Nutritional support for skin

Q: My skin is getting drier, duller and wrinklier. Could my nutrition — not the best, I confess — be affecting my skin quality? — Fran D., Charleston, South Carolina

A: Your skin is the body’s largest organ and helps fend off infection, regulate temperature and produce vitamin D. But it’s easy to damage.

You may know that you should wear an SPF 35 sunscreen for all but about 30 minutes of sun exposure daily, not smoke anything, use moisturizer daily, stay hydrated, and never sleep in your makeup. But you may not understand how much influence what you eat has on the quality of your skin.

A non-inflammatory diet is the foundation of healthy skin — that means no added sugars, red or processed meats or ultra-processed foods. And specific vitamins and polyphenols in food can provide added benefits.

— Beta carotene (it’s converted into vitamin A in your body) protects skin from free radicals (they cause fine lines, wrinkles and sagging). Beta carotene comes from leafy green and orange and yellow vegetables, fruits like papaya, tomato products, and some vegetable oils. You can get vitamin A from herring, salmon, and fortified milk and cereal.

— Foods loaded with omega-3s promote heart health and help preserve your collagen — a protein in skin that keeps it firm and resilient. Get omega-3s from walnuts, avocados, chia seeds, salmon, herring and canola oil.

— Vitamin C also helps maintain collagen. You can get a dose of C from citrus fruits.

— Vitamin E is an antioxidant that prevents cell damage. You can get E from almonds and sunflower seeds.

— Polyphenols are antioxidants that show up in coffee, tea, grapes and dark chocolate (70% cacao) to help protect you from sun-caused skin aging.

Dr. Mike Roizen is the founder of www.longevityplaybook.com, and Dr. Mehmet Oz is global advisor to www.iHerb.com, the world’s leading online health store. Roizen and Oz are chief wellness officer emeritus at Cleveland Clinic and professor emeritus at Columbia University, respectively.