Wedding Wellness: 5 Things to Eat to Fight Sunburn
After such a rough winter, I hope you all are outside enjoying the sun (vitamin D!). But I also hope you're brain is thawed enough to realize it's pretty darn easy to get a sun burn. On the first sunny day of spring, the fair skinned, blonde husband came home from installing solar panels for a solar powered milk chiller headed to Kenya (I know. Coolest job.)....looking fairly similar to a lobster. Besides slathering up the sun screen, wearing a hat, big sun glasses and keeping hydrated, there are actually foods that can help protect your skin and help you recover from your excessively pinkish hue. No body likes a sun burn or pre-mature wrinkles.
5 Foods to Eat to Fight Sunburn
- Berries: Berries are like the go-to super food. They're amazing. Because they are so filled with anti-oxidants that means your body is fighting the damage (sun burn)/radicals. There is also some research that's showing berries might be able to help reduce UV damage specifically!
- Spinach: There are at least a dozen anti-inflammatory compounds in spinach which is exactly what you need with a sun burn. Since spinach also has lutein, you're also getting another dose of UV ray protection.
- Bell Peppers: Keeping the skin's structure (collagen) healthy is a big part of how it looks on the outside. With high levels of vitamin C, collagen production keeps rolling and antioxidants are also fighting the damage caused by the sun.
- Salmon: You guys know I am obsessed with salmon. It's an amazing beauty nutrient and it's just so good for your cardiovascular system all around. Salmon has high levels of omega 3 fats and that means it's really good at fighting inflammation.
- Tomatoes: The lycopene in tomatoes is the queen of sunburn protection! Did you know many French women actually take pre-sun pills to avoid burns? Although they're not in the US, these pills contain a biiiig dose of lycopene. Imagine that. And no, to my knowledge there is no way to purchase them...even online. Trust me, I looked.
Protect your skin with these Healthfully Ever After recipes!
- Berries: Raspberry Cucumber Salad or Beauty Booster Grape Blackberry Smoothie or Pea Shoot Blackberry Salad (above)
- Spinach: Beauty Booster Mint Cucumber Smoothie or Pizza Bites
- Bell Peppers: Summer Corn Salad or Roasted Pepper Feta Bites or Rainbow Pepper Slaw
- Salmon: Healthy Breaded Fish Sticks or Roasted Tomatillo Salmon
- Tomatoes: Roasted Tomatoes or Cannelini Bean Tomato Salad
Dietitian Nutritionist and cookbook author sharing flavor-forward recipes and simplified science-driven wellness.