Carotenoids: Carotenoids, powerful antioxidants that protect plants against damage from UV light, also help to protect human cells when taken into the body in food or supplement form. The more carotenoids you consume, the greater the degree of protection provided over time, although you will still need to wear a sunscreen. Carotenoid-rich foods include carrots, cranberries, yams, melons, tomatoes, pomegranate, kale, broccoli and vegetable and fruit juices, such as Bremner’s Organic Pomegranate Juice.

Sulforaphanes: Broccoli also contains sulforaphanes, known to protect against a number of cancers. In late 2007, a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University, led by Paul Talalay, M.D., professor of pharmacology, found that sulforaphane also reduces skin inflammation and redness caused by too much sun exposure. Subjects whose skins were treated with an extract of sulforaphane extracted from broccoli sprouts experienced 37 percent less inflammation than people whose skin was left untreated.

Since repeated sunburns are linked to the development of skin cancer, the researchers postulated that sulforaphanes from broccoli may help prevent skin cancer and other sun-related skin damage.i Whether this effect extends to broccoli that is eaten remains to be seen, but people who consume the most vegetables tend to have healthier-appearing skins and a lower incidence of cancer, suggesting that it may well do.

Flavonoids: Flavonoids are plant-based antioxidants that are best known for their ability to fight cancer and help prevent heart disease. Among the richest sources of flavonoids are green tea, red wine and cocoa.

A recent study conducted by Wilhelm Stahl of Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf strongly suggests that cocoa and dark chocolate provide a degree of protection against sun-induced skin damage. During the trial, 24 women drank cocoa with breakfast for three months. Half the women drank cocoa with a high flavonoid content, and half were given cocoa with a low flavonoid content.

Six weeks into the trial, the women’s skin was irradiated with UV light at a strength slightly higher than that which had turned the skin red prior to the onset of the trial.

The skin of the women who had drunk the flavonoid rich cocoa showed 15 percent less reddening than the skin of the women who had received the flavonoid-poor beverage. After 12 weeks, their skin showed 25 percent less reddening. The skin of the women who drank the flavonoid-poor cocoa remained consistent throughout the trial.

At the conclusion of the trial, Dr. Stahl’s team also noted that, for women drinking the flavonoid-rich cocoa, the blood flow in the skin had doubled. Their skin was also 16 percent denser, 11 percent thicker, 13 percent more moist, 30 percent smoother and 42 percent less scaly than noted at the start of the trial.

Here’s the best news of all: The amount of cocoa flavonoids present in the beneficial cocoa was close to that found in a little over three ounces of dark chocolate. While it wouldn’t be a good idea to consume this amount of chocolate daily (nutritionists recommend you keep your daily intake of dark chocolate to one ounce), once a week as a healthy treat is fine. Just be sure to drink a flavonoid-rich cocoa daily to help protect your skin against the ravages of UV light.

You can find Lindt chocolate with high cocoa content (80 to 99 percent) in the food aisle at London Drugs.