The 12 Best Foods for Healthy Skin

A diet rich in healthy fats and vitamins can support skin health. Many fruits and vegetables, including red grapes and tomatoes, contain compounds that can benefit your skin.
Nutrition is important for health. An unhealthy diet can damage your metabolism, cause weight gain, and even damage organs, such as your heart and liver.

But what you eat also affects another organ — your skin.
As scientists learn more about diet and the body, it’s increasingly clear that what you eat can significantly affect the health and aging of your skin.
This article takes a look at 12 of the best foods for keeping your skin healthy.

۱. Fatty fish
Fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and herring, are excellent foods for healthy skin. They’re rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important for maintaining skin health (1).
Omega-3 fatty acids are necessary to help keep skin thick, supple, and moisturized. In fact, an omega-3 fatty acid deficiency can cause dry skin (1, 2Trusted Source).

The omega-3 fats in fish reduce inflammation, which can cause redness and acne. They can even make your skin less sensitive to the sun’s harmful UV rays (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source).
Some studies show that fish oil supplements may help fight inflammatory and autoimmune conditions affecting your skin, such as psoriasis and lupus (4Trusted Source).

Fatty fish is also a source of vitamin E, one of the most important antioxidants for your skin.
Getting enough vitamin E is essential for helping protect your skin against damage from free radicals and inflammation (5Trusted Source).
This type of seafood is also a source of high quality protein, which is needed for maintaining the strength and integrity of your skin (5Trusted Source).

Lastly, fish provides zinc — a mineral vital for regulating the following:
• inflammation
• overall skin health
• the production of new skin cells

Zinc deficiency can lead to skin inflammation, lesions, and delayed wound healing (6Trusted Source).
2. Avocados
Avocados are high in healthy fats. These fats benefit many functions in your body, including the health of your skin (7Trusted Source).
Getting enough of these fats is essential to help keep skin flexible and moisturized.
Avocados are also a good source of vitamin E, which is an important antioxidant that helps protect your skin from oxidative damage.

۳. Walnuts
Walnuts have many characteristics that make them an excellent food for healthy skin.
They’re a good source of essential fatty acids, which are fats that your body cannot make itself.
In fact, they’re richer than most other nuts in both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source).

۴. Sunflower seeds
In general, nuts and seeds are good sources of skin-boosting nutrients.
Sunflower seeds are an excellent example.

۵. Sweet potatoes
Beta carotene is a nutrient found in plants.
It functions as provitamin A, which means it can be converted into vitamin A in your body.

۶. Red or yellow bell peppers
Like sweet potatoes, bell peppers are an excellent source of beta carotene, which your body converts into vitamin A.
They’re also one of the best sources of vitamin C. This vitamin is necessary for creating the protein collagen, which keeps skin firm and strong.

۷. Broccoli
Broccoli is a good source of vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids that are important for skin health. It also contains sulforaphane, which may help prevent skin cancer and protect your skin from sunburn.

۸. Tomatoes
Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C and all of the major carotenoids, especially lycopene. These carotenoids protect your skin from sun damage and may help prevent wrinkling.

۹. Soy
Soy contains isoflavones, which have been shown to improve wrinkles, collagen, skin elasticity, and skin dryness, as well as protect your skin from UV damage.

۱۰. Dark chocolate
Cocoa contains antioxidants that may protect your skin against sunburn. These antioxidants may also improve wrinkles, skin thickness, hydration, blood flow, and skin texture.

۱۱. Green tea
The catechins found in green tea are powerful antioxidants that can protect your skin against sun damage and reduce redness, as well as improve its hydration, thickness and elasticity.

۱۲. Red grapes
Resveratrol, the famous antioxidant found in red grapes, may slow your skin’s aging process by impairing harmful free radicals that damage your skin.
The bottom line What you eat can significantly affect your skin health.
Make sure you’re getting enough essential nutrients to protect your skin. The foods on this list are great options to keep your skin healthy, strong, and attractive.