Here are six healthy foods for your skin that give it something useful, plus what the research actually shows about each one.
1. Avocados
Avocados are mostly known for their healthy fats, and that's the part that matters here. Those fats do something useful for everything else on this list. Vitamin E and the carotenoids in leafy greens and orange vegetables are fat-soluble, meaning your body can only absorb them when there's some fat in the same meal. Eat a salad with no fat in it and much of what's in the vegetables goes right past you.
Avocados also supply vitamin E themselves, an antioxidant that helps protect skin cells from everyday damage. Add them to a salad, a sandwich, or a smoothie.
2. Citrus and Other Vitamin C Foods
Your body can't make collagen without vitamin C, which makes this the most direct food-to-skin connection on the list.
One medium orange has about 70 mg of vitamin C, roughly 78% of what you need in a day. Grapefruit, limes, and lemons all contribute. So do strawberries, kiwi, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and red bell peppers, which actually have more vitamin C per bite than an orange does.
Eat them whole or work them into recipes. Either way they're a great source of natural sweetness.
3. Almonds
Almonds are the best vitamin E source on this list by a wide margin. One ounce, about 23 almonds, has 7 mg of vitamin E. That's nearly half of what you need for the whole day. That same ounce has 6 grams of protein and covers about a third of your daily copper, which your body uses to help collagen fibers hold together.
Two randomized trials out of UC Davis had postmenopausal women eat almonds daily in place of their usual snack. Both found a measurable drop in wrinkle severity, about 15% at 16 weeks in the longer study. (Both were funded by the Almond Board of California, which is worth knowing, though the studies themselves were peer reviewed and controlled.)
Almonds are easy to grab on their own and easy to work into a meal.
4. Salmon
Salmon has protein, but the main reason it belongs on a skin list is omega-3 fats. A 3-ounce serving has roughly 1 to 2 grams of EPA and DHA, depending on whether it's farmed or wild. These are the fats that help your skin hold onto moisture and keep inflammation in check.
Salmon also delivers vitamin D and selenium, and it's one of the leanest ways to get a big serving of protein. It pairs well with salad, vegetables, and grains.
5. Lean Beef, Beans, and Other Zinc Foods
Zinc shows up in both of the jobs I mentioned: it helps build collagen and it supports the immune response behind wound healing. Getting enough of it takes a little intention, because the foods highest in zinc aren't always the ones people think of.
Lean beef, oysters, crab, shrimp, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, lentils, and black beans are your strongest sources. Pairing them with something high in vitamin C is a smart move, since vitamin C helps your body absorb the zinc from plant foods like beans and lentils.
6. Dark Chocolate
Good news for anyone who was hoping chocolate would make this list! Dark chocolate is loaded with flavanols, the same plant antioxidants that give cocoa its reputation for supporting healthy blood flow. One ounce also covers about half your daily copper.
A handful of trials have looked at cocoa flavanols and skin, and a couple of them found improvements in elasticity and fine lines. Choose dark chocolate with at least 70% cacao and treat it as a genuinely enjoyable addition to your diet, not a supplement.
