Vit C and our skin

We can support our skin from the inside with healthy doses of vitamin C from the foods we eat. Eating more vitamin C-rich foods will give our skin the natural antioxidant protection it needs to prevent fine lines, wrinkles and age spots from the inside out.
Vitamin C can be found in foods like:

Give your skin the natural antioxidant protection it needs by eating fruits such as guava, kiwi, papaya and oranges.

• Citrus Fruit: Fruits like grapefruit, oranges and tangerines contain up to 70 mg of vitamin C per serving. This powerful antioxidant will boost collagen, calm inflammation and protect healthy cells from damage.¹
  
• Cantaloupe: Cantaloupe contains 29 mg of vitamin C per serving.
  
• Guava: While citrus fruits may be the most well-known sources of vitamin C, guava packs a powerful punch with 165 mg of vitamin C per serving.
• Kiwi: Kiwi is also an excellent source of vitamin C at 162 mg per serving.
• Camu Camu: Camu Camu is a rich source of vitamin C at 2,700 milligrams per 100 g. It has 60 times more vitamin C than an orange!
• Papaya: Papaya has 62 mg of vitamin C per serving

Source:  Tara Smith, ARNP, NP-C
Ageless beauty secrets newsletter (Monday, October 10, 2011)
 http://www.mypureradiance.com/eat-your-way-to-beautiful-skin/

Eat Your Way to Beautiful Skin
September 13, 2011 by Kamila Fiore ARNP  

• Wrinkles aren’t just about getting older. Wrinkles can be a sign of more serious inner issues, like dehydration or even a vitamin or mineral deficiency.
• When your body isn’t getting the nutrients it needs, your skin will suffer. In many cases, skin begins to wrinkle before its time because it’s starved for nutrition!
  By focusing on your inner health, you can improve your appearance. Instead of searching for the perfect anti-aging product to transform your skin, eating fresh, nutritious, and delicious foods will improve your inner health and the quality of your skin at the same time.
  Here are five good-for-you foods that can improve the look and feel of your skin:
  1. Papaya: Sweet, juicy papaya is an excellent source of magnesium, which creates SOD – also known as superoxide dismutase. SOD is a natural enzyme that helps the body protect against free-radical damage by neutralizing excessive superoxides.
     SOD is a valuable antioxidant that will keep the cells in your body healthy and resistant to damage. This will benefit not only the quality of your skin to keep it youthful and soft, but it will also protect you from disease.
  2. Oysters: Oysters are an excellent source of zinc to support wound healing. Zinc also helps trigger collagen production in the skin. Collagen is the substance in our skin that keeps it firm, springy, and soft – just like the skin of a teenager.
     Although quite a few anti-aging products advertise to contain collagen, applying collagen to your skin isn’t going to do any good. Topical collagen molecules are too big to absorb into the skin. It’s much more effective to eat foods rich in zinc that will boost collagen from the inside out to smooth wrinkles.
  3. Swiss Chard: This delicious green will help beautify your skin since it’s chock-full of biotin. Biotin helps keep skin moist and soft to prevent dryness and rashes, and it also supports thick, lustrous hair growth.
  4. Brazil Nuts: Brazil nuts are an excellent source of the trace mineral selenium, which is essential for beautiful skin. The majority of us don’t get nearly enough selenium in our diets. But a single Brazil nut will pack a powerful punch with a hefty dose of selenium to neutralize outside free-radical damage that can cause wrinkles. Make it your beauty goal to eat one Brazil nut a day for youthful skin.
  5. Olive Oil: Olive oil is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids at roughly 0.2 g per ounce.¹ The omega-3 fatty acids in olive oil will calm inflammation in the skin to reduce redness and dryness. This will keep your skin moist and hydrated to prevent wrinkles. Drizzle olive oil on salads, veggies, or grilled fish, but don’t fry with it! Frying with olive oil will damage its omega-3 content and negate any beauty benefits it could offer.
  For a delicious, beautifying breakfast or afternoon snack, try a green tea, blueberry, and banana smoothie. Green tea is an antioxidant-rich beverage that prevents heart disease and boosts metabolism. On top of that, the antioxidants in green tea will help neutralize free radicals from sun damage that could cause skin cancer.
  Blueberries contain more antioxidants than almost any other food! And bananas are an excellent source of vitamin B6 to promote a healthy immune system and protect your skin from disease and outside damage.
  Ingredients:
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 green teabag
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 ½ cup frozen blueberries
  • 1/2 medium banana
  • 3/4 cup skim milk
  Steep the green tea in 3 tablespoons of hot water and brew for 3 minutes. Remove the teabag and stir honey into the tea until it is completely dissolved. Blend blueberries, banana, milk, and tea in a blender until smooth. Serve immediately, and enjoy!