Everyone enjoys outdoor activities. When it is a backyard picnic with your friends, a beach holiday, or a day-out with the family, it is difficult to protect your skin from sunburns even after taking lots of measures. A sun-burn skin gets rashes which not only look bad but may be painful at times. Sun-burns also increase the chances of getting wrinkles and skin cancer. Applying certain ointments and gels on your sun-burn may give you temporary relieve. If you include certain foods in your diet on regular basis, they will make your skin healthy and reduce the chances of getting sun burns. This article has the list of the pantry staples that help reduce sun burns.
- Cucumber: Cucumber contains 95% water so including cucumber in your diet will help reduce skin dryness and you can recover from sun burns faster. You should not peel the skin of the cucumber as the skin contains Vitamin C which is good for skin and keeps it hydrated.
- Blueberries: Blueberries are rich in antioxidants which can effectively fight free radicals. These free radicals are responsible for damaging our skin when we are exposed to sun for a longer duration or are stressed in our daily life. You should have blueberries regularly to ensure your skin is protected from sun burns.
- Watermelon: Watermelon is a common fruit which we get in our pantry. Including watermelon in your daily diet will give your skin protection from harmful UV rays of the sun. Watermelons are rich in lycopene which can effectively absorb UVB and UVA rays. Consuming watermelon regularly means you are loading your skin with natural sun protection. Additionally, 92% of a watermelon is water so; it is also helpful in keeping your skin hydrated. Compared to an equal amount of tomatoes, watermelon contains 40% more lycopene. You must include watermelon in your diet, especially during summers.
- Guava: Vitamin C is an important component to protect our skin from sun burns. Guava is a good source of Vitamin C. It contains 5 times more Vitamin C than an orange has. So, you should include guava in your regular diet.
- Strawberries: Strawberries are a rich source of Vitamin C. They contain about 108% of DV(Daily Value) of Vitamin C. Strawberries also contain ellagic acid. Vitamin C and ellagic acid. Ellagic acid is an antioxidant and also helpful in reducing inflammation. Both Ellagic acid and Vitamin C reduce skin pigmentation and absorb free radicals, thus reducing the ageing of the skin. The anthocyanin in the strawberries protect the skin from the damage of UV rays.
- Sweet potato: Sweet potato is a rich source of carotenoids, such as lycopene and beta-carotene. It gets its orange colour from carotenoids. Carotenoids help in protection of skin from harmful UV rays. In the body, beta-carotene is converted into Vitamin A, which is a proven nutrient for reducing sunburns. Beta-carotene is responsible for the production of melanin which helps in protecting our skin from damages of sun exposure.
- Green tea: green tea prevents the reduction of collagen in our body. Collagen protein plays an important role in keeping our skin firm and elastic. The skin loses its elasticity with age. So, you must consume green tea regularly to keep your skin healthy. Green tea contains EGCG( polyphenol Epigallocatechin Gallate), green tea is able to replenish our skin and protects it from sun burns.
- Tomatoes: They are rich in polyphenols and carotenoids, two antioxidants that are helpful in protecting our skin from sun damage.
Along with including these foods in our daily diet plan, we must take preventive measures to protect our skin from sun burns. Using good quality sun-protection creams can help reduce damage caused to our skin by harmful effects of sunrays to some extent.
