Recognition of the impact of biotin on nails led me to think about other ways nutrition can affect  skin health.  There are of course  dozens of food based beauty claims, like salmon, berries and olive oil hold the key to beautiful skin.  Are there any respected peer-reviewed studies that show what if any foods can affect how your skin ages?

The short answer is yes.  And the  most impressive data comes from the  iconic National  Helath and Education study (NHANES).  This massive ( 32,000 adults) nationwide study  examined  food intakes  and  evaluated them in terms of many health problems like heart disease, cancer,  and blood pressure, and fortuneately  for us, skin aging. 

NHANES  looked at three key signs of aging — wrinkles, dryness, and saging.  Their conclusions sent  me running to the nearest supermarket.   The #1 beauty nutrient  turned out to be vitamin C.    Women  who reported the highest  vitamin C intake  had the fewest signs of skin aging.  That’s really not that surprising, since vitamin C is well-known for its role in collagen formation.  In addition  vitamin C is an anti-oxidant  that reverses UV damage.

But it get even more interesting.  These benefits were seen  only where diets were rich in vitamin C, not where  vitamin levels  had been elevated by supplements.  In other  words, its in that glass of OJ or bowl of tomato soup  that delivers this beauty vitamin. 

The Recommend Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamin C is a modest 60mg– the amount in  a small cup of strawberries.   Recent research suggests that 3-5 times the RDA may be additionally beneficial to health.  Best sources of vitamin C include broccoli, cauiflower, red bell peppers, red cabbage, berries and of course oranges.

Next post:  What is the real beauty oil?  Hint, its not olive oil.