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

1. 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! 
2. 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.  
3. 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. 
4. 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. 
5. 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