Want Younger-Looking Skin? Eat a Better Diet
Eating a healthy diet with ample vitamin C and omega-6 linoleic acid-may make it easier to like what you see in the mirror as you get older. In a new study, UK researchers found those two nutrients stood out in helping prevent the wrinkles, dryness and skin thinning that come with age.
Scientists from Unilever, the European purveyor of foods, beverages and personal products, used data from the US’ first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) to examine the relationship between food-based nutrients and skin-aging appearance. NHANES I gathered a huge amount of dietary and lifestyle information between 1971 and 1974-including bodily measurements, supplement intake, diet, physical activity and other habits-on more than 30,000 Americans. For their study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Unilever researchers examined NHANES I data on a total of 4,025 women, ages 40-74.
The researchers focused on dietary intake of nutrients-rather than nutritional supplements-saying that multi-ingredient supplements can make it difficult to determine which nutrient is having an effect. Furthermore, they noted, supplement studies often concentrate on short-term courses of nutrients, and in high dosages. The team claimed that this study is the first skin-aging research to concentrate on daily nutrient intake, rather than supplements.
“Skin aging appearance” was defined as having a wrinkled appearance, senile dryness (dryness as a result of aging) and skin atrophy (skin thinning). Dermatologists conducted clinical examinations of the skin to gauge women’s skin aging appearance.
Women who reported lower intakes of vitamin C in their diets were found to have the highest incidences of wrinkled appearance and senile dryness.
“Vitamin C is an antioxidant that has been shown to play a role in the synthesis of collagen, the protein that helps keep skin elastic,” said lead researcher Maeve C. Cosgrove, PhD. “Our findings add evidence to a predominately supplement and topical application-based hypothesis that what we eat affects our skin-aging appearance.”
Dietary intake of linoleic acid-an omega-6 fatty acid found in abundance in nuts, whole grains, most vegetable oils, eggs and poultry-also proved to be associated with more youthful skin.
On the other hand, higher intakes of fat and carbohydrates had the opposite association: A 17-gram increase in fat and a 50-gram increase in carbohydrate intakes increased the likelihood of a wrinkled appearance and skin atrophy.
The bottom line is good news if you’re already watching what you eat-you may be keeping your skin younger-looking at the same time. As Cosgrove and colleagues put it, “Promoting healthy dietary behaviors may have additional benefit for skin appearance in addition to other health outcomes in the population.”
