Eat These Foods To Fight Wrinkles
People have been trying to get rid of their wrinkles for centuries. From Cleopatra's daily goat milk baths to Frownies adhesive patches (used to literally tape skin in place), many bizarre tricks have been used. These days, we know that there are many treatments you can use to reduce your wrinkles that 1) don't involve tape and 2) won't break the bank. One of these methods is to simply have a good diet. Eat these foods to fight wrinkles and also keep your body healthy and happy!
Omega Fatty Acids
You’ve heard the phrase heart healthy, right? That was likely your first thought when seeing omega fatty acids listed here. But these fatty acids do more than just help our hearts stay healthy, they help our skin cells become strong and plump as well. These fatty acids and oils actually become part of our skin cells walls. They keep our cell membranes fluid, which keeps our skin looking hydrated and dewy.
Salmon is a great source of omega fatty acids, in particular omega-3 fatty acids. By eating salmon or other similar, oily fish every week, you’ll get the benefits of the omega-3 fatty acids, as well as vitamin D, which is essential for our bodies and our skin.
Foods high in omega fatty acids: salmon, avocados, walnuts, flaxseeds, coconut oil, chia seeds
Amino Acids
Do you know what amino acids are? Amino acids are an organic compound that is a key building block in building and maintaining our muscles and skin. They are an essential component in keeping our entire body healthy. Part of the reason we develop wrinkles is because our skin loses some of its strength as we age – the collagen and elastin weaken, making our skin age faster. By maintaining a diet high in amino acids, we give our skin the building blocks it needs to keep the wrinkles away.
Lean meats, such as fish, chicken breasts, and beans, are one of the best sources of amino acids, because they are packed with protein. And protein is where you’ll find amino acids. After you eat one of these lean meats, your body breaks down the protein into amino acids. These in turn help to rebuild skin cells. Which means, if you’re eating a diet high in amino acids, that you’ll have those amino acids at the ready to rebuild and repair skin cells as collagen levels decrease over time.
Foods high in amino acids: lean meats, beans, eggs, fish, nuts, seeds, tofu, some grains
Leafy Green Vegetables
If you remember kindergarten, you likely remember receiving many a lesson about how good vegetables are for our bodies. But they’re probably the hardest food to really feel motivated to eat. If you struggle to want to eat vegetables, let the fact that they also help prevent wrinkles be a motivating factor for you!
Leafy green vegetables do more than just help you check a box off the food pyramid. They help to keep your entire body healthy. But more importantly for your skin, leafy green vegetables help to keep your skin hydrated. Which, when it comes to preventing wrinkles, is key to keeping skin looking young and healthy. The more hydrated your skin, the better your skin’s ability to stop wrinkles from forming.
Leafy greens do more than just keep your skin hydrated. They act as a liquid multi-vitamin for your skin. They’re packed with antioxidants that are exactly what your skin needs to fight the free radicals and other pollutants that get on your skin every day.
Leafy green vegetables: spinach, kale, broccoli, and mustard greens
Potassium
When you see the word potassium, wrinkle fighting is likely the last thing to come to your mind. But potassium can be a key player in keeping your skin looking as young as possible. How, you might be wondering? Because of potassium’s ability to moisturize from the inside of your body. Yes, you read that right. When you eat potassium, that potassium helps your skin stay hydrated from deep within the layers of your skin, keeping those wrinkles at bay.
And that’s not all. They also help with dark circles you may have under your eyes. While for many people, this is a genetic trait, for some of us, it is something we can fight. Dark circles can be caused by water retention, or by eating sodium-rich foods. By cutting these foods out, you give your body a better chance of clearing up those pesky dark circles!
Foods high in potassium: nuts, beans, meat, fish, many fruits and vegetables
Phytoceramides
Have you ever heard of this ingredient? Probably not, because we hadn’t either! We’ll break it down for you. Phytoceramides are a type of ceramide. Ceramides are an oily wax, almost, that holds the skin together, forming a protective layer on that top layer of skin. The ceramides then repair that barrier whenever it is damaged. That is important because, although our skin does naturally create its own ceramides, things like age and the environment can hamper that production, leaving our skin dry and red.
