Foods Good for Skin

Colourful fruit and veg

Carotenoids are the yellow, orange and red pigments in carrots, tomatoes, mangoes and spinach. When you eat them, some build up in your skin and make it more golden (Pezdirc et al., 2016).

In a Scottish study of 35 people, fruit and vegetable intake was recorded at baseline and after 3 and 6 weeks. About 3 extra portions a day (2.91 for health, 3.30 for attractiveness) was enough for skin to look healthier to others. All the participants had white skin (Whitehead et al., 2012).

A trial then tested it directly. Thirty women ate 7 daily servings of high- or low-carotenoid produce for 4 weeks. Skin yellowness rose on the high-carotenoid produce (Pezdirc et al., 2016).

The same kind of link shows up when you measure carotenoids in skin. In 108 Korean adults, skin carotenoid scores rose with fruit and vegetable intake (r = 0.40) (Ahn et al., 2023). A 2026 analysis in adults with obesity found the same kind of link between the skin score and reported fruit and vegetable intake (r = 0.33) (Jilcott Pitts et al., 2026). For the dewy, even look, see the glass skin diet.

Tomato paste

Tomato paste is packed with lycopene, the red carotenoid in tomatoes: 40 g gives about 16 mg. In a German trial, 9 people ate that much daily with olive oil for 10 weeks. Their skin reddened 40% less under a UV lamp than in 10 people who had olive oil alone (Stahl et al., 2001).

A UK trial in 20 women found some protection from sun damage and more procollagen after 12 weeks of 55 g a day (Rizwan et al., 2011). A Brazilian trial that gave 10 people tomato paste found no protection (Sokoloski et al., 2015). Tomato paste is not a sunscreen. A tomato sauce is still an easy habit.

Olive oil

The biggest study looked at 1,264 French women and 1,655 men aged 45 to 60. People who got more of their fat from olive oil had a lower risk of severe facial sun ageing. Fat from meat and dairy showed no such link (Latreille et al., 2012).

An earlier study of 453 older adults in Greece, Australia and Sweden found the same pattern for olive oil, vegetables and beans (Purba et al., 2001). Butter ran the other way in that survey: more butter went with more actinic skin damage (r = 0.46), while more olive oil went with less (r = 0.29 in the other direction). We found no trial that tested olive oil on skin. People who use more of it may simply live differently.

High-flavanol cocoa

Flavanols are plant compounds in cocoa beans and tea. In 10 women, a high-flavanol cocoa drink raised blood flow in the skin 1.7-fold two hours later (Neukam et al., 2007). Over 12 weeks, a daily drink with 326 mg of flavanols cut UV redness by 25% and reduced water loss through the skin (Heinrich et al., 2006).

The results are mixed. In 74 women, 30 g a day of high-flavanol chocolate for 12 weeks gave no more sun protection than a low-flavanol bar (Mogollon et al., 2014). A smaller trial of 30 people found sun tolerance more than doubled on a high-flavanol bar. Ordinary chocolate-making strips out much of the flavanol content (Williams et al., 2009).

Kiwi and strawberries

Skin fibroblasts have an absolute dependence on vitamin C for the synthesis of collagen (Pullar et al., 2017). In 4,025 middle-aged American women, higher vitamin C intake went with lower odds of wrinkled or dry-looking skin, even after allowing for supplement use (Cosgrove et al., 2007).

Women need 75 mg a day and men 90 mg, and raw fruit and vegetables are the best sources (MedlinePlus). A 2026 New Zealand study reported higher skin vitamin C after people ate kiwifruit (Pullar et al., 2026). The PubMed record has no abstract, so that title is all we can cite. More on the hydration plate at foods for hydrated skin.

Sugary extras

Glycation is what happens when sugar sticks to proteins. Glucose and fructose bind to collagen and elastin and form cross-links known as advanced glycation end products, or AGEs. High blood sugar speeds this up, and UV light makes it worse (Danby, 2010).

In 602 Dutch adults, faces looked 0.40 years older in photos per 1 mmol/L rise in glucose among people without diabetes (Noordam et al., 2013). That is a snapshot, not proof that sugar caused it.

The WHO advises keeping free sugars under 10% of daily energy, about 12 level teaspoons, and at least 400 g of fruit and vegetables a day (WHO, 2026). In the three-country survey, more butter and sugar products went with more sun damage, and more olive oil went with less (Purba et al., 2001). See how sugar affects breakouts.

Collagen powder

A 2025 analysis pooled 23 trials with 1,474 people. Overall, collagen looked helpful. Split by funding, the trials not funded by companies found no effect on hydration, elasticity or wrinkles, while company-funded ones did. The high-quality trials found no effect either (Myung and Park, 2025).

Those trials used hydrolyzed collagen powder, not a collagen-rich meal. We found no trial of bone broth and skin.

A supermarket chocolate bar

In the Williams trial, sun tolerance more than doubled on a high-flavanol bar and did not change on the low-flavanol bar. The authors noted that during conventional chocolate making, this high antioxidant capacity is greatly reduced due to manufacturing processes (Williams et al., 2009).

A standard bar is closer to that low-flavanol arm. We found no trial of ordinary milk chocolate that measured a glow outcome.

Sleep, SPF and a glow diet

A 2015 review of 27 studies found that 16 tested supplements and only 1 tested whether eating real food changes how skin looks (Pezdirc et al., 2015). Daily sunscreen still has the strongest glow data. In an Australian trial of 903 adults, skin ageing was 24% less in the daily sunscreen group than in the discretionary group after 4.5 years (Hughes et al., 2013). The AAD recommends SPF 30 or higher (AAD).

After 2 nights of 3-hour sleep, facial skin looked less bright in 24 women (Léger et al., 2022). Women who slept 7 to 9 hours had 30% better skin barrier recovery than women who slept 5 hours or less (Oyetakin-White et al., 2015). In 61 women, 16 weeks of aerobic or strength training made skin more elastic (Nishikori et al., 2023).

One study of 298 white women estimated that UV is behind 80% of visible facial ageing signs (Flament et al., 2013). Work out your skin type before you buy a stack of serums, and see foods for clear skin if spots are the goal.