Once you begin to explore inside-out skin care, you’ll come across one question: What foods should I be consuming that encourage healthy, youthful-looking skin? Here, we dive into what causes crepey skin and which foods can help you encourage healthy skin aging from the inside (and maintain a balanced diet in general). Let’s get into it. This paper is where the term “crepey” skin comes from, as the loose, subtly wrinkled skin has a similar appearance. You’ll generally find this crinkly texture in areas with thinner skin like the upper arms, under the eyes, and the neck. There are plenty of factors that lead to crepey skin, thus plenty of ways to encourage tighter, more resilient skin. (Read our guide on the skin texture to learn more.) One strategy we suggest: prioritizing protein. “A sufficient amount of protein as part of a healthy diet is essential to support the body’s ability to synthesize proteins of all types, including those in the skin,” board-certified dermatologist Hadley King, M.D., tells mbg. There are a few different sources of collagen, but consuming collagen peptides in the form of a supplement may be the easiest way to ensure you’re checking this off your list every single day. Clinical research on skin aging1 supports this habit, too. Collagen supplementation is a complex topic, so check out our full breakdown here to learn more about benefits, sources, and research on different targeted areas of health. Not everyone is ready to drink a full glass of bone broth every day as is, so check out this story for some tasty ways to spice up your daily cup. To say the least, salmon is a prime skin food. Especially for those looking to consume less red meat day to day, this fatty fish is a great alternative source of protein. “The unique antioxidants in soy have also been shown to protect skin health in women,” Ginger Hultin, M.S., RDN, and owner of ChampagneNutrition® tells mbg. This means these beans encourage healthy skin from multiple angles. “Snack on edamame, enjoy some miso soup, or make a tofu stir fry to increase your intake,” she suggests. “Vitamin E functions as an antioxidant and also plays a role in cellular membrane rejuvenation. It decreases collagenase—an enzyme that breaks down collagen and also reduces the depth of wrinkles,”* Carrasco says. Not to mention, if you have access to ripe avocados in your area, these fruits can be incorporated into tons of recipes. We’re talking about avocado toast, guacamole, salads, burrito bowls, smoothies…the list goes on. Greens like kale and spinach contain powerhouse antioxidant carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. Not only critical for your eyes and brain, science demonstrates that carotenoid phytonutrients also promote healthy skin4. Carrasco describes these as, “Antioxidants that protect the skin from UVA- and UVB-induced oxidative stress and photoaging.” So while grapefruits and lemons may not be rich in protein, they do earn a spot on this list because of their role in synthesizing the collagen you’ll be getting from those powdered peptides, bone broth, etc.*
