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Your Skin Loves Carrots
For healthy, glowing skin, make like a rabbit and eat your carrots.
The crunchy snack and Bugs Bunny prop is loaded with vitamin A -- a good-for-your-eyes antioxidant that appears to be great for skin, too. It helps balance the pH of the skin's surface, making it slightly acidic. That's good news, because slightly acidic skin fends off bacterial invaders. Here are more skin-boosting nutrients.
In addition to getting enough vitamin A in your diet, keep an eye on how much fat you eat. A recent study suggests that eating too much fat will suck moisture from your skin, which means fine lines and wrinkles have no place to hide.
Should you drink more water? It can't hurt. Water provides your skin with more moisture, and it helps balance pH. But there's no reason to overdo it. Read this article about the eight-glasses-of-water-a-day myth.
So what kind of pH do you want, when it comes to your skin? Ideally, it should be slightly acidic: A pH ranging from 5.4 to 5.9 is good. When skin pH is outside this zone, it can interfere with normal skin functions, such as protecting against bacteria and repairing or protecting itself against damage.
Other nutrients that might affect skin acidity: calcium and beta cryptoxanthin -- but only in men, according to a recent study. Researchers speculate that hormonal differences between genders may be the reason certain nutrients affect men's skin, but not women's.
Want to make your skin the best it can be? Take the RealAge Skin Care Assessment. By answering just a few questions, you'll get personalized recommendations for making your skin look and feel its best.
RealAge Benefit:
Getting the right amount of antioxidants through diet or supplements can make your RealAge 6 years younger.
RealAge Smart Search: Find more ways to get your vitamin A with RealAge Smart Search.
