Food alone can’t prevent wrinkles, but a diet rich in certain nutrients can help your skin bounce back from sun- and age-related damage. These five foods are high in wrinkle-preventing vitamins and minerals.
Topical creams and lotions can also help prevent wrinkles. Vitamins A, B, C, and E all have topical skin benefits. When you’re looking for creams, keep an eye out for those vitamins. Of course, you also want to make sure you scan the ingredients list for things you don’t want in a skin cream.
On top of topical creams, there are a handful of dietary nutrients that can help improve your skin’s elasticity, making it less prone to wrinkles. The foods to prevent wrinkles below are great plant-based sources of biotin, copper, selenium, alpha-lipoic acid, DMAE, and hyaluronic acid.
5 Best Foods to Prevent Wrinkles
1. Nuts and Seeds – Peanuts and almonds are excellent dietary sources of biotin. Biotin is a B vitamin that is the foundation of healthy skin, hair, and nails. Sesame seeds and cashews deliver plant-based selenium, which helps protect your skin from sun damage. Try topping some whole grain pasta and veggies with this easy pesto recipe. You can use any nuts you like in place of the cashews, so have fun with it.
2. Sweet Potato – Another great source of biotin, sweet potato also delivers 16 percent of your daily copper requirements. Your body uses copper to create elastin, which like the name implies, helps form a foundation for healthy skin cells. Sweet potato – and other starchy root vegetables – may also stimulate your body’s production of hyaluronic acid (HA). HA helps your skin maintain a smooth appearance and helps skin cells hold onto moisture. Get your chocolate fix and sneak in some healthy orange veggies with a batch of vegan sweet potato brownies.
A note about copper: it is possible to overdo it with copper, so don’t try to hard in this department, and definitely don’t worry about a copper supplement.
3. Whole Grains – Eat your whole grains to get your daily dose of selenium. If you want the most bang for your buck, a cup of cooked cous cous has 62 percent of your daily selenium needs. Not bad for a grain that takes less than 10 minutes to make. Try this kale and cous cous salad!
4. Broccoli – Get your alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) here! ALA is a super antioxidant with powerful anti-aging effects. Two cups of broccoli contains as much ALA as a supplement pill. Make a simple, raw broccoli slaw for a delicious, wrinkle-preventing side dish.
5. Flax Meal – Flax is another good source of dietary ALA. Flax also contains DMAE, which protect your skin from sun damage and protect it from wrinkle-causing free radicals. Make sure that you’re using flax meal, which is just ground flax seeds. Your body can’t digest whole flax seeds, so you miss out on all of the goodness. My favorite way to sneak some flax into my day is adding a tablespoon or two to a green smoothie recipe.
A version of this article originally ran at Feelgood Style. Nuts, sweet potato, cous cous, broccoli, and flax photos via Shutterstock.
