Skin Wrinkling: Can Food Make a Difference?

oohhh exciting stuff. Check out excerpts from this article about food and wrinkles by all these people:
Martalena br Purba, BSc, MCN, Antigone Kouris-Blazos, PhD, Naiyana Wattanapenpaiboon, PhD, Widjaja Lukito, MD, PhD, Elizabet M Rothenberg, PhD, Bertil C. Steen, MD, PhD and Mark L. Wahlqvist, MD, FACN

(If you don’t want to read all of this, scroll to the bottom for my summary.)

Correlation analyses on the individual ethnic groups were as follows: Greek-born Australians with a low intake of milk and coffee, but a high intake of legumes, mousaka, eggplant dip, garlic, low fat yogurt and polyunsaturated oil had the least skin wrinkling (Table 4). Greek elderly living in rural Greece with a low intake of milk, processed meat, pudding and dessert, fat spread (mainly butter), but a high intake of green leafy vegetables, broad beans and cheese had the least skin damage. Certain foods were negatively associated (protective) with skin wrinkling amongst Anglo-Celtic Australians: sardines, cheese, asparagus, celery, vegetable juice, cherries, grapes, melon, apple, fruit salad, jam, multigrain bread, prunes and tea. Swedish elderly with a low intake of roast beef, meat soup, fried potato, canteloup, grapes, canned fruit, ice cream, cakes and pastries, jam and soft drink, but a high intake of egg, skimmed milk, yogurt, lima bean and spinach pie had better skin.

Overall, our finding suggest that subjects with a higher intake of vegetables, olive oil and monounsaturated fat and legumes, but a lower intake of milk/milk products, butter, margarine and sugar products had less skin wrinkling in a sun-exposed site. There may be covariance between food categories in which a cuisine may operate on skin biology.

In particular, full-fat milk (as opposed to skim milk, cheese and yogurt), red meat (especially processed meat), potatoes, soft drinks/cordials and cakes/pastries were associated with extensive skin wrinkling. In contrast, eggs, yogurt, legumes (especially broad and lima beans), vegetables (especially green leafy/spinach, eggplant, asparagus, celery, onions/leeks and garlic), nuts, olives, cherries, grapes, melon, dried fruits/prunes, apples/pears, multigrain bread, jam, tea and water were associated with less photoaging. Three food groups, namely dried fruits (prunes), apples and tea, explained 34% of variance amongst ACA.

In this study, legume consumption also appeared to be protective against actinic damage; this may be partly explained by their phytoestrogen content. Phytoestrogens have recently been identified to act as antioxidants

This study illustrates that skin wrinkling in a sun-exposed site in older people of various ethnic backgrounds may be influenced by the types of foods consumed. Correlation and regression analyses on the minor food groups and food items for each ethnic group identified the following foods to be positively associated with cutaneous actinic skin damage: full-fat milk (as opposed to skim milk, cheese and yogurt), red meat (especially processed meat), potatoes, soft drinks/cordials, cakes/pastries. Negative associations were found with eggs, yogurt, legumes (especially broad and lima beans), vegetables (especially green leafy/spinach, eggplant, asparagus, celery, onions/leeks, garlic), nuts, olives, cherries, melon, dried fruits/prunes, apples/pears, multigrain bread, jam, tea and water. Three food groups, namely dried fruits, apples and tea, explained 34% of variance amongst ACA. For nutrients, higher intakes of total fat, especially monounsaturated fat, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc and retinol were correlated with less actinic skin damage.

An intervention study is needed to investigate whether cutaneous actinic damage could be prevented in part with higher intakes of vegetables (especially green leafy, garlic/onions, celery), legumes, olive oil, total fat (mainly monounsaturated), apples/pears, prunes, tea and possibly fish, cherries, melons, minerals, vitamin C and retinol.

Fascinating- motivating, teensy weensy bit confusing. They say that milk products are bad but yogurt and cheese are good?

To break it down for you, here is the summary from this article of what food will do which:

Wrinkles

• milk, full-fat milk (not skim milk)
• fat spread (mainly butter) butter, margarine
• coffee
• red meat (especially processed meat), roast beef, processed meat, meat soup,
• pudding, ice cream, cakes and pastries, and other desserts/sugar product
• fried potato, potatoes (?)
• cantaloupe (?) (Knock, knock, who’s there? Cantaloupe. Cantaloupe who? Cantaloupe with you tonight. Let’s get married in June!)
• grapes, (?)
• canned fruit,
• jam
• soft drink/cordial

Basically: milk, coffee, red meat, butter, margarine, and SUGAR will make you wrinkle like a little prune face.

Smooth Beautiful Skin

• Top three: apples, tea, dried fruits
• green leafy vegetables
• vegetables especially spinach, eggplant, asparagus, celery, onions, leeks, and garlic.
• vegetable juice
• water
• legumes (especially broad beans and lima beans)
• Fruit including: Cherries, grapes (???), melon, apple, prunes, pears, fruit salad, and dried fruits.
• olive oil, and other monounsaturated fats including nuts and olives
• polyunsaturated oil (??)
• yogurt, low fat yogurt
• cheese (?)
• sardines,
• eggs
• multigrain bread,
• mousaka,
• eggplant dip,
• jam? (I have this on good authority that this is bad for your skin. See above list. What gives?)

Basically: to look like a little Adonis or Aphrodite:

Drink tea, water, and vegetable juice,

Eat lots of vegetables, legumes, and fruit especially apples, (we’re still unsure about grapes and melons), get most of your fat from plant sources, but feel free to include some fish and some yogurt and maybe cheese (although yogurt and cheese are milk products, ahem.)

My two cents about tea: choose your tea carefully, even the small amount of caffeine in green tea is not good for people with reactive hypoglycemia. Also, tea is often decaffeinated using chemicals that aren’t good for you, so look into it. “Caffeine stimulates the production of adrenaline. So does reactive hypoglycemia. Therefore, caffeine in the diet can make symptoms worse because the production of adrenaline is increased.”

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