It’s that time of year again, when long and sunny days invite us outdoors to raise our spirits and our Vitamin D level. While avoiding more than 30 minutes of mid-day sun is good advice, there are going to be days where you get more sun than anticipated. While sun blocker ads are telling us what to put on your skin, you can also work the diet and nutrition side to put natural protection under your skin. Here are four nutritional measures you can take to protect and repair your skin this summer:
–Fresh tomatoes are in abundance at the local farmer’s market every summer, and a key tomato nutrient called lycopene has been shown to protect against sun induced free radical damage. This is one of the few food antioxidants that actually concentrates in activity when cooked, so tomato paste has more concentrated lycopene than fresh sliced, although both contribute benefit.
–Tea antioxidants help to repair the damage to collagen and elastin, two direct targets of UV sun damage. Interestingly, it is not the darker tea we think of that does the most benefit for skin, but rather the varieties that make up ‘white tea’ . Drinking 2-3 cups a day, and using it to make your summer iced tea will get you there. Using a soaked white tea bag directly on sunburn under and around the eye (forbid…but it happens) can help as well.
–Curcumin is an herb most Americans don’t use much in their diet, so we usually take it as a supplement to help out with inflammation of many varieties. It is one of my favorite nutritional anti-inflammatory therapies, be it natural or prescription. Taking 600 mg of the 95% curcuminoid extracts twice daily can help protect against sun induced damage, and can do double duty on those vacations trips where overuse seems to be the word of the day.
–Resveratrol is one of the most potent antioxidants for repairing DNA damage, and it is this damage that not only ages skin, but adds to the long term potential for skin cancer. Although a 100 mg dose every day is a reasonable anti-aging measure, 200 mg/day while looking for additional skin protection is reasonable.
This summer, double your skin protection by caring for your skin from the outside in and the inside out.
