg yolks, blueberries, veggies including broccoli, olive oil, green tea, black tea and carrots nearly every day!  All have strong antioxidants that help to preserve your epidermal tissue.