You Should Eat These 10 Foods for Younger Looking Skin

Posted by Karen Kwan on September 30, 2014, Updated on April 27, 2018

We often think of skincare and serums when it comes to anti-aging, but your diet plays a role in how you look and how you age. While we know to avoid excess sugar and chargrilled foods, both of which can accelerate aging, there are foods you should include in your diet to help promote your vibrant look and feel.

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    Eat Kale for a Glowing Complexion

    Yes, this dark leafy green that has skyrocketed to superfood fame is indeed a great veggie to help you look younger, as you may have assumed. One of the reasons it’s such a powerhouse is the vitamin K that it contains, which has been shown to be beneficial at improving circulation, which helps your skin appear glowy. Also, any redness or flakiness--both inflammatory skin conditions that can make you look older— can be alleviated thanks to the sulfur found in kale.
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    Eat Tomatoes to Fight Sun Damage

    Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, which are a type of antioxidant--antioxidants help to fight free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can damage your cells--including your skin cells--and, thus, cause aging. Sun damage is also a major contributor when it comes to how old our skin looks, and lycopene has been found to help protect your skin from sun damage and the wrinkles that come with it. This could be the excuse you need to eat some pasta with tomato sauce before hitting the beach!

    RELATED: 20 major sunscreen mistakes everyone makes.
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    Eat Mangoes for Plump Skin

    This tropical fruit is not only delicious, but it can help your skin with its collagen production. Collagen is what helps your skin look plump and supple; as we age our collagen and elastin is no longer produced by our bodies, plus the collagen we have is being bombarded by free radicals breaking it down. The beta-carotene found in mangoes also helps your skin look younger by battling dullness and promoting a healthy glow.

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    Eat Dairy for a Youthful Glow

    Glowing skin is a hallmark of youthful good looks and getting adequate calcium in your diet is important to maintaining a healthier barrier function to your skin. The lipid barrier is what maintains your skin’s moisture level and calcium helps your skin produce lipids. It also contributes to your skin cells' renewal process, so that you have healthy, new, glowing skin cells rather than dullness from old, dead skin cells.

    See more: these are all the skincare switches you need to make right now.
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    Drink Red Wine for Supple Skin

    Yes, red wine is good for you--in moderation. It contains resveratrol, which is a compound that has been found to help prolong cell life--and longer cell life translates to skin that is plump and supple for more time before it starts wrinkling. Interestingly, resveratrol is also beneficial when applied topically to the skin as it’s been shown to contribute towards protecting against sun damage and slow cell damage.

    More pics you'll also like: 11 things you didn't know about sunscreen.
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    Eat Red Peppers for a Wrinkle-free Complexion

    This variety of bell pepper is an excellent source of vitamin C, and vitamin C plays an important role when it comes to your skin. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people whose diets contained high levels of vitamin C were less prone to wrinkles.

    See more: 10 makeup mistakes that are aging you.
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    Eat Blueberries to Stabilize Free Radicals

    Blueberries (along with many other berries, such as strawberries, cranberries, and raspberries) are high in antioxidants, but blueberries in particular, though, have been found to have the most antioxidants of fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants help to stabilize free radicals (and it’s free radicals that can damage your cells, causing collagen to break down and wrinkles to form and skin to become less resilient).

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    Eat Salmon for Hydrated Skin

    Fatty fish such as salmon (but lake trout and tuna count, too) contain omega-3 fatty acids, which have been found to not only help with improving heart health but also works on giving you a healthy complexion. They are good for you as they improve the cell membrane, and you’ll have a better functioning skin barrier function. Your skin will stay better hydrated so it’ll appear plumper and more supple. If you can, aim to eat fatty fish a couple of times a week, and if that’s not feasible, then consider taking a fish oil supplement.

    See more: these lipsticks are the secret to hydrated-looking lips.
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    Eat Avocado to Boost Collagen Production

    As if you need more of a reason to eat more avocado--so many of us could eat guacamole daily and avocado toast for breakfast! This lusciously creamy fruit, which is rich in vitamin E, has been found to help fight free radicals (it has the ability to penetrate cell structures in such a way that it optimizes the cells functioning so that they can fend off free radical damage). Plus, this fruit can help boost your skin’s collagen production.

    Also see: this is the secret to perfect, full eyebrows.
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    Eat Grapefruit for a Youthful Glow

    We all know we should aim to drink about eight glasses of water a day; remember that eating foods with lots of water content helps to hydrate your body, too, such as grapefruit and other citrus fruits such as oranges and tangerines. Besides keeping your cells well hydrated and your body functioning optimally, grapefruit boasts vitamin C, which helps your body to produce collagen, so you skin can maintain a youthful, plump appearance.
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