Beauty may be more than skin-deep, although healthy skin leaves a powerful first impression.
Skin does have a major disadvantage. It's exposed to the outside world, leading to:
* Oxidative damage from the air
* Degradation by the UV radiation of sunlight
* Exposure to environmental hazards such as harmful chemicals
* Injury
These stresses accumulate over time, leading to sagging and wrinkling. Skin becomes thinner, less elastic and more easily damaged.
The oxidative and environmental stresses cause skin inflammation.
Another threat to your skin is ischemia. That's the failure to receive enough oxygen and nutrition from the underlying blood vessels.
Wrinkling is Measured by a Cutaneous Microtopographic Method
Researchers make a mold of the back of the hands using silicone rubber, then peel it off. They examine that under a microscope to measure age damage.
Younger skin is clearly tight, while aging skin looks coarse and flaccid.
Wrinkling is ranked using the Daniell Scale, which runs from 1 through 6. 6 is the largest quantity of skin wrinkling.
Your Diet Affects Your Skin's Vulnerability to Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Ischemia
When you hear the words "oxidative stress," the word "antioxidants" should immediately jump into your mind.
Antioxidants fight oxidative stress (free radicals) throughout our bodies. So to maintain long-term skin health, antioxidants must be continuously replaced.
What foods are high in antioxidants? Primarily plant foods, especially fruits and vegetables.
And especially fruits and veggies with the most color. That is, yellow onions contain more antioxidants than white onions. And red onions contain more antioxidants than yellow onions.
Oranges contain more antioxidants than apples - and mangos more antioxidants than bananas.
Whole plant foods are also associated with lowering inflammation. That makes sense, because saturated fat increases inflammation.
And a high intake of cholesterol lowers the efficiency of your blood vessels, leading to the ischemia that produces wrinkles.
A Study Verified the Value of Plants for Skin Health and Beauty
Researchers measured the amount of wrinkles in hundreds of Greek, Australian and Swedish women - using the Daniell Scale.
They also asked participants about their diets.
They found vegetables, legumes (beans), prunes, apples, tea and olive oil appeared to be particularly protective against skin wrinkling.
High consumption of meat, dairy and eggs had an adverse effect - those women had more wrinkles.
Green Tea has Skin-Protective Phytonutrients and Antioxidants
And one of its many benefits includes protecting skin from the harmful radiation of sunlight.
A study had women drink green tea for twelve weeks.
That resulted in:
* 16% reduction in skin roughness
* 25% reduction in scaling
* Improved skin elasticity and hydration
Another Study of 716 Women
Their crow's feet were measured on the Daniell Scale.
The researchers found a higher intake of green and yellow vegetables was associated with decreased facial wrinkling.
The women who ate less than one serving of those veggies every day had an average Daniell score of 3.
However, the women who ate two or more servings of veggies per day averaged a score of 2. (Remember: lower is better.)
You Can Find Many Recommendations to Eat Specific Foods for Skin Health and Beauty
Most of them are great, including:
* Carrots - contain Vitamin C and beta carotene - and some say they clear up black spots. Even if that's not true, you'll be healthier by eating carrots.
* Tomatoes - Vitamin C for collagen, lycopene for protecting skin from sun damage
* Avocados - healthy fat, vitamins and lutein - a not-so-common antioxidant vital to preventing the breakdown of your skin's lipids and maintaining skin hydration
* Blueberries - the most powerful, easily available antioxidants
You can get beta carotene from other yellow/orange foods, such as sweet potatoes and mangoes.
Lycopene is also prevalent in other red/pink plant foods, including watermelon.
Spinach and other dark green leafy veggies also contain lutein.
First Get the Basics Down
Many women want to believe they can eat whatever garbage they please, yet remain wrinkle-free forever just by finding the right goop to smear on their faces.
Some facial skin creams and oils are healthy and helpful - but they can be a waste of time and money if you don't eat plenty of foods rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals to lower your skin's inflammation.
Healthy is beautiful so start from the inside out for beautiful skin.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/skin/
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/beauty-is-more-than-skin-deep/
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/preventing-wrinkles-with-diet/
Purba MB, Kouris-Blazos A, Wattanapenpaiboon N, Lukito W, Rothenberg EM, Steen BC, Wahlqvist ML. Skin wrinkling: can food make a difference? J Am Coll Nutr. 2001 Feb;20(1):71-80.
Seddon JM, Egan KM, Zhang Y, Gelles EJ, Glynn RJ, Tucker CA, Gragoudas ES. Evaluation of skin microtopography as a measure of ultraviolet exposure. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1992 May;33(6):1903-8.
Heinrich U, Moore CE, De Spirt S, Tronnier H, Stahl W. Green tea polyphenols provide photoprotection, increase microcirculation, and modulate skin properties of women. J Nutr. 2011 Jun;141(6):1202-8.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeAmktAGSGI
https://www.lacureindonesia.com/en/here-are-6-main-benefits-of-carrots-for-facial-skin-beauty/
https://blog.cleanbeautybox.com/how-eating-an-avocado-a-day-can-give-you-your-best-skin-yet/