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.
TIP: If you use skin lotions/creams with vitamin A or C in them, apply them only at night. Sunlight will oxidize the vitamins and trigger inflammation. And for info on getting these nutrients from supplements, visit LongevityPlaybook.com and the iHerb.com blog, “Skin Care Starter Pack: Collagen, Antioxidants, Hydration.”
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Q: I keep getting UTIs -- even though antibiotics seem to cure them when they show up. What can I do to help prevent them instead? -- Elsie R., White Plains, New York
A: UTIs (urinary tract infections) are very common. More than 50% of women get at least one in their lifetime and up to 40% of women who get a UTI have another one in the next six months. Women are 30 times as likely to have a UTI as men are. They’re caused by bacterial overgrowth in the bladder and urethra that triggers pain or irritation when urinating, an urge to pee when there’s nothing there, and can even cause blood in the urine, as well as mental confusion and fatigue. According to the Office on Women’s Health, if you get a fever, the infection has reached your kidneys.
In postmenopausal women, UTIs are usually caused by a drop in estrogen levels. Loss of estrogen causes thinning of tissue and weakens the muscles in your urethra so bacteria can sneak up into your urinary tract more easily and it reduces the level of healthy bacteria in your urinary tract, making it harder to fight off the bad guys.
You can help prevent the infection by adopting the following routine:
- Don’t go longer than three to four hours without urinating. Drink six to eight glasses of water a day.
- Don’t douche or use feminine sprays but do wash your genital area well daily.
- Wipe from front to back.
- If you use birth control spermicides, ask your gyno about trying another type of birth control. And urinate after sex.
- Wear cotton underwear.
- Take a probiotic daily
- The Cleveland Clinic says cranberry extract supplements can decrease your risk for UTIs. And a 2023 review of 50 studies in JAMA Network found that cranberry products, including liquid extract and capsules, reduce the risk of UTIs in women with recurrent infections by 26%.
- And check out iHerb.com’s blog, “15 Natural Ways to Support Urinary Tract Health.”
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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.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
