Three days until your 20th high school reunion. There's no time for a facelift, but you needn't sweat it, says dermatologist Nicholas Perricone, M.D., who promises to have your sallow, dull complexion looking lustrous in as little as 72 hours.
No surgery required — you need only eat the right foods to rejuvenate your skin and take years off your look, Perricone says, and for a more dramatic antidote to tired-looking skin, follow the diet and his recommended regimen of nutrient-rich face creams.
Perricone, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the Yale University School of Medicine and author of "The Wrinkle Cure", is not alone in focusing on nutrition as a path to healthy, radiant skin. Hope is growing in the scientific community that the aging process can be slowed, and maybe even reversed, with vitamins.
The shining stars in the scientific race against wrinkles: antioxidants such as vitamins A, C and E. Antioxidants have the potential to overwhelm destructive molecules called "free radicals," which live in every cell of the body and can destroy the skin tissue.
Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables — and Fish
To support healthy skin (and hair and nails, as well), experts agree that certain vitamins and minerals are essential, including:
Vitamin C: This vitamin is critical for strong, healthy skin because of its role in the body's manufacture of collagen, a protein that keeps the skin supple and tight. Even a slight deficiency can compromise the production of collagen.
Vitamin E: The vitamin is thought to help in the fight against free radicals, though deficiency of vitamin E is not known to cause any disease.
Thiamine: This B vitamin is important in ensuring normal cellular function in the skin.
Zinc: Normal epidermal cell growth is reliant on this mineral.
Selenium: This mineral is critical in the production of glutathione, a natural enemy of free radicals
In most cases, these vitamins and minerals are ingested into the body without any extra effort. Many fruits and vegetables, for example, are loaded with antioxidant vitamins such as A, B, C, and beta carotene.
