5 Antioxidant Foods to Protect Your Skin from Sun Damage, as Recommended by a Dietitian

5 Antioxidant Foods to Protect Your Skin from Sun Damage: An important function of the skin is to act as a shield for the rest of the body’s organs from hazardous influences from the environment. Nevertheless, the environmental stress that is completely dangerous to the skin is the ultraviolet light from the sun that is able to penetrate deeper into the skin and liberate a series of unstable molecules known as free radicals, which kill healthy skin cells as well as the skin’s DNA. Similarly, overexposing oneself to the sun has its own problems, such as sunburn and skin cancer. According to the cancer research done by the American Cancer Society, skin cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer in the United States and extreme sunburns may cause an early effect of melanoma in a person.

Praise be that there is a way to neutralize UV-induced free radicals and prevent such an occurrence. It’s therefore important that you fortify your skin by improving its diet from within through the consumption of foods with natural antioxidants from different food groups. Shown below are the five top antioxidant foods you can take to shield your skin from harm from the virus of the sun.

Why Eating These Foods During the Day Is Important

Anything that can be eaten, whether in the morning, afternoon or evening, should be taken early enough in the day if you want to preserve the skin and avoid the midday sun. Here’s why: As it turns out, your skin has a biological clock that can be altered by shift eating, as the article in Stem Cells published in 2023 notes. In fact, dinner consumed in the evening reduces the strength of an enzyme that heals skin damaged by the sun. Hence, a large meal could invite this element and other such factors that raise the probability of getting sunburned, skin aging or even skin cancer. The good news is that you can trade your late-night snack for a daytime meal that incorporates one or all of these skin-protective foods:

1. Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a versatile fruit available in more than a thousand kinds and forms and used in most of the known cultures today. And for good reason! They are also perhaps the most diverse and tasty addition to any meal you can think of and it will interest you to know that tomatoes have antioxidants that guard your skin against sunburn. Isn’t it funny that their brilliant red hue hides antioxidant lycopene under the hood that could help your skin not turn red and sunburned? per biology, in 2022.

If one wants to fully enjoy this sun protection effect, the best way is to fry tomatoes using a small amount of healthy fat; olive fat is preferred. Why, you may ask? The more lycopene you consume, the better and this can be made possible by adding heat and healthy fat to the dish. As stated, tomatoes are also rich in vitamin C, which is a well-known free radical-fighting nutrient and essential for healthy skin. It’s also nice to give the cherry tomatoes the treatment by adding what’s known as cherry tomato confit to top bruschetta, pasta or pizza.

Also Read: Top 5 Expert-Recommended Nutrients for Radiant Skin Health

2. Sweet Potatoes

These tubers are pretty purple on the outside and have a juicy orange inside with a taste that sits between yam and potato, but the skin is not where the action is: sweet potatoes are packed with compounds that can shield your skin from UV damage.

Sweet potatoes are rated among the best sources of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that can reflect UV light and thus cancel the effects of free radicals resulting from extreme UV radiation, according to the BBA-Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids journal of 2020. In other words, supposedly, a number of antioxidant compounds that are present in sweet potatoes can reduce the severity of sunburns. To incorporate these protective root vegetables into your diet, you could try these twice-baked, loaded sweet potatoes.

3. Almonds

Oval in shape and possessing an earthy taste, almonds are a good source of many nutrients that can help the skin. Dense in vitamin E, polyphenols and monounsaturated fatty acids, almonds have been found to protect from UV-induced skin damage by boosting the antioxidant and anti-iinflammatory values of human skin, as stated in the 2021 article in the journal of cosmetic dermatology. Thus, almonds are the best thing to munch on when the sun’s heat is at its worst, which, of course, is in the afternoon.

Whether whole, sliced or crushed, they can be relished in this Cherry-Almond Farro Salad for the additional advantage of the antioxidants. Pro tip: Actually, it should be left on. ALMU refers to a group of compounds largely accumulated on the almond skin as potent sun protectants.

4. Salmon

Not only is it rich in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, but salmon also possesses components that can protect your skin from dangerous UV radiation. As stated by a cross-sectional study conducted in 2018 and published in Nutrients, this fish of pink flesh has many shiny antioxidants called astaxanthin that possess an equivalent of sun protection as well as anti-inflammatory properties when eaten.

In particular, it is possible to state that astaxanthin may promote the health of the skin by preventing its cell damage with the help of free radicals after one has stayed too long in the sun. Also, it has been found to help in DNA repair after the long-term effects of UV light on the skin. Salmon Rice Bowl is one of the quickest and simplest meals you can prepare and is perfect for adding salmon to your weekly diet.

5. Red Grapes

Grapes are packed with resveratrol, a flavonoid that can enhance your skin’s protection against glowing sun rays. A cross-sectional study by Önder et al. in the journal Antioxidants in 2022 focused especially on the impact of grape on the regulation of skin damage associated with UV radiation. The participants of the study had to take the equivalent of 2¼ cups of grapes in the course of one week and two weeks.

Based on the findings of the study conducted in the course of the research, the researchers concluded that short-term grape consumption completely protected the participants from sunburns due to UV-light exposure. Thus, you can grab a bag of grapes the next time you are around the grocery store and try out this zesty treat, Grape Smoothie.

Conclusion

While using sunscreen and protective clothing is the darling of sun protection, dietary choices rich in antioxidants also help protect the skin from UV radiation. Five of the best sources of sun-shielding antioxidants are tomatoes, sweet potatoes, almonds, salmon and grapes. As to the foods recommended, it is just important to take them during the day to get full protection against the sun’s damaging UV rays.

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