Adapted from RealAge
Search Slather on that SPF every chance you get this summer. But for extra sun protection points, eat plenty of these fruits as well: cherries, nectarines, and watermelon.
These juicy treats not only cool your mouth in warm weather but may shield your skin from warm weather, too. Compounds in the fruits may boost your skin's natural resilience against wrinkles and sun damage, according to Allison Tannis, author of Feed Your Skin, Starve Your Wrinkles.
In-Season Skin Savers
What's so special about this trio of fruits? Check out their unique protective benefits.
Cherries: Eat a daily handful and you may enjoy fresher, less puffy skin. It's all thanks to the inflammation-fighting anthocyanins and melatonin in cherries, writes Tannis. Melatonin may boost UV protection and cell growth as well -- two great ways to keep wrinkles at bay. Tart cherries tend to be highest in melatonin. (Find out how tart cherries help fight cancer, too.)
Nectarines: These smooth-skinned sisters of the peach provide a mini-spa's worth of nutrients that may help correct sun damage from the inside out, according to Tannis. They offer skin goodies like lycopene, lutein, niacin, copper, and vitamins A, C, and E. The A, C, and E trio also works to control inflammation and free radical damage in both the watery and the fatty layers of skin. (Add nectarines to dinner with this recipe: Tarragon-Rubbed Salmon with Nectarine Salsa.)
Watermelon: Nibbling on watermelon wedges has the power to refresh your face as much as your palate, thanks to the high water and lycopene content. Lycopene helps protect and preserve connections between skin cells so skin is tighter, smoother, and better able to retain moisture. (Store your watermelon this way to get the most lycopene from it.)
5 Foods That Take Years off Your Skin
Perhaps the only food you associate with skin is a little whipped cream on Saturday night. But plenty of other foods (ones you can eat in public) can help protect your skin, so you look and stay younger:
1. Legumes, avocados, soybeans, nuts, and egg yolks: These contain biotin, and a lack of this chemical can lead to dry skin and brittle hair and nails.
2. Salmon: The carotenoid that gives this fish its pink color, astaxanthin, also improves your skin’s elasticity. And it’s full of the good fat -- DHA-omega-3 -- that makes your skin and hair look younger and healthier.
3. Green tea: Its polyphenols act to protect you against sun damage and help thicken your epidermis, your body’s primary barrier to the outside world.
4. Pomegranates: In addition to thickening your epidermis and helping to produce more collagen and elastin (the stuff that keeps your skin firm and springy), pomegranates contain antioxidants that seem to accelerate wound healing.
5. Tomatoes: The nutrients in tomatoes reduce the chance you’ll get a sunburn (but you still have to use an SPF 50 and 4-star titanium dioxide or zinc oxide sunscreen!). It may be due to their lycopene content, but we really don’t know the active ingredient. So if there’s a choice between a lycopene supplement and the real tomato, choose the product from the vine.
How many of the above have you consumed this week?
