Healthy Skin

Want healthy, radiant skin on your wedding day? Forget those pricey skin creams. Nurture your complexion from the inside out with a well-balanced diet that can hydrate, protect, and clear your skin!

Include these nutrients in your diet:

1. Vitamins C and E. Antioxidants such as these reduce the effects of free-radicals (highly reactive oxygen molecules), which damage the body and age the skin. Vitamin C, found in red bell peppers, strawberries, raspberries, citrus fruits, tomatoes, mangos, and broccoli, helps keep your collagen fibers strong and resilient so you can be wrinkle and sag free. Vitamin E helps protect your skin from pollution, the sun's ultraviolet rays, scarring and skin cancer, and is found in almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, and peanuts.

2. Lean proteins such as turkey and chicken breast, low-fat (and low sugar) yogurt, salmon, sardines, tuna and cheese help the body repair and maintain the skin. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish fight inflammation and protect against sun damage. Note: due to concerns about mercury, limit your intake of fresh and saltwater fish to no more than 2 meals per week. Go here for government seafood guidelines.

3. Vitamin B rich foods (such as oats, avocados, bananas, legumes, turkey, potatoes, and Brazil nuts) contain biotin, which is the foundation for your hair and nails as well as your skin.

4. Vitamin A, found in foods such as turnip greens, spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots, dried apricots, and cantaloupe, helps your body repair and maintain skin tissue.

5. EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), found in green tea, can help calm the flow of inflammatory chemicals involved in acne and sun-related skin aging, as well as prevent skin cancer. It also helps to curtail cortisol, which can break down the those collagen fibers leading to wrinkles and sagging.

Get a personalized assessment of your skin's health: Take the RealAge Skin Care Assessment.