Eat well, look better!

If the threat of heart disease and cancer doesn’t inspire you to eat more healthily, perhaps good old-fashioned vanity can prod you in the right direction?

Researchers in the US have found a link between reduced aging of the skin and a healthy diet.

Dermatologists conducted clinical examinations of the skin on over 4000 women aged 40-74 years. Skin appearance was rated for wrinkling, drying and thinning, and results were then compared to the diets of these women. Factors already known to influence skin aging, like sun exposure and smoking, were accounted for in the research so that the effect of diet could be investigated.

The researchers concluded that diets higher in vitamin C and linoleic acid (from polyunsaturated fats) were associated with better skin-aging appearance.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October 2007