Basically, ceramides help to keep that outer layer of your skin from becoming too weak and thin as you age. Because when that happens, you’re more likely to have dehydrated skin, which leads to wrinkling. It’s a vicious cycle!
So what are phytoceramides, you might be asking? Well, a phytoceramide is a plant-based ceramide. Basically, a ceramide that can be found in and absorbed as food. Considering what a key role ceramides play in keeping that outer layer of our skin looking young and healthy, that sounds like something we need to start eating today!
Foods high in phytoceramides: brown rice, wheat germ (found in things like whole wheat bread), beets
Antioxidants
We mentioned antioxidants earlier, but let’s dig into why antioxidants are good for your skin. Antioxidants fight against almost everything that is damaging to your skin. This includes sun exposure. Did you know time in the sun is the leading cause of aging? Pretty disappointing, especially if you’re getting ready to head out to the beach! But the reality is, the sun can do some real harm to our skin. The free radicals created from the sun that our skin is exposed to every day can cause permanent damage to the skin. Are you already reaching for your sunscreen?
But sun exposure isn’t the only thing causing your skin to age faster than you are. Your diet also contributes. As mentioned before, what you put into your body can have a true effect on how your skin looks, and how it ages.
Antioxidants are here to fight both of these problems, and more. When your diet is high in foods that contain antioxidants, you are not only ingesting foods with ingredients that can help reverse some of the damage to your skin, but you’ll also build up a stash of antioxidants in your body, ready to fight whatever is damaging your skin. And while we’re certainly not saying you should skip the sunscreen (really, don’t skip that sunscreen!), we are saying that, by consuming a lot of antioxidants, you’ve set your skin up for success!
Berries are a great example of powerful antioxidants. In fact, most berries contain more antioxidants than any other fruit or vegetables you can consume. And, as a bonus, berries are pretty delicious, the perfect all-natural dessert! Just throw some in a blender to make a smoothie.
Foods high in antioxidants: berries, kale, pumpkin, tomatoes, carrots, parsley, oregano, cinnamon, cloves
Polyphenols
This is probably another component you haven’t heard of. Bear with us as we explain. Polyphenols are basically a skin-protecting antioxidant. And this antioxidant helps your skin fight off premature aging by protecting your skin from free radicals. Free radicals are the molecules you’re exposed to every day in the environment that break down the collagen on your skin. And who wants that? Not us! Which is why polyphenols are such an important part of your diet.
Garlic is a great source of polyphenols. Sure, it can smell pretty pungent, but its packed with this powerful antioxidant. And to make it even more effective, before you eat it or add it to a recipe, let the chopped garlic stand for 10 to 15 minutes. This actually helps the polyphenols in the garlic develop, making their ability to work magic on your skin once eaten even better.
Olive oil is another food packed with polyphenols (and is a little more palatable!). When you use 100% extra-virginal olive oil, you’ll be cooking with an oil with one of the highest levels of polyphenols, along with other age-fighting ingredients like vitamin E and fatty acids.
Foods high in polyphenols: garlic, olive oil, nuts (pecans and walnuts), spinach, dark chocolate
Things to Cut
While we’ve provided you with a rather robust list of fruits and vegetables that will help you fight the signs of aging, we have to mention the types of foods that are doing the most harm to your skin. Yes, there are foods that are causing you to age faster than you’d like. What kinds of food are they?
Before we dive into which foods specifically, note that they all share similar characteristics. Foods that cause inflammation, spike stress levels, and cause overall damage to the skin made it high on our list.
- Processed, packaged, fast food with artificial ingredients
- Gluten
- Dairy
- Sugar
So there you have it. A comprehensive list of foods that will keep your skin looking young and healthy. Which is what we’re all looking to have. While this list may not be the fountain of youth (we’re still holding out hope there!), it’s a change you can make now to get your skin looking the way you want. Sure, it may not be easy. How many beets and pumpkins can we really eat, after all? But it can help your skin protect itself by giving it the nutrients it needs to fight of the effects of aging. And that’s something we can all stand behind!
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