Food Cures (12 page)

E
verybody wants beautiful, healthy skin—especially women, many of whom are concerned (dare I say obsessed?) with signs of aging. Though I doubt it’s high on the list of things people name when they’re asked what first attracted them to another person, we all want that luminous glow from within. I know because people approach me all the time with questions about skin health—not just in my office, but at cocktail parties, on the street, during interviews, and even backstage during my television appearances.

Their interest is perfectly logical. Skin is, quite literally, the face we show to the world. It is our shell, the most exposed part of us. It is our first line of physiological defense as well as exquisitely sensitive to touch and temperature. It reflects our state of health, capable of turning yellow from liver toxins, red from a rush of blood, blue from a lack of oxygen, or grey from cell death.

But all this versatility and responsibility goes largely unappreciated. Most of us care mainly about the superficial beauty of skin. There’s nothing wrong with that. Beautiful skin is healthy skin. If battling acne or wrinkles makes you want to eat healthier…if the search for clear, smooth skin leads you to exercise more…I can’t see anything wrong with that! What’s good for your skin is good for the rest of you too.

WHAT AFFECTS SKIN HEALTH?

In the search for more beautiful skin, the two main concerns are acne and wrinkles. Acne happens when hair follicles (sometimes called pores) become blocked with natural oils. If the pore is open to the air, the clog will appear as a blackhead. But if oil is trapped below the surface of the skin, it provides a nice little breeding ground for bacteria, leading to pimples—skin eruptions that can look red and inflamed. Because hormones affect how much oil your skin produces, acne is more likely to flare up during times of hormonal upheaval, including adolescence, pregnancy, and premenstrual weeks, as well as times of stress.

Wrinkles are a fact of life. As we age, collagen and elastin, the substances that keep skin firm and elastic, gradually decrease. Fat pads in the face also thin out. Without this underlying structure, skin sags, creases form, and—ugh!—we have wrinkles.

How quickly your skin shows signs of aging is largely determined by genetics, but the process accelerates if your skin is somehow damaged. Skin damage occurs as a result of
oxidation
, a chemical process in which unstable molecules called
free radicals
steal electrons from healthy cells. On the skin, oxidative stress can appear as wrinkling, thickening, discoloration, and decreased elasticity. The most damaging oxidative factors are smoking and sun exposure, and the extent of the damage depends on how long and how much you smoke, how much time you spent in the sun, and how many severe sunburns you’ve had.

Cigarette smoke fills your body with free radicals. Every lungful sends free radicals coursing through your blood stream, where they can damage every organ in the body, including your skin. Smoking also impairs blood flow to the skin, starving the cells of nutrition and oxygen. It also damages the underlying collagen and elastin, and keeps your skin from its natural renewal process. These problems evolve slowly, so the damage to skin can take up to ten years to appear. Unfortunately, those effects are irreversible. To prevent skin damage from cigarette smoke, including wrinkles, don’t smoke and don’t spend extensive amounts of time in smoky rooms.

Sunlight, as pleasant as it is, is a form of radiation. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, to be more specific. UV radiation not only causes free radical damage, it can cause cells to mutate. With enough mutations, cells can turn cancerous. So excess sun exposure is a triple threat: sunburn in the short run, wrinkles in the long run, and the possibility of skin cancer to boot.

HOW FOOD AFFECTS SKIN

Skin is built from the inside out. Day to day and year to year, skin draws its healthy glow from good nutrition. Even though acne and wrinkles have different causes, and occur at different times in our lives, nutrition can help minimize or prevent both these problems and enhance your skin’s natural beauty.

ANTIOXIDANTS

The best defense against the free radical damage of
oxidation
is a diet rich in anti
oxidant
vitamins and minerals. Research suggests that certain antioxidants—vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and vitamin A (in the form of beta carotene)—nourish and protect skin to extend its youthful appearance.

Topical preparations of these antioxidants—applied to the skin in a cream or ointment—have been shown to help protect the skin against radiation from the sun, and may even help
reverse
some of the damage that may already have occurred. They may even help prevent skin tumors. Some—such as the vitamin A prescription medications tretinoin (Retin-A, Renova) and isotretinoin (Accutane)—have become popular as treatments for acne and wrinkles.

Antioxidant-rich foods also can help:

Vitamin C,
naturally found in the skin, is involved in collagen production and protects cells from free radical damage. Scientific studies found that when lab animals ate vitamin C-fortified food, their skin was better able to fight off oxidative damage. Because vitamin C is destroyed by exposure to sunlight, spending even a short time in the sun can leave skin depleted. It is important to replenish your skin’s vitamin C stores by eating plenty of vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables.

Vitamin E
helps protect cell membranes and guard against UV radiation damage. Some research suggests that vitamin E may work in combination with vitamin C to provide an extra boost of antiaging skin protection. However, because recent studies have raised some questions about the safety of vitamin E supplements, these nutrients should come from your diet, not from potent pills. I recommend you stick with food sources (and the small amount found in a multivitamin).

Selenium
is an antioxidant mineral that helps safeguard the skin from sun damage and delays aging by protecting skin quality and elasticity. Dietary selenium has been shown to reduce sun damage, and even to prevent some skin cancers in animals. Be sure to get your selenium from food, though, and not from supplements. The Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Trial found that people with a high risk of nonmelanoma skin cancers who took selenium supplements actually had a 25 percent increased risk of squamous cell carcinomas.

Beta carotene,
another antioxidant critical for skin health, is converted to vitamin A in the body. Beta carotene/vitamin A is involved in the growth and repair of body tissues, and may protect against sun damage. In extremely high doses, straight vitamin A from supplements can be toxic, so I never recommend them. However, ample beta carotene from food is entirely safe.

ZINC

Your skin contains about 6 percent of all the zinc in your body. This mineral is necessary for protecting cell membranes and helping to maintain the collagen that keeps skin firm. People with severe zinc deficiencies can develop redness, pustules, scaling, and lesions. (There’s a pretty picture.) In addition, there are microscopic changes in the structure of skin cells themselves. On top of that, zinc is critically involved in skin renewal—which means that if you want to keep your skin fresh and as youthful as possible, be sure to include zinc-rich foods in your menu.

OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS

Healthy fats known as omega-3 fatty acids help maintain cell membranes so that they are effective barriers—allowing water and nutrients in, and keeping toxins out. Omega-3s also seem to be able to protect skin against sun damage. In a study of skin cancer in sunny, skin-scorching southeastern Arizona, people who ate diets rich in fish oils and other omega-3 fats had a 29 percent lower risk of squamous cell skin cancer than those who got very little omega-3s from food. Not too shabby—grill some fish, prevent some cancer.

WATER

It is so basic, but I can’t emphasize enough how important water is for skin’s health and beauty. Water helps your body flush away toxins, allows the smooth flow of nutrients into cells, and keeps organs functioning their best. Plus, cells that are well-hydrated are plump and full, which means that your skin will look firmer and clearer (but not “fat”). Recommendations vary, but current thinking says that you should let your thirst guide how much water you drink every day.

Although liquids are the main source of water, many foods have such high water content that they contribute to overall hydration. The following foods are at least 75 percent water (by weight):

Fruits:
apples, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, grapefruit, grapes, kiwi, lemon, limes, mangos, nectarines, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums, raspberries, strawberries, tangerines, watermelon

Vegetables:
artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, kale, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, peppers (red, yellow, green), rhubarb, spinach, squash, tomatoes, turnips, yams