Foods for Healthy Skin

A diet rich in healthy fats and vitamins can support skin health. Many fruits and vegetables, including red grapes and tomatoes, contain compounds that can benefit your skin.

Nutrition is important for health. An unhealthy diet can damage your metabolism, cause weight gain, and even damage organs, such as your heart and liver.

 

1. Fatty fish

Fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and herring, are excellent foods for healthy skin. They’re rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for maintaining skin health (1).

Omega-3 fatty acids are necessary to help keep skin thick, supple, and moisturized. In fact, an omega-3 fatty acid deficiency can cause dry skin . The omega-3 fats in fish reduce inflammation, which can cause redness and acne. They can even make your skin less sensitive to the sun’s harmful UV rays.

Fatty fish is also a source of vitamin E, one of the most important antioxidants for your skin.Getting enough vitamin E is essential for helping protect your skin against damage from free radicals and inflammation. This type of seafood is also a source of high quality protein, which is needed for maintaining the strength and integrity of your skin.

2. Avocados

Avocados are high in healthy fats. These fats benefit many functions in your body, including the health of your skin . Getting enough of these fats is essential to help keep skin flexible and moisturized. Preliminary evidence also shows that avocados contain compounds that may help protect your skin from sun damage. UV damage to your skin can cause wrinkles and other signs of aging .

Avocados are also a good source of vitamin E, which is an important antioxidant that helps protect your skin from oxidative damage. Most Americans don’t get enough vitamin E through their diet. Interestingly, vitamin E seems to be more effective when combined with vitamin C.

Vitamin C is also essential for healthy skin. Your skin needs it to create collagen, which is the main structural protein that keeps your skin strong and healthy.

3. Walnuts

Walnuts have many characteristics that make them an excellent food for healthy skin. They’re a good source of essential fatty acids, which are fats that your body cannot make itself. In fact, they’re richer than most other nuts in both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. A diet too high in omega-6 fats may promote inflammation, including inflammatory conditions of your skin like psoriasis. Essential fats, zinc, vitamin E, selenium and protein — all of which are nutrients your skin needs to stay healthy.

4. Sunflower seeds

In general, nuts and seeds are good sources of skin-boosting nutrients. One ounce (28 grams) of sunflower seeds packs 49% of the DV for vitamin E, 41% of the DV for selenium, 14% of the DV for zinc, and 5.5 grams of protein. Sunflower seeds are an excellent source of nutrients, including vitamin E, which is an important antioxidant for the skin.

 

5. Sweet potatoes

Beta carotene is a nutrient found in plants. It functions as provitamin A, which means it can be converted into vitamin A in your body. Beta carotene is found in oranges and vegetables such as carrots, spinach, and sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are an excellent source — one 1/2-cup (100-gram) serving of baked sweet potato contains enough beta carotene to provide more than six times the DV of vitamin A.

 Carotenoids like beta carotene help keep your skin healthy by acting as a natural sunblock. When consumed, this antioxidant is incorporated into your skin and helps protect your skin cells from sun exposure. This may help prevent sunburn, cell death, and dry, wrinkled skin. Interestingly, high amounts of beta carotene may also add a warm, orange color to your skin, contributing to an overall healthier appearance.

 

6. Red or yellow bell peppers

Like sweet potatoes, bell peppers are an excellent source of beta carotene, which your body converts into vitamin A. One cup (149 grams) of chopped red bell pepper contains the equivalent of 156% of the DV for vitamin A. They’re also one of the best sources of vitamin C. This vitamin is necessary for creating the protein collagen, which keeps skin firm and strong.

 

A single cup (149 grams) of bell pepper provides an impressive 211% of the DV for vitamin C. A large observational study involving women linked eating plenty of vitamin C to a reduced risk of wrinkled and dry skin with age (19Trusted Source).

 

7. Broccoli

Broccoli is full of many vitamins and minerals important for skin health, including zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin C. It also contains lutein, a carotenoid that works like beta carotene. Lutein helps protect your skin from oxidative damage, which can cause your skin to become dry and wrinkled. But broccoli florets also pack a special compound called sulforaphane, which boasts some impressive potential benefits. It may even have anti-cancer effects, including on some types of skin cancer.

 

Sulforaphane is likewise a powerful protective agent against sun damage. It works in two ways: neutralizing harmful free radicals and switching on other protective systems in your body. In laboratory tests, sulforaphane reduced the number of skin cells UV light killed by as much as 29%, with protection lasting up to 48 hours.

 sulforaphane may also help maintain collagen levels in your skin.