The skin-saving role of nucleic acids

A meal of salmon and mixed bean salad is not only good for your heart, but great for your skin too. That’s because fish, poultry and pulses are rich sources of nucleic acids, which increase the skin’s ability to repair itself and maintain tone and elasticity. If you think back to high school biology, you’ll likely recall that nucleic acids— RNA and and DNA— form part of the cell in all living things.

Oily fish such as salmon, tuna and cod also provide the skin with beneficial fatty acids to further maintain smoothness and tone. Since nuts and seeds contain skin enhancing nucleic acids and oils, you may want to start the day with a healthy cereal such as Dorset Cereals® Fruit, Nut & Seeds which includes a variety of seeds and nuts.

In Conclusion

The destructive effect of UV rays is cumulative. Day in, day out, our skin is bombarded with damaging rays. These rays can penetrate many sunscreens and alter the skin’s supportive structures.

Although a sun-protective diet should never replace the use of a sunscreen (some estimates of the degree of protection brought about by foods is less than three percent), making sure you consume a diet rich in carotenoids, sulforaphanes, polyphenols and nucleic acids will help your skin prevent and repair damage to its cells. Increasing consumption of these foods may also be prudent in the summer months, or if you are going on a sunny vacation. Since plant-based antioxidants also help keep your heart and other organs healthy, you might want to make the inclusion of more fruits, vegetables and grains in your diet a year round exercise.