5 Best Foods for Skin Elasticity: Prevent Wrinkles with Diet

Skin elasticity is a major factor in wrinkle-free, young-looking skin. Or, at least, wrinkle-light. These are the best foods for skin elasticity.

Do you ever have one of those moments in the mirror where you notice something you never did before? The other morning I was brushing my teeth when I realized that my skin is not what it used to be. I have been what you might call cavalier about sunscreen for my whole life. When you spend your first 22 years living in Florida, that does a number on the ol’ skin.

It might be a little bit late to get my skin looking the way it did in my 20s, but I can certainly try to mitigate the damage, right? I’m a big believer in using food to heal, so I’ve been looking for the best foods for skin elasticity.

Topical creams and lotions can also help skin elasticity. Vitamins A, B, C, and E all have topical skin benefits. When you’re looking for creams, keep an eye out for those vitamins. Of course, you also want to make sure you scan the ingredients list for things you don’t want in a skin cream.

On top of topical creames, there are a handful of dietary nutrients that can help improve your skin’s elasticity, making it less prone to wrinkles. The foods below are great plant-based sources of biotin, copper, selenium, alpha-lipoic acid, DMAE, and hyaluronic acid.

5 Best Foods for Skin Elasticity

1. Nuts and Seeds – Peanuts and almonds are excellent dietary sources of biotin. Biotin is a B vitamin that is the foundation of healthy skin, hair, and nails. Sesame seeds and cashews deliver plant-based selenium, which helps protect your skin from sun damage. Use nut and seed butters to make a delicious sauce for veggies and whole grains.

2. Sweet Potato – Another great source of biotin, sweet potato also delivers 16 percent of your daily copper requirements. Your body uses copper to create elastin, which like the name implies, helps form a foundation for healthy skin cells. Sweet potato – and other starchy root vegetables – may also stimulate your body’s production of hyaluronic acid (HA). HA helps your skin maintain a smooth appearance and helps skin cells hold onto moisture. Try warming up with a bowl of spiced sweet potato soup.

A note about copper: it is possible to overdo it with copper, so don’t try to hard in this department, and definitely don’t worry about a copper supplement.

3. Whole Grains – Eat your whole grains to get your daily dose of selenium. If you want the most bang for your buck, a cup of cooked cous cous has 62 percent of your daily selenium needs. Not bad for a grain that takes less than 10 minutes to make. Try this broccoli and cous cous salad!

4. Broccoli – That broccoli and cous cous salad is a double-whammy for skin elasticity. Get your alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) here! ALA is a super antioxidant with powerful anti-aging effects. Two cups of broccoli contains as much ALA as a supplement pill.

5. Flax Meal – Flax is another good source of dietary ALA. Flax also contains DMAE, which protect your skin from sun damage and protect it from wrinkle-causing free radicals. Make sure that you’re using flax meal, which is just ground flax seeds. Your body can’t digest whole flax seeds, so you miss out on all of the goodness. My favorite way to sneak some flax into my day is adding a tablespoon or two to a green smoothie recipe. Read more about flax here.

Image Credits: Nuts, sweet potato, cous cous, broccoli, and flax photos via Shutterstock.

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