Fancy lotions, creams and sunscreens can help keep your skin beautiful, smooth and free of cancer. But essentially good skin is an inside job, new research says. Eating the right antioxidants, vitamins and fats -- the same stuff that keeps your heart healthy -- also can help prevent wrinkles, sun damage and skin cancer. Clearly, what you eat does affect your skin.
Would you believe ... ?
Tomatoes as sunblock. In German research, people who ate 1 1/2 ounces of tomato paste daily for 10 weeks had 40% less artificially induced sunburn than those not eating tomato paste. Researchers credit tomato paste's 16 milligrams of the antioxidant lycopene with fortifying the skin against sun damage.
Marmalade as cancer antidote. University of Arizona researchers were startled to find that eating orange and grapefruit peels (but not the juice or pulp) once a week or more, as 37% of the subjects did, cut the risk of squamous cell skin cancer by one-third. Possible reason: high concentrations of antioxidant d-limonene in the oil of the peel that migrates into the eater's skin.
Prunes to fight wrinkles. An amazing study of a large group of elderly Greeks, Swedes and Australians found that those who ate the most prunes, apples, vegetables, olive oil, fish and legumes had fewer wrinkles and less sun-damaged skin than those who ate lots of meat, butter, margarine and milk products. Prunes, also called dried plums, have a higher concentration of protective antioxidants than any other fruit.
Salmon as a face-lift. In "The Perricone Prescription", Nicholas Perricone, M.D., advises eating 8 to 12 ounces of fish a day, primarily salmon, as part of "a nutritional face-lift." He says salmon's omega-3 oil combats wrinkle-promoting inflammation and "plumps up the skin." Fish oil does look promising for the skin. In new British research, taking 4,000mg omega-3s a day for three months reduced sunburn damage by 30%. The dose was equivalent to eating about 12 ounces of salmon a day.
Tea against skin cancer. Many studies show that tea-drinking mice have fewer skin cancers. Even rubbing tea extract on their skin keeps cancers away. Green and black tea appear equally effective, and caffeine may help, too. In one study decaf tea was less effective than caffeinated tea in mice.
Antioxidants save skin. Several studies suggest that antioxidant supplements help protect skin from sun damage. German researchers found that doses of 1,000 IU vitamin E and 2,000mg vitamin C daily for eight days boosted resistance to sunburn by 20%. Other research found a mixture of beta carotene, lycopene and lutein taken for three months also reduced mild sunburn.
Alcohol promotes skin cancer. Men and women who consumed three or more alcoholic beverages a day were 30% more likely to have basal cell carcinoma -- the most common skin cancer -- than non-drinkers, according to recent Harvard research. Exceptions: Beer drinkers didn't have a higher risk; women who drank red wine had a slightly lower risk. The main causes of wrinkled, damaged, cancer-prone skin are aging, sun exposure, smoking and excessive alcohol.
What to put ON your skin
Diet and supplements add protection, but they can't replace sunscreen (use SPF 15 or higher) as a cancer fighter. Research also shows that vitamins E and C, niacin, and certain chemicals in fruit, vegetables, tea and soy added to sunscreens and creams may benefit the skin. How effective they are is unclear and may depend on how much is in the product, which is difficult for consumers to determine.
Scientific sources for this article
Tomatoes as a sunblock:
Stahl W., J Nutr 2001 May; 131 (5): 1449-51
Marmalade as cancer antidote
Hakim IA. Nutr Cancer 2000; 37 (2): 161-8
Prunes to fight wrinkles:
Purba MB, J Am Coll Nutr 2001 Feb; 20(1): 71-80
Salmon as a Facelift:
Rhodes LE. Carcinogenesis 2003 May; 24(5): 919-925
Tea against cancer
Rutgers State U. of New Jersey. Lou YR, Conney A.H. Nutr Cancer. 1999; 33(2): 146-53
Antioxidants save skin
Eberlein-Konig B. J Am Acad Dermatol 1998 Jan:38(1): 45-8.
-- Heinrich U. J Nutr 2002 Jan; 133 (1): 98-101.
Alcohol and Skin Cancer
Fung TT. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Preve 2002 Oct; 11 (10Pt1): 1119-22
Causes of wrinkled, damaged, cancer-prone skin
Kennedy C. J Invest Dermatol. 2003 Apr; 120(4): 548-54
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