5 Foods For Your Youngest-Looking Skin

Eat your way to younger-looking skin? Uh, yes, please! But seriously, you know food affects your cells. So, it makes sense that you can influence your cells with foods that have properties that enhance your skin’s vitality and youthful appearance.

This Nutrition Bite we feature 5 of those foods so you can make sure they are in your life and belly.

1. Avocados

An avocado a day keeps early aging away. Why? This green superfood is filled with healthy monounsaturated fat that helps your skin to stay supple and hydrated as you age.

In fact, at least one study has shown that a diet rich in plant-based fat can improve the skin health of older adults. (1)(2)

Avocados also contain the powerful antioxidants vitamin C and vitamin E. Both help to protect your skin from the damaging effects of UV radiation and, even more importantly, they are much more potent for skin protection when taken together (as they are in avocados) rather than separately. (3)

2. Sweet Potato

Sweet potatoes are jam-packed with beta-carotene, a potent carotenoid antioxidant and precursor to vitamin A.

In fact, just a half-cup serving of baked sweet potato has enough beta-carotene for your body to convert it into six times the recommended daily value (DV) of vitamin A! (4)

This is fantastic news for your skin because both beta-carotene and vitamin A have photoprotective properties and combat signs of aging like fine lines, wrinkles, and dark spots.

As a bonus, sweet potatoes are also a decent source of vitamin C. (5)

3. Amla (Indian Gooseberry)

Amla is a little-known super-berry that has been a staple in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years.

It’s a true powerhouse for your skin, packing in up to 20-30 times the amount of vitamin C you would find in oranges and as much as 50 times the antioxidant power of blueberries!

All of that antioxidant and vitamin C content is excellent for stimulating collagen production, protecting your skin from UV damage, evening out skin tone, reducing the appearance of wrinkles, AND fading the look of hyperpigmentation. (6)(7)

And here’s a key tip: Amla berries are rarely found fresh outside their homeland, so look for the powdered form instead. (Organic if you can get it!)

4. Mango

Mango, aka the “king of fruits”, is full of nutrients and compounds that your skin loves.

Just one cup of this delicious orange fruit gives you nearly 67% of the DV for vitamin C and a healthy dose of vitamin E— a powerful combo for protecting your skin from UV damage and accelerated aging. (3)

Mangoes also pack in numerous antioxidants, including a special one known as mangiferin, that fight free radical damage, help fend off cancer, and work to renew skin at the cellular level. (8)

5. Cacao

Raw cacao is absolutely packed with antioxidants, particularly a certain group known as flavanols.

These flavanols possess photoprotective properties, which means they help to protect your skin from UV damage— something that can cause wrinkles, dark spots, rough texture, and other signs of aging. (9)

Along with this protective effect, eating cacao regularly has a general anti-aging effect on skin and can even help to diminish the appearance of wrinkles while improving elasticity. (10)

For the most antioxidant power, use raw cacao powder in smoothies, oatmeal, etc.

Dark chocolate is also a good option (in moderation) because it retains a relatively high amount of antioxidants and nutrients.

Hold on a minute… I just need to nip out and get some (organic) chocolate and make sure I am getting all that goodness into every cell of my body, haha.

You’ll remember we discussed amla in a past webinar with our good friend and supporter Brian Vaszily, as well. Great stuff in skincare products, too!

Speaking of quality skincare products AND one of our favorite peeps, Brian…

He’s been educating people about simple steps you can take to fight back against age-related skin changes for over twenty years now… Wrinkles, crow’s feet, under-eye bags, “turkey neck,” and others.

He’s especially passionate about sharing how you can STOP making certain very common skincare mistakes, (especially with the thousands of hidden, toxic, health-impacting ingredients found even in so-called ‘natural’ products)…

And START taking the proper holistic steps, so you can have BOTH the considerably younger-looking skin you ought to have and better health!