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Home › Articles › Nutrition and Your Health › Great Skin – From the Inside Out!

Great Skin – From the Inside Out!

Nourish Your Skin with the Right Foods

By Karen Ansel, M.S., R.D.

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That's where walnuts come in. They are packed with beta-carotene and vitamin E, as well as a healthy dose of alpha linolenic acid, helping to keep skin soft, smooth and supple. Walnuts also contain zinc, which plays a pivotal role in healing wounded skin, as well as lending a helping hand to skin-saving vitamin A.

Try our Bleu Cheese Spread!

Tuna

That tuna sandwich you ate for lunch may be doing more for your complexion than you think. Tuna is one of the richest sources of selenium, a trace mineral recognized for its antioxidant properties. Selenium is a critical component of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, which teams up with vitamin E to block the formation of destructive free radicals. If that weren't enough, tuna also reduces inflammation by supplying a hefty dose of the omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

Try our Dressed-Up Tuna Salad!

Olive Oil

In a study of the relationship between diet and skin aging, Australian researchers found that individuals whose diets were rich in certain foods had the most youthful looking skin – and olive oil was high on the list. Why? It seems that olive oil's high monounsaturated fat content keeps skin cells in tip-top shape by preventing injury to the outer shell of skin cells known as the cell membrane. Couple that with generous proportions of vitamin E, polyphenols and beta-carotene, and you've got a winner.

Try our Basil Pesto!

And a Few to Forgo

  • Saturated fat – Steering clear of meat, butter and whole milk may provide a distinct edge in the battle against wrinkles. In a study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, experts found that people who eat more of these foods show the signs of age faster than those whose diets contain lots of olive oil, vegetables and legumes.
  • Sweets – Not only are they trouble for your waistline, highly-processed sweets may also rob you of that youthful glow. That, say researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology, is because fructose, the mainstay of high fructose corn syrup, may hasten the aging process.
  • Alcohol – Alcohol is an instant skin dehydrator, decreasing levels of hormones responsible for regulating the amount of water your body holds on to. For plump, moist skin, say no thanks to that cocktail and stick with water instead.


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