6 Foods to Help Eat Your Way to Healthy Skin

Rising temperatures, melting makeup and pore-clogging sunscreen all spell bad news for your skin health during the summer. While there are plenty of products we can buy from a store, healthy skin begins with overall health, which can be achieved through a healthy diet. To prevent summer skin downfalls like breakouts, sun spots and dehydration, eat the colors of the rainbow to maintain a healthy summer glow your friends will be jealous of!

6 Foods for Better Skin:

• Tomatoes: Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant which acts as a sunscreen from within. Lycopene helps eliminate anti-aging free radicals caused by ultraviolet rays – in other words, protecting your skin against sun damage. To reap the most benefits of tomatoes, heat them up!
• Sweet Potatoes: They're full of vitamin C, which smoothes wrinkles by stimulating the production of collagen. One study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that people who consumed 4 milligrams of vitamin C—about half a small sweet potato—daily for three years reduced the appearance of wrinkles by 11 percent.
• Lemons: Lemons are a great addition to any beauty regimen, as they are known to be “Nature’s Miracle Fruit.” Lemons can lighten skin and promote even skin tone by reducing scars, dark spots, pigmentation and acne. For beautiful, healthy skin, drink a warm glass of honey and lemon water in the morning. This miracle drink is claimed to have many health benefits, including reducing the darkness of blemishes, cleaning out acne and giving you glowing skin.
• Bananas:  Bananas contain high levels of potassium, which helps moisturize and hydrate the skin, making it look fuller, more supple and youthful. The nutrients in bananas work to maintain the elasticity of skin, moisturize dry flaky skin, prevent premature aging and wrinkles, soften and rejuvenate skin and fade out dark spots and blemishes.
• Spinach: Want to protect yourself against skin cancer? The folate in spinach helps maintain and repair DNA, reducing the likelihood of cancer-cell growth. It also helps strengthen skin tissue and has anti-inflammatory properties which helps flush out toxins.
• Berries: Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cranberries and strawberries help the body produce collagen, responsible for giving skin that supple and smooth look. Berries, especially blueberries are loaded with antioxidants that help to neutralize free radicals, which might otherwise damage skin cells.

Putting your best face forward starts with fresh fruits and vegetables. What fruits and veggies will you eat to maintain glowing skin this summer?

Sources:

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2012/05/16/9-best-foods-for-your-skin

http://www.thehealthsite.com/beauty/10-fruits-and-vegetables-that-can-give-you-glowing-skin/