Combat Dull Fall Skin with Food

If welcoming cooler weather means ushering in dry, flaky sallow skin, and no moisturizer you try seems to help, then why not nourish skin from the inside? Get glowing with some fabulous foods that'll do wonders for your skin - and will do the rest of your body good, too! It never hurts to improve your diet, and if your skin can benefit, then it's all the better. First, start with some good-for-you fats, and we're not talking about those found in fried foods. Check out salmon, tuna and other fatty fish for a big dose of vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids, which help keep skin soft and supple. Keep protecting your skin in winter from harmful UV rays with nature's sunscreen - lycopene - found in tomatoes, particularly those concentrated in canned sauces.


Another antioxidant to put on your to-eat list is vitamin C, found in citrus fruits - those same fruits that help you prevent the ever-present winter colds and flu. For the acne-prone, upping your zinc levels can help clear your skin and even heal wounds faster. Try foods like shellfish and lean meats to get your zinc in. It's time to make having garlic breath a good thing - why? Because foods like garlic, onions and eggs contain sulfur, which preserves elasticity and keeps skin smooth. If you have dry, flaky skin, you'll get an A for effort when you eat foods rich in vitamin A, yet another antioxidant. Find it in dark, leafy veggies like kale. And speaking of superfoods, one of the best is berries. They rein in free radicals and make great smoothies. Wash all those fabulous foods down with green tea, another skin healer, and you'll have perfect skin to last the whole winter long.