Is it possible to protect our skin from the inside out? Although there is not much clinical evidence, the concept of “photoprotection” by dietary means is gaining momentum. This is the process whereby certain nutrients and supernutrients collect in our skin and appear to protect it from the sun's harmful rays.

Plant pigments, such as orange, yellow and red carotenoids, along with the supernutrients known as flavonoids, are involved in protecting plants against excess light damage and appear to help contribute to the prevention of ultraviolet damage in human beings.

According to doctors specialising in this area of research, these plant constituents are ingested and then distributed into our skin and eyes where they help to deflect and absorb the sun's harmful rays. Research into other antioxidants and a low glycaemic diet offers a fascinating insight into how what we eat regularly may contribute to how our skin copes with ageing.

LUTEIN

Helps with plumper, younger skin.

Eat up your spinach, watercress, red pepper, romaine lettuce, kale.

Pronounced “loo-teen”, this natural yellow pigment, found particularly in green leafy vegetables, has undergone preliminary study at Naples University, by Pierfrancesco Morganti, Professor of Applied Cosmetic Dermatology. He and his team discovered that of 120 women aged between 20 and 50, those taking 10mg of lutein over 12 weeks multiplied the photo-protective activity in their skin by two and a half times.

In practical terms, this improved hydration by 56 per cent. In other words, their skin looked and felt plumper and younger. You can try supplements or opt for lutein-rich foods. A 100g serving each of spinach and watercress will give you 10mg of this yellow pigment. So, too, will a large red pepper or 200g of romaine lettuce or 50g of kale.

BETACAROTENE AND LYCOPENE

Helps with sun protection.

Eat up your carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots, Canteloupe melon, tomatoes and watermelon.

According to research by Wilhelm Stahl, of Henirich-Heine University, in Düsseldorf, as well as lutein, beta carotene (the orange pigment in carrots, sweet potatoes, Canteloupe melon and apricots) and the red pigment lycopene (in tomatoes and watermelon) also appear to collect in the upper layers of our skin when we eat them.

When eating 8mg a day - for example, about two carrots - of each of these pigments, he believes that they help to give us an estimated skin protection factor (SPF) of three from the inside. “This may seem rather low,” Stahl says, “but it is giving a permanent protective base.” However, eating lots of these fruit and veg is no substitute for keeping out of the sun or using sun protection.

Whether you decide on supplements, foods or a combination of both, it takes 12 weeks to build up optimal protection, but the sooner you get started, the better. (Smokers should avoid betacarotene supplements, which have been linked with an increased risk in lung cancer.)

Increased intakes of betacarotene can give palms and soles of the feet an orange tinge. This is harmless and is a build-up of carotenoid, which also helps to mop up destructive ageing free radicals formed by UV rays that have managed to penetrate into deeper skin layers.

VITAMINS C AND E AND SELENIUM

Helps with plumping and firming.

Eat up your peppers, berries, citrus fruits and dark green veg; sunflower seeds, wheatgerm and brazil nuts.

Free radicals attack collagen, the spongy protein that keeps skin plump and firm. Carotenoids seem to work in tandem with other antioxidant nutrients to reduce such attacks. These nutrients include vitamin C, found in peppers and berries, citrus fruits and dark green vegetables; vitamin E, in sunflower seeds and wheat germ; and the mineral selenium, in brazil nuts. Six brazil nuts a day or a 75 microgram daily supplement of selenium seems, according to research from the University of Edinburgh, to specifically reduce free radicals from attacking skin cell walls, possibly helping to reduce dryness and flaking from cell dehydration.

LOW-GI DIET

Helps with avoiding wrinkles.

Eat up your berries, citrus fruits, apples, pears, nectarines, muesli, eggs, toast, wraps, pasta, new potatoes, pulses, lean meat, fish, tofu.

According to Dr Nicholas Perricone, a dermatologist who is certified by the American Board of Dermatology and adjunct professor of medicine at Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine, controlling blood sugar is an important step for maintaining skin quality and slowing the ageing process. “When we eat foods that cause a sharp spike in blood sugar, it results in elevated levels of insulin, causing an inflammatory response,” says Dr Perricone. This, in turn, results, he says, in the damage, or glycation, of collagen. Collagen is the protein in the skin that helps to make it bouncy and youthful.

The breakdown of collagen and loss of skin tone lies at the heart of loss of wrinkle formation. So, out go the usual offenders, biscuits, cakes, sweets, and sugary soft and alcoholic drinks. In come low glycaemic index fruit such as summer berries and citrus fruits, apples, pears and nectarines, washed down with plenty of water - fizzy if you like.

Sugar-free muesli, eggs and granary toast or fruit salad with yoghurt should replace quickly- digested sugary breakfast cereals or toast and marmalade for breakfast. Lunches need to be based on slowly digested carbohydrates, such as pitta and tortilla wraps, and dinners on pasta, boiled new potatoes or pulses with your favourite protein, from lean meats and fish to Quorn and tofu.

SPECIAL SKIN SUPPLEMENTS

If you have wondered whether it is worth taking supplements aimed at skin health, the answer, if you choose the right ones, is possibly, yes. A study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition published two years ago revealed that one such supplement, Imedeen Prime Renewal, containing soy extract, fish protein, tea extracts, grape seed, tomato extracts, vitamin C and E, zinc and chamomile, significantly improved the appearance and condition of the skin of about 50 post-menopausal women taking it over six months, compared with a placebo group who took none. Clinical tests showed a reduction in wrinkles, sagging and dark circles under the skin, while skin firmness also improved.

DRINKING WATER

According to scientists from the University of Pennsylvania, writing in the journal of the American society of Nephrology (the branch of medicine that deals with the kidneys) this spring, there is a lack of evidence to prove that drinking lots of water is beneficial to our skin. Yet, anecdotally, one often hears women describing how their skin feels plumper and softer if they glug down a couple of litres a day. While the medical jury is out on the water-beauty link, it won't do any harm to up intakes and since tap water is free, it is an economical potential anti-ageing step. Pep it up with a squeeze of refreshing lemon juice.

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