Beauty Within: How Your Diet Can Be Anti-Aging

You are what you eat, and what you eat may also affect how old you look.  A poor diet may not only be bad for your hips and heart but also your face.  
The anti-aging skin care market is a lucrative one with Americans spending over $2 million on anti-aging creams, lotions, and moisturizers.   (I personally fund a large percentage of this market.)

Ongoing research is shedding light on how certain compounds in foods can be anti-aging.  In addition to applying sunscreen to block aging ultraviolet rays from the sun, eating right can help reduce the oxidative stress and inflammation in your body that ages you before your time.   Oxidative stress is an anti-beauty invader in the body, causing damage to cell membranes, your DNA, and elastin and collagen, two proteins that give your skin elasticity and structure.   

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, a diet rich in antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, lycopene, green tea, beta carotene and cocoa flavanols has been shown to offer some protection from the aging factors caused by ultraviolet light.  Antioxidants help protect the skin from oxidative stress caused by sun exposure.  

"Diets high in antioxidants and rich in whole grains and  good fats, such as linoleic acid, and lower in refined carbohydrates and added sugars have been shown to be associated with a better skin-aging appearance," claims Patricia Farris, MD, a dermatologist and clinical assistant professor at Tulane University School of Medicine. 

Here is a list of foods to add to your diet in the fight against aging:




Here�s to a better diet and younger looking you.

Be well, Joan

Twitter: @JoanSalgeBlake