Try This Cheap and Tasty Wrinkle Fighter

For younger looking skin, skip the high-priced wrinkle creams and invest in a 50-cent can of this: tomato paste.

Eating a little tomato paste every day not only may help your wallet, but a new study suggests that it may give you deep-down 24/7 protection against wrinkles and skin cancer, too.

A Tomato in the Sun
In a small study, people supplemented their normal diets with about 2 1/2 tablespoons of tomato paste mixed with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil every day for 10 weeks while a control group got just the olive oil. The volunteers also sat under a sun lamp at the beginning, middle, and end of the study -- just long enough to lightly sunburn their shoulders. But by week 10, the tomato-paste group showed 40 percent less sun damage than the olive-oil eaters did. (Here are a few more foods that offer added sun protection.)

Power in the Paste
Tomatoes are one of the best sources of lycopene around, and scientists speculate that this antioxidant may help to soften some of the sun's damaging effects on skin. Of course, no food can take the place of using good sunscreen and being smart about sun exposure. So use the following tips and advice to keep that face of yours young, fresh, and wrinkle-free:

• Watch this video to find out whether organic sunscreens do a better job.
• Learn what "broad spectrum" and "SPF" really mean.
• Follow this rule if you tend to go for the cheap sunscreen.
• Find out what oft-neglected body part needs sun protection, too.

Did you know? There is a certain color of tomato that's highest in lycopene.