Food That Protects Your Skin from Sun Rays


Especially in summer, we apply Sunscreen Gel for sun protection, as usual. This is necessary to use a sunscreen with SPF 50 is sufficient but it works from outside.

But don’t forget to give special treatment to our skin with specific food that can protect your skin from the sun rays from inside the skin layers. Certain diets, supplements can help maintain healthy, damage-free skin and offer protection against sunburn. 

Read in this article which is the best food that protects your skin and makes it healthier.

In This Article

  • Why protect your skin from the sun
  • How to protect skin from sun rays?
  • Sun rays protective food
  • Colorful plants to fight against cell damage
  • Tomato lycopene
  • Beta-carotene
  • Blueberries
  • Nuts and seeds

Why protect your skin from the sun

Because 90% of skin aging is due to the environment in general and the sun in particular. Under the action of solar ultraviolet UVa and UVB rays, free radicals are released in the skin in varying proportions depending on exposure and skin type.

Below a certain exposure threshold, the natural protective mechanisms of the skin manage to neutralize these free radicals.

Too many free radicals also have harmful effects on fat in cell membranes as well as on collagen and elastin, two components of the skin. UV radiation increases the risk of skin cancer.

Result: the skin becomes rough, dries up, and loses its suppleness. Wrinkles appear or deepen, dark spots set in and small vessels are more apparent. And if the defenses are severely overwhelmed, there may be the appearance of precancerous or cancerous lesions.

How to protect skin from sun rays?

Sunscreen Gel and covering clothing remain the best measurement against sun UV light. 

Unfortunately, some creams often contain substances suspected of having harmful effects on the body (by influencing the hormonal system, for example), and above all, they induce a false sense of protection. 

However, it is important to choose sunscreen gel, which offers the best protection with its broad-spectrum protection quality.

The right thing to do: avoid exposure to the sun between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m., expose your skin a little every day, taking care not to redden.

Then protect yourself with clothes, a hat, glasses, and the cream to be renewed regularly if you have no other choice but to stay in the sun.

Sun rays protective food

If food cannot compete with sunscreen in terms of protection, it does however prepare the skin for the sun, protecting it from the inside over the long term. 

And above all to maintain health and a good appearance by preventing visible damage from cellular deterioration: wrinkles, spots, dryness, etc. 

We also discuss in our previous article some Best Antioxidant Food for Skin Care. And here quick overview of the best food to put on your plates in spring and throughout the summer.

Colorful plants to fight against cell damage

The carotenoids in red, orange, yellow, and green colored foods are effective in reducing UV damage to skin cells and improving the skin's tolerance to sunlight (skin reddens less quickly or sunburn is less strong). 

These are antioxidants that must be provided by the diet because the body does not synthesize them. If studies show the protective effects of carotenoids whether they come from food or in the form of food supplements, it would seem that those of food are better assimilated.

According to the researchers, other nutrients in fruits and vegetables, and compounds called phytoene and phytofluene in particular, allow carotenoids to be properly assimilated by the body.

Two carotenoids are particularly useful for countering the effects of UV rays: lycopene and beta-carotene.

Tomato lycopene

A pigment that gives tomatoes, watermelons, and pink grapefruit their color, lycopene is one of the most abundant carotenoids in the human body. 

It is an antioxidant particularly effective against free radicals. On this point, it would be twice as powerful as beta-carotene as and ten times more than alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E).

In nature, tomatoes are the most important source of this nutrient. But it is better assimilated by the body when it comes from processed tomato products (coulis, puree, and juice) than raw tomatoes. The addition of fat also helps assimilate it better.

Beta-carotene

This pigment giving their orange-yellow color to apricots, melon, carrots, peppers, and other sweet potatoes, but also very present in dark green leafy plants, beta-carotene is used to make vitamin A. 

Beta carotene is very effective against free radicals and also helps prevent the decline in skin immunity caused by the sun.

Blueberries

It just so happens that our favorite summer fruits also protect us in summer.

Blueberries are rich foods in powerful antioxidants that fight free radicals that can damage skin due to sun exposure and stress. Blueberries are even more potent when they are wild. They are also a great source of vitamin C, which helps prevent wrinkles after a day at the beach.

Quick breakfast: Make your meal with on-the-go breakfast parfait made with layers of homemade, 15-minute blueberry chia jam, coconut yogurt, and muesli.

Nuts and seeds

Walnuts, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and flax contain essential omega-3 fatty acids. Fish and eggs are also excellent sources of this clean, skin-friendly oil. Our bodies cannot make omega-3s, so we must get them from our diet.

What do omega-3s do for your skin? They help maintain the integrity of the skin and are anti-inflammatory. Omega-3s also help your body naturally deal with the effects of too much sun exposure.

Comments